Like much in baseball, easier said than done….who are you going to give up for these pitchers? And, like folks said above, they traded away 3 - Bennett, Ferrer, Garcia (4 if you count Gore), and didn’t get much (yet) in return. Perhaps this group undervalued pitching?
On balance though, they are 48-48 in a season where I though 52-110 was a possibility given the lack of talent - a very remote possibility, but, to me, more likely than 81-83 wins.
I still think they are playing above their heads and the hitting will regress while the pitching gets worse, but they’ve proven me wrong time and time again this season.
I see a 2nd half collapse coming - like 24-26 more wins only, for 72-74 for the year…which would be much better than last year. I hope this resilient club proves me wrong yet again, but we shall see.
Perhaps it's not the system at all. Perhaps the talent is just no good enough. And since we've brought up everyone imaginable from among our prospects, the only solution is to buy or trade for, better talent. It may not be possible to do so right now; it just may not be available at any reasonable cost. If so, we will have to wait until the off-season and accept that, with this bull pen, we are only a .500 team.
It didn't help that the park was so full of NYY fans. The cheer that went up when the game ended was absolutely deafening. Frankly, I hope it made the guys -- and Toboni! -- sick. Nobody should have to hear that at home.
The Yankees, Red Sox, Cubs, Phillies and Dodgers fans take over nearly every MLB stadium….winning teams for decades, huge cities, lots of wealth there….not just DC. Want to shut them up? Win.
When Paul Toboni invests in pitching then they’ll win. Right now he looks like an analytic redo of Mike Rizzo. It doesn’t matter what strategy Butera tries. When your bullpen sucks it sucks. And the starting pitching with a few exceptions isn’t far behind.
I don’t think it’s the coaching approach, it’s execution. How many waiver wire guys and DFA reclamation projects are the Nats going to cycle through in hopes of finding a diamond in the rough?
I’m optimistic, and I’m not the most critical fan when it comes to the prevailing theories about the Lerners being unwilling to spend. They brought in a great new manager and front office. They are clearly improving the organization from top to bottom. But no matter what happens, until we see an extension for one of these young stars, a trade for a starter with a good reputation, or a big FA signing, we have to assume this team is unwilling to expand payroll to improve. The perception that ownership is preventing the team from competing is the elephant in the room and it makes me a lot more willing to turn the game off at the end of the 7th inning, no matter how much fun this season has been.
I guess it wasn’t so clearly the wrong move to pull Beeter last night in favor of Krook as it appeared to most yesterday. Talk about flipping the script. Krook finished the last 5 outs with 0 hits and 0 runs, after Beeter blew the save unable to record a single out. When Krook took over it was still a winnable 2-run game. Strange game, baseball. Butera’s decision making doesn’t seem so black and white today in terms of right or wrong.
Just because Krook inexplicably did well tonight once the lead was already blown doesn't mean he was the right decision yesterday instead of Beeter, because Krook blew that lead.
Maybe the real answer is no one in this bullpen is dependable and there is never a right choice, except finding a way besides recycling waiver wires to beef up the bullpen.
It may be already too late as the Nats are now fading from wild card contention. A real shame one of the premier offenses in MLB likely will not get to the postseason.
What this says is, Toboni and the rest of the Nats’ front office don’t know who is a good MLB pitcher and who isn’t. If Krook’s performance today is “inexplicable” then Toboni is an idiot for signing him and today’s performance is just random one-in-a-million dumb luck, and last night’s performance is what anyone with baseball knowledge expected would happen.
Alternatively, it’s not inexplicable how Krook performed today. It’s exactly how Toboni expected him to perform. Otherwise, he would not have signed him, isn’t that correct?
And what about all the other bullpen pitchers Toboni has signed who generally pitch badly but inexplicably sometimes pitch well? This is just getting silly. He's taking a bunch of flyers on pitchers hoping someone actually can be salvaged. If you really think he's choosing all of them because he thinks they'll all pitch like Krook did once today all the time, then you are saying he's a terrible judge of talent.
I generally respect your posts as being logical and well informed, but you're betting the wrong horse on this one.
