Honest questions, and ones raised by Al and Mark on the pod: Did you have the Nats at one game under .500 at the AS break prior to the season? And if so, would you be pleased or disappointed?
I did not have the Nats at or near .500 at the AS break. And I am very pleased that they finished a bit under, because an optimism bias leads to bad decisions. We shouldn't pretend that the Nats are a good team. They're no longer terrible, and they have the makings of a good team. But I don't want Toboni & Co. getting involved with "win now" foolishness. Starting pitching is at best "meh" even with Griffin, who must be traded or extended. Relief is ghastly. Neither the true shortstop (Nuñez) nor the CF can hit well, and the DH position is weak. Can we believe Ruiz's numbers?
If the Nats are willing to spend cash money over the winter, they can become a genuine .500+ team next year. And with their oncoming talent stream, I think they can be a genuine contender in 2028, and won't be pressured to match the ginormous contract that Abrams is likely to get in 2029. But they're not there yet.
Although a bummer of a final series still a great first half for the boys! Hopefully everyone gets some rest. That includes you Mark! Thanks for all the great coverage over the 1st half.
I do hope Mark gets well-deserved rest. But not before he gives us a full summary of the Nats’ picks in the draft. So far I’ve only seen the nice piece on Chris Hacopian.
Groundhog day, 3.0. The outcome of today’s game was as inevitable as the sun rising this morning.
On the bright side, they were 2-3 average MLB relief pitchers away from sweeping the mighty Yankees on the road (let’s face it, the park was Yankee Stadium South all weekend). Sadly, this team, now that Lord is injured, doesn’t have any MLB-caliber relievers.
Butera’s tried everything and this pen just can’t get it done.
Long, hard 65 games to go. How many more games will this wretched crew blow?
I believe 11 more blown saves secures the mlb record for blown saves. 65 games should be more than enough to (comfortably) get that done, but I’m not a bitter and twisted old man!😁😢
Yankees are a good team. Nats are 2/3rds of a good team with the other third being putrid. Super fun first half, feels like (knock on wood) they've forestalled an Abrams trade with their performance so far this year, which is a win in itself. Trade for a couple cheap serviceable relievers, and see if the threshold for a wild card dips to the low 80s. Give Dylan Crews all the run he can. Then go into next winter with your work cut out for you to fill out a pitching staff, spend a little coin, and go into 2027 genuinely optimistic.
Was at the game and had the good sense to leave after bottom 7 because I've seen this movie WAY to00 many times (was at all three of this week-end games and all three Phillies losses). Of some note, (1) crowd cheer from two blocks away was so loud on the Rice triple I thought Nats had gotten the out, and (2) just saw the replay of said triple. EXTREMELY catchable ball. I've cut Crews all the slack I'm willing to cut...
What is the statistical probability of losing game after game in the same fashion. Lead into the 8th and then everything falls apart. Just counting the Yankees and Phillies that's 6 games just in last couple of weeks. Also was is just too noisy today at the ball park or what.. I could barely hear the announcers.
Leave 22 guys on-base, and any pitching staff will have trouble holding leads with no margin for error. Imagine if Dylan Crews and Brady House were hitting like first-rounders. Look we all know this team doesn’t have a deep or reliable pitching staff. They also don’t have a deep or reliable group of right handed hitters.
Zero of our relievers have a strikeout pitch. All of them have multiple pitches that they can throw for ball four, or a four-bagger. Not a good combination. Minor league pitchers facing major league hitters exacerbates the challenges. What will the Lerners do when the talent demands to be traded?
Hadn’t checked in a while but basic game stats (not advanced, which are too advanced for me to find) suggest his offensive game has picked up during June and July.
Being better than Millas ought not to be an insurmountable hurdle.
The only time I felt badly for Matt Williams when he was manager was when the team was collapsing in 2015 and absolutely every bullpen move he made blew up in his face.
Williams did a poor job of managing that bullpen. As I recall, much of the poor bullpen performance reportedly had to do with relievers being overused including getting pitchers “hot” in the pen multiple times in a game or not using them at all after multiple warmups.
Williams was doomed when he lost the clubhouse, especially when vets like Werth consistently badmouthed him to the beat reporters.
I am not now nor have I ever been a Matt Williams apologist. But I vividly remember stretches during the latter part of 2015 when even the moves that made sense to me blew up in his face.
