Washington Nationals: J.T. Realmuto hits a walk-off off his potential suitor

The Washington Nationals have been linked with J.T. Realmuto all season. On Saturday, he delivered the walk-off hit in the 10th against his possible suitor.

Whether they end up trading for him or not, J.T. Realmuto has managed to haunt the Washington Nationals. He hit a walk-off bloop single in the 10th inning to give his current team a 2-1 victory.

The Nats’ offense deserves a large portion of the blame as it could only muster up the one run. But Realmuto scoring one run and driving in the other is a cruel irony for a team that would love his services.

After the game, Bryce Harper had his say on the Marlins catcher. It was left in no uncertain terms what he thinks general manager Mike Rizzo should do.

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This feels like a bad thing to say in a game where the offense, which Harper is a part of, failed to put up multiple runs.

We’ve also seen him try to play GM before, calling for Matt Wieters and Greg Holland to be signed before the 2017 season. Wieters continues to struggle for the Nats, and Holland has just been DFA’d.

It was likely meant in a light-hearted way, but doesn’t come across well in print. Hopefully, Harper and the offense can get it going again on Sunday.

Vintage Gio goes seven strong

Gio Gonzalez managed to continue his dominance over the Marlins in his career on Saturday. He went seven innings, giving up just the one run on three hits and four walks.

It was a classic Gonzalez start. At times getting into big jams, but finding a way to squirm his way out of them. Such as when he walked the bases loaded in the fourth, but the only damage the Marlins could muster was a sac fly.

After that, he allowed just one baserunner the rest of the way was cruising. In a disappointing loss, it was encouraging to see Gonzalez bounce back. If we get more performances like that, there may yet be hope for the underperforming rotation.

Sunday’s game the biggest of the season so far

The Nationals are back at .500 once again, and now with just one game left before the trade deadline, it may decide the team’s strategy heading toward 4 pm Eastern Time on Tuesday.

Although in reality there isn’t much difference between 53-52 and 52-53, Rizzo needs to see some fight from his team to have confidence in buying or even holding pat and not selling.

If the Nats drop the game, then the front office may consider selling small pieces. Some of the relievers would make the most sense, but we’ll only really know after the game.

The Washington Nationals will send Jeremy Hellickson to the mound in this crucial matchup. With an off-day coming on Monday, it’s the last chance the players get to force the front office to bolster their roster.