Previewing the final week of the 2024 Nationals' Season

The 2024 season had admittedly been a frustrating one for us Washington Nationals fans around the world. Although there have been some great moments and things to look back on fondly such as a lot of young talent making the majors and a fun trade deadline, the season overall has been a difficult one to watch at times.

Between watching one of the worst offense in team history with a stunning lack of power output and dealing with some absolutely gut-wrenching losses at times, it's no surprise that the Nationals are struggling to even meet their win total from 2023 at 71.

Coming into the final week of the 2024 season, the Nationals are 69-87 with two series remaining against a pair of presumed playoff teams in the Kansas City Royals and division foe Philadelphia Phillies. With the Nationals locked in to a 4th-place finish in the NL East, these games mean much more for both the Phillies and the Royals than they will for the Nats.

Starting with the Royals, who come to Nationals Park from Tuesday to Thursday, currently hold just a 1 game lead for the final AL Wild Card spot over their division rival Minnesota Twins, and will need to put their best foot forward against the Nats in order to at least retain their position in the Wild Card race. They currently are in the midst of a 7-game losing streak that has made their postseason hopes a whole lot more questionable than they were just over a week ago, especially with the recent hot streak of another AL Central team, the Detroit Tigers, moving them into a tie with the Royals in the standings. at 82-74.

They are led by superstar shortstop Bobby Witt Jr. who likely would be more of a thought in the AL MVP discussion if not for some guy named Aaron Judge up in New York. Witt comes into DC with an outstanding .334/.390/.598 slash line for a .988 OPS to go along with 32 homers, 108 RBIs, and 30 stolen bases. Behind him, the ageless wonder and Captain of the Royals Salvador Perez has turned in another really good season, and Kansas City will send their ace, lefty Cole Ragans, to the hill on Tuesday to kick off the series. The Royals need wins desperately, and it will be hard for the Nationals to keep pace.

For the final weekend series of the year, the Nats will welcome a familiar foe in the NL East Champion Philadelphia Phillies to town. The Phils, who currently sit at 93-64, are currently tied with the Los Angeles Dodgers in the win column for the 1 seed in the National League, but trail by 1 loss, and will undoubtedly be chasing that first seed to secure home field advantage for the postseason.

The Phillies are of course led by familiar names and former Nats in Bryce Harper, Trea Turner, and Kyle Schwarber, but have been carried at times by their phenomenal starting rotation. A postseason rotation of Zack Wheeler, Aaron Nola, Ranger Suárez, and Christopher Sánchez is up there with the best in the league, and as long as their lineup doesn't go ice cold in October, Philadelphia seems poised for a deep run again this year. As stated earlier, the Phillies would love nothing more than to be able to secure home field advantage for the playoffs, and it's hard to imagine them letting the Nationals stand in their way.

Before the season, I predicted the Nats to finish with a 76-86 record, which is now officially out of reach following the team's loss to the Cubs on Sunday. At this point, it would be almost surprising if the Nats were able to even match last season's win total of 71 wins considering the desire, need, and talent levels of their opponents over the final week of the season. Bottom line, this team should hopefully look a lot different next season (hopefully with some big additions) and we only have to watch this lineup for 6 more games this season. Just try to enjoy it, everybody.

What do you think the Nats' final 2024 record will be? As always, let me know on X, @DCBerk.

All stats in this article were provided by MLB.com.