Washington Nationals: Ways the Nationals Can Right the Ship

The Washington Nationals need a roster shakeup with some new faces to help them get through this tough stretch. Mike Rizzo cannot wait any longer.

The Washington Nationals are in the middle of a brutal May schedule that has the chance to break their season.

On top of that, their top three hitters, Anthony Rendon, Trea Turner, and Juan Soto have all missed extended time with various injuries. With an underperforming bullpen and a lineup which resembles a Grapefruit League team more than a regular season one, the Nationals need to make some changes before it’s too late.

This is going to require a lot of roster maneuvering on Mike Rizzo’s part, with some tough decisions along the way. With that being said, the Nationals can’t just sit back and hope the tides turn without doing anything when there is potential help in the farm system.

While Rendon coming back is huge, there is still a glaring need in the outfield with Soto on the IL and Michael A. Taylor most likely soon to follow. Andrew Stevenson is a serviceable fourth outfielder who plays very good defense, but he got hurt last night, and the severity of his injury is unknown.

The 2019 Nationals resemble last years team in all of the wrong ways.  To prevent missing the playoffs for the second year in a row, changes must be made.  In his piece, we are going to look at a few options that are on the table for the Nationals front office and management.

Call Up A New Prospect

The Nationals have an interesting, if not intriguing prospect in Fresno right now in the form of Yadiel Hernandez. Hernandez was signed at 29 years-old out of Cuba back in 2016 and had not played baseball in over a year at the time he was signed. Even after not playing for a bit, he hasn’t missed a beat.

Hernandez is currently in AAA with a .366/.459/.699 slash line with nine home runs and 15 RBIs. He is a career .297/.382/.475 hitter throughout 2+ seasons in the Minor Leagues. His bat is ready, and the Nationals needs a boost.

Here’s the tough part – Hernandez is not on the 40-man roster and with Koda Glover already having been transferred to the 60-day IL, the Nationals will need to DFA somebody to make a spot available. Kyle McGowin, who was acquired from the Angels in the Danny Espinosa trade, would be a likely candidate here.

McGowin looked decent, but not great throughout a 5-game stretch last season, where he posted a 5.87 ERA through 7 2/3 innings. He’s off to a 2-2 start with a 5.10 ERA in AAA this season.

Hernandez could provide a solid bat in the lineup until Soto comes back, at which point he could become the team’s fourth outfielder until Taylor comes back. Being 31 years old with the slash line he has, the team has to give him an opportunity sooner rather than later to see what they have.

Make Lineup Changes

With Rendon coming back tonight, that will allow Howie Kendrick to slide over to first base until either Matt Adams or Ryan Zimmerman can come back. When Kendrick needs a breather, both catchers must be in the game with one catching and one at first.

Both Kurt Suzuki and Yan Gomes are an upgrade in the lineup over Jake Noll. On top of that, we saw Noll’s sub-par defense at first base cost Anibal Sanchez two runs in the first inning in Philadelphia on Sunday, so there shouldn’t be a huge defensive drop off with Gomes or Suzuki at first.

The Nationals can’t afford to give other teams outs.  A lineup with Carter Kieboom, Noll, Stevenson, and the pitcher’s spot just isn’t going to cut it. Neither of those players has a slugging percentage over .325 this season.

Substituting Noll with Kendrick is a must while replacing Hernandez for Stevenson at least gives the Nationals the opportunity for a big offensive upgrade. Kieboom is striking out at a ridiculous 38% clip.

Unfortunately for Kieboom, the 21-year-old was forced into action too soon, but now there’s not much the club can do about it.

Sending Kieboom back down to AAA at this point would be a huge bruise in his development. Mike Rizzo is probably going to have to wear this one. With that being said, Davey Martinez needs to figure out the best spot in the lineup to give Kieboom some protection.

As he did by hitting Victor Robles 9th earlier in the season, Martinez will have to figure out which spot will give Kieboom the best opportunity to see strikes. Hitting in front of Eaton in the 9th spot is probably ideal. At that point, it will be on Kieboom to take the bat off his shoulders and make some contact.

The Bullpen Must Pitch Better

The Nationals bullpen struggles are well documented. We’re waiting to see if Trevor Rosenthal can come back to form, which would be a huge boost if he can. Until then, the Nationals can’t continue to sit back and watch this dumpster fire burn while they have potential reinforcements.

Dan Jennings was added to the roster recently. Jennings showed he fits right in by giving up a 3-run, game-deciding bomb to Rhys Hoskins on Friday night. All kidding aside though, I think Jennings is going to be a huge piece to this bullpen going forward, so kudos to Rizzo for signing him and for getting him on the roster so quickly.

Following a beautiful three-game stretch where the bullpen didn’t allow a run, they were back to their old ways over the next five games by giving up 14 earned runs over 13 1/3 innings. That placed the Nationals right back where they were a week ago, dead last in MLB in bullpen ERA.

We’ve seen Joe Ross come up and have some success, although he was shelled on Saturday. We’ve seen Jennings, Austen Williams, Austin Adams, and Erick Fedde all get their shot. There’s still one arm in Harrisburg that deserves a chance.

James Bourque has a 1.15 ERA in 15 2/3 innings with 24 strikeouts so far for the Harrisburg Senators. That’s coming off a season where he posted a 1.70 ERA in 53 innings with 76 strikeouts between Potomac and Harrisburg. The 25-year old hasn’t pitched in AAA yet, but it may be time to give him the call-up.

The bullpen is in dire need of somebody who can get consistent outs. Bourque throws strikes, and his mid to upper 90s fastball will play in the Majors. Wander Suero and Ross both have options left, meaning the club could send one of them down to promote Bourque.

Being that Fedde is now being transitioned to a reliever for the remainder of the season, sending Ross back down to stretch back out would be the Nationals best decision. They’re playing with fire by converting their two best “reserve” starting pitchers into relievers. The Nationals can’t expect their five starting pitchers to stay healthy all season, especially when two of those five are Stephen Strasburg and Sanchez. Having to allow Henderson Alvarez or Austin Voth to start any meaningful game would be a mistake.