“Find the guy who’s currently getting outs and pitch him til he breaks” is a strategy I associate with Martinez.
Just saw that no team claimed Hassell and he is back with Rochester. His career is suddenly at a dead end to be passed over by by every team in the league.
same thing happened against Phillies. The good teams pound Nats in late innings. Nats have no chance, zero, nada, against them because of the way Lerners didn't allow (allowed) the management to construct the team. These are truly terrible owners. They count on fans being happy with mediocrity and heartbreaking defeats.
It will get worse. Lerners won't even try seriously to sign Wood or Abrams to long term deal; they won't offer a good contract to Griffin. They won't trade for a reliever or two and they won't sign the two quality SPs they need. They will tell us, indirectly, to be happy with circling around the drain of winning half the games. Like almost every team can do without much effort. They are truly awful owners, just not as blatant as the miserable ownership of the Angels. But right down toward the bottom.
Well they gonna have to do better than that now that everyone has to buy streaming rights to watch games and pay crazy gas prices to get to games. Do they seriously want to stay in the red or spend some to make some?
Mark Z. asked him (if I heard correctly) if it made any difference being a game below .500 versus .500 or better at the break. He said, "we just want to win games." Pretty much the answer you'd expect.
Well they didn't sweep us, we sweot ourselves with no clutch hitting and lousy late inning pitching. Geez Lerners hire a closer.
Not the Lerners job that’s up to Taboni to find not only a closer but better late inning pitchers all the way around
Honest questions, and ones raised by Al and Mark on the pod: Did you have the Nats at one game under .500 at the AS break prior to the season? And if so, would you be pleased or disappointed?
I thought they’d be where the Mets are and if you told me that they’d be 1 game under .500 at the AS break I would be pleased.
I did not have the Nats at or near .500 at the AS break. And I am very pleased that they finished a bit under, because an optimism bias leads to bad decisions. We shouldn't pretend that the Nats are a good team. They're no longer terrible, and they have the makings of a good team. But I don't want Toboni & Co. getting involved with "win now" foolishness. Starting pitching is at best "meh" even with Griffin, who must be traded or extended. Relief is ghastly. Neither the true shortstop (Nuñez) nor the CF can hit well, and the DH position is weak. Can we believe Ruiz's numbers?
If the Nats are willing to spend cash money over the winter, they can become a genuine .500+ team next year. And with their oncoming talent stream, I think they can be a genuine contender in 2028, and won't be pressured to match the ginormous contract that Abrams is likely to get in 2029. But they're not there yet.
Although a bummer of a final series still a great first half for the boys! Hopefully everyone gets some rest. That includes you Mark! Thanks for all the great coverage over the 1st half.
I do hope Mark gets well-deserved rest. But not before he gives us a full summary of the Nats’ picks in the draft. So far I’ve only seen the nice piece on Chris Hacopian.
Groundhog day, 3.0. The outcome of today’s game was as inevitable as the sun rising this morning.
On the bright side, they were 2-3 average MLB relief pitchers away from sweeping the mighty Yankees on the road (let’s face it, the park was Yankee Stadium South all weekend). Sadly, this team, now that Lord is injured, doesn’t have any MLB-caliber relievers.
Butera’s tried everything and this pen just can’t get it done.
Long, hard 65 games to go. How many more games will this wretched crew blow?
I'll say 40.
I believe 11 more blown saves secures the mlb record for blown saves. 65 games should be more than enough to (comfortably) get that done, but I’m not a bitter and twisted old man!😁😢
Yankees are a good team. Nats are 2/3rds of a good team with the other third being putrid. Super fun first half, feels like (knock on wood) they've forestalled an Abrams trade with their performance so far this year, which is a win in itself. Trade for a couple cheap serviceable relievers, and see if the threshold for a wild card dips to the low 80s. Give Dylan Crews all the run he can. Then go into next winter with your work cut out for you to fill out a pitching staff, spend a little coin, and go into 2027 genuinely optimistic.
No the Nats are 1/3 of a good team. The BP is putrid and the SP is mediocre at best.
If they had both an average bullpen and rotation, what do you think their record would be right now?
No on Crews
Quality of contact is too good to give up yet. Let him hit his way out of it and if he doesn't you can make other plans for 2027.
