Washington Nationals: Who Deserves The Blame?

Davey Martinez

I know this is the one we’ve all been waiting for. Davey Martinez, however, appears third on this list for a couple of reasons. As many have pointed out, he can’t swing the bat for his hitters, and he can’t throw strikes for his pitchers.

That’s all true, but his job is to have these guys prepared, be able to communicate with every one of them, put them in the best situation to win and to have some clue as to how to manage a Major League bullpen. He’s failed in 3 of 4 of those categories. Martinez is only, from what we hear, excellent at communicating with the players.

I’m tempted even to say he fails in all four categories, considering on numerous occasions, we’ve had a pitcher come in from the bullpen who we later find out is injured. That’s a communication issue, and that falls on the players and the manager. It’s happened twice in the past two seasons, and it’s unacceptable.

During Spring Training, Martinez harped on the fundamentals. Fans were promised this team would play cleaner baseball. That has not happened so far; in fact, the fundamentals have gotten worse.

Coming off of an off-day on Monday, the club didn’t look fresh and continued to play terrible defense which resulted in a 4-run first inning for the Mets. A 4-run first inning is almost insurmountable for this team right now. The game seemed out of reach right out of the gate.

A $197 million roster that never looks fresh and plays poor fundamental baseball is a poor reflection on the manager and the organization as a whole. Martinez should frankly be ashamed, but you would never see him get in a player’s face or remove a player from a game due to ineptitude.

Aside from Martinez’s complete inability to manage a bullpen, the most significant disconnect between Martinez and this team might be Martinez’s managerial style. Martinez wants to be best friends with every player on the team and let the clubhouse police itself. That’s great if you have a player or two in the clubhouse willing to police it, but this team doesn’t.

This team needs Joe Girardi or Buck Showalter. They need somebody who’s going to make sure you know right from wrong. They need somebody who’s going to pull you from the game if you do something stupid that the average Major League player wouldn’t do (I’m looking at you Victor Robles and Difo).

Martinez’s “I spoke with (insert name) after the game, and he knows he can’t do that” is a weak excuse that doesn’t work. It doesn’t matter that Robles is 21 years old. Getting picked off second base after a walk is unacceptable regardless of your age. Major Leaguers don’t do that.

Martinez is well-liked, but he is not the right manager for this team, and that shows on a nightly basis. The managerial spot is one spot that doesn’t count against the luxury tax, yet the managerial spot is one that has not been spent on since the Nationals came to D.C.