Who's most to blame for the Nats' recent offensive struggles?

Look, this 2024 season has been a long one for us Washington Nationals fans. While the pitching has kept the team in games for a vast majority of the season, the hitting and overall offensive output has been almost unbearable to watch at times, especially recently.

I'll be one of the first to say I was not a fan of the Nationals being so quick to announce that Davey Martinez and his entire coaching staff would be returning for next season before the season had even ended. Given how poor the team has looked in certain aspects this year such as baserunning and hitting, it is completely fair to question what the organization has to gain by keeping all of the same coaches in place from a team that might not even break the 70 win mark this season. If they are just trying to establish continuity as more and more young talent comes to the bigs, then I can understand it, but you at least have to wait until the offseason to evaluate everything in my opinion.

What I was starting to get at is that hitting coach Darnell Coles, who has become a focal point of frustration for Nationals fans throughout the season, doesn't seem to be the long-term answer for that position. I want to make one thing clear in his defense: he has been dealt a bad hand. The current talent level in the lineup is not great, with guys like Joey Gallo, Ildemaro Vargas and others getting way too much playing time.

However, what's most concerning is the lack of adjustments and bouts of regression that some of the future building blocks of this team are going through. Most notably, the lack of adjustments from guys like Keibert Ruiz, CJ Abrams, and even Trey Lipscomb was maddening to watch as a fan.

The Nationals were swept earlier today by the Kansas City Royals, who certainly need to win ballgames a lot more than the Nats do right now, but the offensive output by the Nats was putrid. In fact, their season hit an all-time low on Wednesday as they were shutout for the third consecutive game, and hadn't scored since the 6th inning last Saturday against the Chicago Cubs, a scoreless streak that lasted 31 innings. Needless to say, that is absolutely inexcusable regardless of the talent level within your lineup.

Luckily for the Nats, they were finally able to break through by scoring on an infield groundout by Juan Yepez in the first inning on Thursday, before Luis Garcia Jr. added on to the Nats' offensive barrage (sarcasm) by adding a 3-run shot later in the game. Ultimately it was still not enough, as they ended up losing 7-4 and spoiling maybe their best chance to earn another win before the end of the season.

As to who I believe is most to blame for the struggles of the offense recently? I would say it's truly a combination of a number of things. I believe Darnell Coles is to blame in part because the team has truly struggled with plate approach and discipline throughout the entire season, and that has really blown up recently with the ugly struggles of the club. However, it's not entirely on him, as ultimately he's not the one standing in the box with the bat in his hand, the players are at fault as well.

With the Nats limping to the end of the season, we can only hope that the Nats will be able to muster up some more offense against a Phillies team that is hungry to steal the 1st seed in the National League away from the Dodgers. Surely, the Nats will be getting their best shot, as there is nothing more that Bryce Harper & company would love more than for the NL to run through Philadelphia.

I do believe that the solution is somewhere between adding better player personnel to the lineup as well as perhaps a coaching change, and getting these young bats a new voice to listen to and look up to in the clubhouse. While I would love for Coles to be replaced, I would truly be shocked if he wasn't the hitting coach coming back next season, but perhaps Mike Rizzo has a trick up his sleeve. Only time will tell.

Who do you think is most to blame for the ugliness that is the Washington Nationals' offense? As always, please let me know on X, @DCBerk.