After another humiliating loss, the Washington Nationals are at a new low. The chance for a season comeback has passed.
The Washington Nationals lost their second game in a row to the hapless and dysfunctional New York Mets. This is the same Mets team that had to call a press conference before Monday’s game for general manager Brodie Van Wagenen to say that he was not firing manager Mickey Callaway.
This is the same Mets team that got swept by the worst team in Major League Baseball, the Miami Marlins, merely days ago and only mustered three hits in the final two games of the series.
By losing these two games, it signals the unofficial end of the 2019 Nationals season.
On April 2, I said the Nats season was in jeopardy. Some people thought it was insane to write the team off three games into the season. Perhaps I was not crazy, after all.
With the season approximately 30% complete, the Nationals sit ten games under .500. This is the farthest under .500 the Nationals have been since September 11, 2011.
Additionally, the Nats sit 9.0 games back in the National League East and 6.5 games back of the second N.L. Wild Card spot.
The Nats are also 7.5 games behind the Braves for second place in the N.L. East, and will likely fall farther behind the Mets in the next two days.
And there is no reason to think things will get any better.
The Lerner family is not signing Craig Kimbrel. There are no MLB-ready bullpen arms remaining in the farm system for Mike Rizzo to call up.
Davey Martinez got thrown a lifeline in Tanner Rainey at the beginning of the week but mismanaged him last night.
Here’s another issue for Washington’s bullpen, anytime someone starts to pitch well (or even throw one scoreless appearance) they get over-exposed and have to pitch in every high leverage situation ever.
— Jamal Collier (@JamalCollier) May 22, 2019
Rainey threw 13 pitches on Monday in a shutout inning. So obviously, the logical next step is to send him out on Tuesday and let him throw 33 more.
His outing resulted in two earned runs: the game-tying run and the go-ahead run.
It’s idiotic, unacceptable, and unfortunately, it has become a predictable trait of Martinez.
Last season, after the team completed their firesale at the trade deadline, Nationals principal owner Mark D. Lerner said this about his team:
"“When something isn’t working, you evaluate the situation and take the necessary steps to improve it. You don’t just stand by, cross your fingers, and hope for the best.”"
In 2019, there has been a lot of standing around, finger crossing, and hoping. As the cliche goes, actions speak louder than words. It’s very true in this case as the Nats had every opportunity to fix the team and have failed to do so.
Now, it is too late. The 2019 Nationals will miss the postseason for the second year in a row and finish under .500 for the first time since 2011.