Vladimir Guerrero Jr. is the least of Washington Nationals’ worries

For Montreal Expos fans who have become Washington Nationals fans, seeing Vladimir Guerrero Jr. hit three home runs at the expense of their team was bittersweet. Vlad Jr., like his father, has sheer power and when he is locked in, can do serious damage. The Nationals saw this first hand, as the younger Guerrero became the youngest player since 1901 to hit three home runs in a game.

Single handedly he beat the Nationals. However, the Nationals need not be concerned with Vlad Guerrero. The’ll face him one more time before leaving town. Guerrero’s hitting exploits were something special, but he’ll be forgotten about the minute the Nationals leave Dunedin. The real issues are the other downfalls which be-felled the Nationals in their game against the Toronto Blue Jays.

Vladimir Guerrero Jr. had a night to remember at the expense of the Washington Nationals.

How many of you thought the game was over when the Nationals handed Max Scherzer a 3-0 lead? Yeah, me too. Nineteen straight scoreless innings under his belt before the Guerrero grand slam in the third inning. Scherzer has allowed the same number of long balls as walks he’s issued this season. That’s alarming.

Some will say Josh Harrison getting thrown out stealing is a bad move. On the heels of getting thrown out in the Mets series, and Victor Robles getting thrown out trying for an extra base, sure. He’s being aggressive. I’ll take that. I’d rather that, than having a runner at third base with no outs, and stranding him.

One inning after falling behind 4-3, the Nationals put runners on the corners with no outs, then loaded the bases with one out. They left empty handed. The following inning they put runners on first and second with one out, and again walked away with no runs. For a team struggling to score, leaving opportunities on the field like this can’t happen.

The Josh Harrison error. The wind must have been playing havoc here. Maybe Yadiel Hernandez needs to charge in harder and take that ball. Hard to blame him when Harrison was camped under it on the edge of the dirt before having to back peddle. This error led to two runs. Extra outs can not be given, runs can not be given away.

Josh Bell is now hitting .109 and is striking out at an alarming rate. Kyle Schwarber is hitting .196 and is striking out at an alarming rate. These are the four and five hitters in the lineup. Dropping them in the batting order is one thing. Benching Bell in favor of Ryan Zimmerman is another.

Players like Vlad Guerrero are going to have games like he did. The issues the Nationals continue to have are going to have a longer lasting effect than one three-homer game at their expense.