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Washington Nationals: Who Deserves The Blame?

By Danny Kelly

WASHINGTON, DC - MARCH 28: Max Scherzer #31 of the Washington Nationals talks with manager Dave Martinez #4 as he is removed from the game in the eighth inning against the New York Mets on Opening Day at Nationals Park on March 28, 2019 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Patrick McDermott/Getty Images)
WASHINGTON, DC - MARCH 28: Max Scherzer #31 of the Washington Nationals talks with manager Dave Martinez #4 as he is removed from the game in the eighth inning against the New York Mets on Opening Day at Nationals Park on March 28, 2019 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Patrick McDermott/Getty Images) /
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The Players

Here’s the deal, although Rizzo deserves the majority of the blame, these guys are all still Major Leaguers, and they need to start acting like it. As a team, striking out in 26.2% of your plate appearances is not going to get you very far. Playing defense like a little league team is going to help rack up a ton of losses and infuriate your pitching staff.

The Nationals offense, after getting one-hit on Sunday and then no-hit for 6+ innings on Monday night ranks 21st in runs scored, 22nd in OPS and 28th in strikeouts. Quite simply, this is a lousy offensive unit right now.

Sure, they were without Turner, Rendon, Soto, Ryan Zimmerman and Matt Adams for a six-game stretch, but the offense hasn’t been any better since Rendon and Soto returned. Nothing is showing us that the offense can or will turn it around. Good things happen when you put the ball in play, but this team can’t seem even to make contact.

The bullpen doesn’t get out of this unscathed either. Matt Grace, who has appeared in a team-leading 21 games, has an ERA of 7.11 right now. Wander Suero has an ERA of 6.19 through 18 games, and Dan Jennings quickly joined in on the fun and has allowed 6 ER in just three innings.

It’s hard to keep a lead when you have the worst bullpen in the Major Leagues. They’ve issued 61 walks through just 119 innings pitched, which is the fewest innings pitched by a relief corps in the Majors. Opponents are hitting .275 off the Nationals bullpen. Only Detroit is worse in that regard.

If these guys want to keep their jobs on a Major League club, they have to do better. They have to be mentally stronger, they have to put this horrid start behind them, and they have to be held accountable. If you’re not getting the job done, then maybe you don’t belong on the team, it’s as simple as that.

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