Washington Nationals Rapid Reaction: Young Players Deliver, but Tanner Roark Can’t Close
Jul 10, 2015; Baltimore, MD, USA; Washington Nationals left fielder Clint Robinson (25) celebrates with teammates after scoring during the fifth inning against the Baltimore Orioles at Oriole Park at Camden Yards. Baltimore Orioles defeated Washington Nationals 3-2. Mandatory Credit: Tommy Gilligan-USA TODAY Sports
The Washington Nationals kicked off their final series prior to the All-Star break at Camden Yards on Friday night with a gut-wrenching 3-2 loss. The game showcased some of the biggest issues that have plagued the Nationals all season. The inability to score runs; the lack of hits in key situations; the complete meltdown of the bullpen; all were on display in Baltimore.
Losses like Friday’s are everything thing that’s been infuriating about this season for Nats fans. It’s certainly fair to point out – as Chelsea Janes did for the Washington Post – that the Nationals have been one of the teams hardest hit by injuries, but the truth of the matter is that the only thing that really matters are wins and losses. When the playoffs roll around, games missed due to injury aren’t taken into account. When the starters are out, the next man up must be held accountable; the role players must find a way to win.
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It’s fortunate for the Nationals that the All-Star break is just around the corner. Even if they aren’t able to build momentum going into the layoff, it should at least give them time to rest some of their starters who are in desperate need of time away from the baseball diamond. Just Friday, Denard Span was added to the DL, and Yunel Escobar, who’s been a boon to the Nationals lineup, is still nursing an obviously sore hamstring.
With two games left to the All-Star break – and their lead in the division down to two – what can the Nationals take away from Friday’s loss? We’ll take a look at both the good and the bad.
Next: The Good: Role Players Come Through
Jul 10, 2015; Baltimore, MD, USA; Washington Nationals first baseman Tyler Moore (12) hits an RBI double during the fifth inning against the Baltimore Orioles at Oriole Park at Camden Yards. Baltimore Orioles defeated Washington Nationals 3-2. Mandatory Credit: Tommy Gilligan-USA TODAY Sports
Role Players Come Through Offensively
Saying that the Nationals have been hit by the injury bug this season would be the understatement of the century. Almost half of their lineup on Friday were filling in for starters who were on the disabled list. That doesn’t include the fact that Escobar was playing with a hobbled hamstring that clearly affected his lateral agility in the field, as well as his ability to run the bases.
But, as mentioned before, the Nationals can’t accept excuses. They must find a way to win with the players that are on the field.
It looked like they were going to be able to do just that on Friday. On a night when Bryce Harper, the early favorite for NL MVP, was having trouble making contact, and Danny Espinosa, in the midst of a career-best season, finished 0-for-4 with two strikeouts, the bottom half of the order found a way to pick the team up.
Tyler Moore and Michael Taylor, hitting out of the eighth and ninth spots respectively, accounted for both of Washington’s runs on Friday. They delivered clutch hits that put the Nationals on top 2-1 in the fifth inning, which might have been enough to win the game had it not been for the disastrous performance of the bullpen (more on that shortly).
Taylor finished the game 2-for-4, raising his average on the season to .241 after his May slump took him all the way down to .214. Williams has kept him toward the back of the order, and that seems to be benefiting the young center fielder immensely. Clint Robinson has also played well during his fill-in duty. If Tyler Moore could start to put some good at-bats together, it would mean a lot for this group of young players who are getting major playing time, and even more for the Nats inconsistent offense.
Next: The Bad: Bullpen Blows Gio's Strong Start
Jul 10, 2015; Baltimore, MD, USA; Washington Nationals starting pitcher Gio Gonzalez (47) pitches during the second inning against the Baltimore Orioles at Oriole Park at Camden Yards. Mandatory Credit: Tommy Gilligan-USA TODAY Sports
Bullpen Costs Gio the Win
So far in 2015, the Nationals bullpen has been an abject disaster. Apart from Drew Storen, who was snubbed from the All-Star Game, there’s been wild inconsistency from almost everyone. Aaron Barrett, Matt Thornton, Casey Janssen – no matter who Matt Williams calls upon, fans have absolutely no idea what to expect once they’re on the mound.
Friday night, the culprit for the meltdown was Matt Thornton. After Casey Janssen retired one of the two batters he faced, Williams brought Thornton in to face Matt Wieters. The move made sense from a match-up standpoint. Wieters was 4-for-10 with a homer in his career against Janssen. Against Thornton, he was 0-for-3 with two strikeouts. Wieters’ OPS batting from the right side against left-handed pitching this season was also a paltry .368, another mark in Thornton’s favor.
But somehow, someway, Wieters came through with a perfectly placed double into the right-center field gap that scored the tying run. It ended Gio Gonzalez‘s chance at a win after the lefty pitched well for the third straight start and ultimately doomed the Nats.
While the decision to use Thornton makes sense given the statistics, Williams’ use of Tanner Roark in the ninth is a little more confounding. It seems that, once the game was tied, Williams expected the game to drag on for a while, given the lackluster offense to that point. If that was going to be the case, he wanted to use his long man in case it stretched into the 14th or 15th. Obviously, that didn’t happen.
Yes, hindsight is 20-20, but Williams would have been much better served to send out David Carpenter for the ninth. During his time with the Nats, Carpenter has been the best option outside of the closer for the team. It should have been his job to get the Nats through the ninth. If Roark was needed later on, so be it. Instead, the Nats ended up with the loss, and if he’s needed for multiple innings over the next two days, things could get dicey.
While this wasn’t Matt Williams’ worst handling of the bullpen, he still continues to have issues managing his pitchers. Hopefully, Williams is able to learn from Friday’s mistakes and this isn’t something that plagues the team into September or October.