I can't stop winning!
At least, that's what Nationals fans are saying Tuesday, as the team broke through to reach a winning record at or beyond the 55-game threshold for the first time since the start of July in 2021, nearly five years ago.
A day removed from toppling Atlanta, the best team in baseball, in a 3-game set, the Nats headed to Cleveland to take on the American League's third-best record in the Guardians and dismantled them. Starter Tanner Bibee was jumped for seven runs over three innings as the team hit six home runs in a game for the second time this month.
The last time the Nationals finished a game this far into the season or later above .500 was actually a loss on July 1, 2021. A rain-shortened five-inning affair in DC saw Patrick Corbin yield a 5th-inning grand slam to Max Muncy as a pitiful trio of Starlin Castro, Alex Avila, and Víctor Robles went up the middle for the Nats. The June of Kyle Schwarber had just come to a close, and after failing to desperately cling onto contention, Mike Rizzo would initiate a slow, burning sale of the team's pieces, starting with Max Scherzer, Trea Turner, Daniel Hudson, Yan Gomes, and Josh Harrison.
It was the beginning of the end of those Nationals. Today, they experience a much different, more positive reality. It's not a secret that the Nationals have allowed the most runs in Major League Baseball this year, but they're making plenty of noise with the bats to offset that. They've scored more runs than any other team in the majors and are now top 5 in wRC+, home runs, and stolen bases.
As the start of All-Star voting approaches, the Nationals roster a top-5 bat in wRC+ among outfielders in James Wood along with the best-hitting shortstop in MLB in CJ Abrams. Behind them is a supporting cast including Keibert Ruiz, who, by some act of God, is hitting 60 points above his xwOBA; Jacob Young, who's hit more home runs this year than he had in his entire career; and Luis García Jr., who seems healthy enough to finally start attacking pitches in the strike zone and has shown encouraging signs all throughout May.
Another key factor in that supporting cast is the unlikely Curtis Mead. I sold Mead on you all a few weeks ago. After starting out in a small-side platoon role at first base with Luis García Jr., Mead is now forcing his way into the top half of the everyday lineup--even against same-handed pitching--and is thriving. In fact, following the demotion of Brady House, he's entered the top spot on the third base depth chart.
Entering play Sunday afternoon, Mead had a .406 OBP in the time since I wrote that piece on him. He followed it up with two home runs for 3 RBI. His 7 home runs for the year have, like Jacob Young, now surpassed his major league total entering this season. I'll put it this way--if my piece two weeks ago wasn't enough to get you to pick him up off your fantasy waiver wire, you probably missed out.
For the first time in ages, this looks like a true, full-fledged major league offense. The pitching is another story, but things haven't been so awful there, lately, either. Yes, the bullpen has been gassed, and the roster shuffle has well and truly begun, but after disastrous beginnings, Miles Mikolas and Zack Littell have each given the Nationals genuinely strong efforts--combining for 12 innings of one-run ball--each of their last times out.
The pitching doesn't need to be great; it might not even need to be solid if this is what's gotten the Nats to 28-27. If the offense keeps chugging, a few good breaks might be all the Nationals need to get back to the dance. There's a long way to go before that, though.
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