Washington Nationals July 2016 Month In Review

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Jul 6, 2016; Washington, DC, USA; Nationals principle owner Mark Lerner speaks with manager Dusty Baker (12) before the game against the Milwaukee Brewers at Nationals Park. Mandatory Credit: Tommy Gilligan-USA TODAY Sports /

Before the Washington Nationals start August baseball, here are my grades for the month of July

The Washington Nationals (61-44) finished the month of july with a 13-12 record, which is their worst record in terms of winning percentage in any month this season. Sine the All-Star Break, they are 7-8 in 15 games and they went 3-3 against two potential playoff teams in the Indians and Giants this week.

Of course, five Washington Nationals were named to the National League All-Star team during the month of July. Those four players were right fielder Bryce Harper, second baseman Daniel Murphy (2-for-3 in All-Star Game), catcher Wilson Ramos, and starting pitchers Max Scherzer (one scoreless inning) and ing. When you look at their ERAs’s since that point, the other starter with an ERA over three is Stephen Strasburg (didn’t play).

When the month began, the Washington Nationals were six games ahead of the Mets and 6.5 games ahead of the Miami Marlins. Today, they enter play with a four game lead on Miami and 6.5 on the Mets.

Even though the Nats lost the final two games of the month, they did make a significant acquisition over the weekend that should help the final two months of the year when they traded Felipe Rivero and prospect Taylor Hearn to the Pirates for closer Mark Melancon.