Hard for Crews to hit when he starts every count 0-2
Was at the game and had the good sense to leave after bottom 7 because I've seen this movie WAY to00 many times (was at all three of this week-end games and all three Phillies losses). Of some note, (1) crowd cheer from two blocks away was so loud on the Rice triple I thought Nats had gotten the out, and (2) just saw the replay of said triple. EXTREMELY catchable ball. I've cut Crews all the slack I'm willing to cut...
What is the statistical probability of losing game after game in the same fashion. Lead into the 8th and then everything falls apart. Just counting the Yankees and Phillies that's 6 games just in last couple of weeks. Also was is just too noisy today at the ball park or what.. I could barely hear the announcers.
Too noisy...you should have asked those Yankees fans to quiet down...
Leave 22 guys on-base, and any pitching staff will have trouble holding leads with no margin for error. Imagine if Dylan Crews and Brady House were hitting like first-rounders. Look we all know this team doesn’t have a deep or reliable pitching staff. They also don’t have a deep or reliable group of right handed hitters.
Yet the Nats have been one of the best scoring offenses in all of MLB this year. This club would have a winning record with just an average bullpen.
Zero of our relievers have a strikeout pitch. All of them have multiple pitches that they can throw for ball four, or a four-bagger. Not a good combination. Minor league pitchers facing major league hitters exacerbates the challenges. What will the Lerners do when the talent demands to be traded?
Ferrer traded for who??
Catcher Harry Ford.
Speaking of disappointment with early returns.
Hadn’t checked in a while but basic game stats (not advanced, which are too advanced for me to find) suggest his offensive game has picked up during June and July.
Being better than Millas ought not to be an insurmountable hurdle.
Butera sounds exhausted in the postgame presser, understandibly so.
The only time I felt badly for Matt Williams when he was manager was when the team was collapsing in 2015 and absolutely every bullpen move he made blew up in his face.
At least that’s how I remember it.
Williams did a poor job of managing that bullpen. As I recall, much of the poor bullpen performance reportedly had to do with relievers being overused including getting pitchers “hot” in the pen multiple times in a game or not using them at all after multiple warmups.
Williams was doomed when he lost the clubhouse, especially when vets like Werth consistently badmouthed him to the beat reporters.
I am not now nor have I ever been a Matt Williams apologist. But I vividly remember stretches during the latter part of 2015 when even the moves that made sense to me blew up in his face.
“Find the guy who’s currently getting outs and pitch him til he breaks” is a strategy I associate with Martinez.
He was POed and that is good. Don’t want to settle for saying they exceeded preseason expectations.
Just saw that no team claimed Hassell and he is back with Rochester. His career is suddenly at a dead end to be passed over by by every team in the league.
same thing happened against Phillies. The good teams pound Nats in late innings. Nats have no chance, zero, nada, against them because of the way Lerners didn't allow (allowed) the management to construct the team. These are truly terrible owners. They count on fans being happy with mediocrity and heartbreaking defeats.
Jacob would have caught the ball and is a better hitter.
Took Garcia out of lineup...???
Lefty shmefty..
For a team so into “analytics” strict L/R matchups seem incredibly primitive.
Jacob Young was unavailable. His hand is still sore. Hopefully he heals up and is ready to go after the break!
It will get worse. Lerners won't even try seriously to sign Wood or Abrams to long term deal; they won't offer a good contract to Griffin. They won't trade for a reliever or two and they won't sign the two quality SPs they need. They will tell us, indirectly, to be happy with circling around the drain of winning half the games. Like almost every team can do without much effort. They are truly awful owners, just not as blatant as the miserable ownership of the Angels. But right down toward the bottom.
Well they gonna have to do better than that now that everyone has to buy streaming rights to watch games and pay crazy gas prices to get to games. Do they seriously want to stay in the red or spend some to make some?
I gotta cut Butera some slack anyway. Went 2019 with the 'pen (putting in starter in relief) and result the same
Butera sounds absolutely defeated in the presser.
I think he needs this break as much as any of his players. Don’t need to be projecting that vibe.
Reset and start fresh against some pretty beatable opponents.
For sure.
Mark Z. asked him (if I heard correctly) if it made any difference being a game below .500 versus .500 or better at the break. He said, "we just want to win games." Pretty much the answer you'd expect.
“Playoffs? You kidding me? Playoffs?
“I just hope we can win a game.”
I did not watch but apparently Eli Willits popped out and drew a walk in the Futures Game.
The best part of 2018 All Star week as far as I was concerned.
I saw his pop-up, but then switched to the Nats