Nationals: Five Disappointments From 2016 First Half
Check out my five disappointments on the 2016 Washington Nationals for the first half
While a season can be filled with surprises, it can also have its fair share of disappointments. Even though the Washington Nationals are 54-36 and six games up in the National League East, they had their own fair share of disappointments as well.
Sometimes, you have players who underachieve because of injuries or players that failed to live up to expectations that were made in the offseason. But, they still have the second half to turn their season around and make their contributions as the Nats push towards a NL East title and making a push towards a deep run in October.
When you look at the 2016 Washington Nationals, there are still weaknesses on this team going forward, whether its getting more production out of the leadoff spot and first base or players who need to provide more consistency. Every team goes through their own rough patches, such as when the team lost seven straight games during the month of June.
Plus, there are still areas that the organization can address to help the Washington Nationals get stronger, such as adding a bullpen arm to a team that has the second lowest bullpen of any team in the National League or adding another bat to an offense that has the most home runs in the NL. Right now.
Back on Monday, I gave my five surprises for the season so far. Today, here are my five disappointments from the first half. Feel free to share your opinion on which players have been disappointments so far in the comment section:
Next: Ben Revere
Ben Revere (.224, 1 home run. 17 RBI’s)
Back in January, the Washington Nationals appeared to make a win-win trade with the Toronto Blue Jays when they acquired Revere for reliever Drew Storen. So far, that trade hasn’t worked for either side. Storen has a 5.63 ERA in 36 games for the Blue Jays and Revere hasn’t been a consistent hitter in the leadoff spot.
Revere injured his oblique in the first game of the season and ended up being out until May 6 against the Chicago Cubs. He hit .170 in the month of May and Dusty Baker eventually ended up splitting up the time between Revere and Taylor in center field.
But, June was a better month for the 28-year-old. He hit .274 with seven RBI’s and had a .326 on-base percentage. His best game was on June 27 against the New York Mets when he went 4-for-5 with three runs scored and three stolen bases on a night when Trea Turner was playing center field for triple-A. In fact, 13 of his 49 hits this season have come against the Mets.
If the Revere trade is going to end up being a positive for the Nats, he has to find a way to get on base at a consistent rate and steal more than 10 bases after having 31 last season with the Phillies and the Blue Jays. Right now, it is safe to say the team misses Denard Span, who has a .328 on-base percentage and has two fewer stolen bases than Revere.
Next: Ryan Zimmerman
Ryan Zimmerman (.221, 12 home runs, 38 RBI’s)
It wasn’t a great first half for what most fans would consider the face of the Washington Nationals. Right now, Zimmerman is hitting .221 and has a slugging percentage of .402, which is the second lowest of any Nats’ regular (Revere – .301).
The 31-year-old first baseman has had a good season in the field (four errors), but his offense has been bad for most of the season. He did hit .262 in May with seven home runs and 17 RBI’s. However, the game that I remember from that month was on May 8 against the Cubs when he went 1-for-7 on the day the Cubs were putting Bryce Harper on base.
After that game, Baker moved Zimmerman down from the cleanup spot to number five and put Daniel Murphy there. Now, Zimmerman is hitting sixth on most nights.
You could make the case that some of it has been bad luck for Zimmerman. According to Statcast, Zimmerman has an average velocity of 94.9 miles per hour on balls he hits in play, which is tied for sixth in all of baseball.
Right before the All-Star Break, Zimmerman went on the disabled list with a strain in his left rib cage. This is the sixth straight season that he has been on the DL and it just adds to a rough first half for the first baseman.
When he gets back, it will be interesting to see if Zimmerman can bounce back. Otherwise, you have to wonder whether or not it is time for the Nats to go out there and trade for another first baseman.
Next: Michael Taylor
Michael Taylor (.228, 6 home runs, 12 RBI’s)
When the Washington Nationals let Span go, most thought it would mean that Michael Taylor was going to be the everyday center fielder. Even with the Revere trade, Taylor had the chance to play everyday and didn’t have his best month (.183, three home runs, four RBI’s).
Baker tried Taylor out of the leadoff spot in April, but he strikes out way too many times to be an effective hitter in that spot. This season, he has hit .190 in leadoff situations with 21 strikeouts. While that is only second on the team (Anthony Rendon – 23), that is way too high of a number.
When I look back at the month of June for Taylor, it had its high points and low points. On June 19, the 25-year-old went 4-for-4 with two home runs in a loss to the San Diego Padres. Three days later, in Los Angeles, Taylor went 0-for-5 with five strikeouts and made the error in the ninth inning that allowed the Dodgers to come back and get the win and the sweep.
On July 4, the Washington Nationals sent Taylor down to triple-A when they activated Jonathan Papelbon off the disabled list. Even though Taylor came back four days later to help the bench, he still should be getting more opportunities to play everyday and continue his development. He has the power to be successful, but the high strikeout rate is still something that needs to be corrected going forward.
Next: Gio Gonzalez
Gio Gonzalez (5-8, 4.70 ERA)
The Washington Nationals ended the first half with the best starters ERA in all of baseball and that’s even with the struggles of Gio Gonzalez. It wasn’t all bad for the left-hander in the first half. In the first month of the season, Gonzalez was 1-1 with a 1.42 ERA in four starts and held opponents to a .196 batting average.
Then, it went all downhill from there. Since May 18, the left-hander has only won three games and he still has the same command issues as he had last year. During the month of June, the 30-year-old was 1-4 with a 6.95 ERA in six starts and teams were hitting .295.
It all started on May 23 when Gonzalez gave up seven runs on ten hits, including three home runs, over five innings in a loss to the Mets. During that game, Baker put Wilson Ramos behind the plate instead of Jose Lobaton. But, as we have seen the last two months, that was not the only reason why Gonzalez has been mediocre, to say the least.
When we look at Gonzalez’s season, the walks have continued to be a concern. He has three or more walks in five of his last six starts and has the most walks of anyone in the Washington Nationals starting rotation.
With that being said, Gonzalez did show improvements towards the end of the first half as he won two of his last three starts. This is a big second half for Gonzalez, who has a team option on his contract after this season ($12 million, $500,000 buyout). The Washington Nationals need more consistency from their veteran left-hander in the second half of the season.
Next: Felipe Rivero
Felipe Rivero (0-3, 5.09 ERA, 1 save)
Down the stretch last season, Rivero was one of those relievers that Matt Williams relied upon. That trend has held true this season as the 25-year-old left-hander has made 41 appearances, which is eight fewer than what he had last season.
Rivero is tied for 11th in the National League in appearances, but only five off the league lead. Even though Rivero had ERA”s of over three in the first tow months, the opponents batting average was .178 and .182 in April and May respectively.
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Then in June, it all went south. Rivero had a 10.64 ERA in 11 appearances and opponents hit .356. Plus, he still has struggled to get left-handers out (.321, one home run, seven RBI’s) more than right-handers (.177, three home runs, nine RBI’s).
When you look at the Washington Nationals bullpen, Baker has gone to Riveo more often, but has used Oliver Perez in pressure situations to get the key lefties out and Sammy Solis has been a nice surprise. In fact, Rivero’s three appearances so far this month are the second fewest of any reliever (Yusmeiro Petit – 2).
Next: Five 2016 1st Half Surprises
Now, Rivero isn’t the biggest disappointment on this team by any means and the bullpen has been strong as a whole. But, as Rivero will throw in more games in his career this season, it will be interesting to watch how he pitches in the second half of the season. He has electric stuff, but the Nats will want to see more of the Rivero from earlier in the year than the one from June.