No, that’s not correct. Krook is just the latest discard Toboni has been forced to shuffle through. All the other relievers he’s signed who were either DFA’d or otherwise cast off (who have made up a significant portion of our BP this season) have been inconsistent at best, although some have had moments. That’s why he’s continuing to sign discards. It’s his main, desperate option until they trade for, sign, or develop some better pitchers.
On the surface you might be right and you have a case to make. But selecting Krook to close against the Yankees in one of his first games as a Nat and with his track record was still pretty dang peculiar. High leverage spots, and closing in particular, require extra fortitude as well as ability.
I’d like to say it’s good that Butera seemed more “flexible” today but he may also have been driven more by what were his available options for this game.
Burning lefties as openers also reduced his choices of lefties later in these last couple games. Let’s hope Cavalli is “on” tomorrow.
Wasn’t happy about Krook coming in last night, but the Ribalta and Beeter we saw today is pretty typical performances for them. They have no one who would pitch 8th or 9th innings on a competitive team.
Minor note: today was Dylan Crews' 162nd career MLB game
162 G, .214/.280/.353, 19 HR, 34 SB, 0.9 fWAR
6.9 BB%, 22.2 K%, .249 BABIP
Notably, his wOBA vs. xwOBA split is .281 vs .315, as he's underperformed his expected numbers in each of his 3 seasons with the Nats so far. This year, he's running a .320 xwOBA, which is dead on league average. His BABIP in a full composite season would have rated 4th lowest in baseball among qualified hitters in 2025. Think the best is yet to come with him, but even if he regresses to just an average bat, his speed and glove will make him at least a solid supplementary player moving forward.
I think it’s more than a minor note. He now has had nearly 600 at bats. His batting stats across all three partial seasons are all similiar. Not sure what they can do to change his trajectory that hasn’t been tried. It’s not a lack of effort, he is a hard worker and serious.
The old adage of,” you can’t make a silk purse out of a sow’s ear” is my best analogy for the Nats BP. And yes the big red elephant in the room is spelled, “Lerner.” I wish Mark Lerner would take Lerner Lesson from father…put your money where your mouth is or sell the team!!!
With even a competent bullpen we’d be in good position for wild card this year. But 27 blown saves at the mid point of the season???!
Strategy moving forward is crystal clear. Invest money and/or prospects in improving the bullpen. Scrap heap strategy has not worked for Rizzo or Toboni.
Doing the opposite sure worked out better for George Costanza… Bullpen I believe has 27 saves to go with the 27 blown saves, so .500 is the theme and the result of the day…
Giving up Bennett seemed risky when it happened, was pretty sure he would be good. Apparently Toboni loves Peralta from Boston for his stuff and possible upside. I understood why they thought the needed Ford, but clearly he is not on track for the majors….
When the manager says he is searching for answers, that’s when management helps their manager out and actually gets someone that can close a game.
Like much in baseball, easier said than done….who are you going to give up for these pitchers? And, like folks said above, they traded away 3 - Bennett, Ferrer, Garcia (4 if you count Gore), and didn’t get much (yet) in return. Perhaps this group undervalued pitching?
On balance though, they are 48-48 in a season where I though 52-110 was a possibility given the lack of talent - a very remote possibility, but, to me, more likely than 81-83 wins.
I still think they are playing above their heads and the hitting will regress while the pitching gets worse, but they’ve proven me wrong time and time again this season.
I see a 2nd half collapse coming - like 24-26 more wins only, for 72-74 for the year…which would be much better than last year. I hope this resilient club proves me wrong yet again, but we shall see.
I'd say they need some Dapper Dan, 'cause, "Damn, they're in a tight spot!"
Let's take the finale at home before the ASG! GO NATS!!
Don’t want Fop: I’m a Dapper Dan man.
Why did Mikolas only go four innings?
It's a mystery
Perhaps it's not the system at all. Perhaps the talent is just no good enough. And since we've brought up everyone imaginable from among our prospects, the only solution is to buy or trade for, better talent. It may not be possible to do so right now; it just may not be available at any reasonable cost. If so, we will have to wait until the off-season and accept that, with this bull pen, we are only a .500 team.
The worst part is that this bullpen seems to force the MLB-best offence to be a seller at the trade deadline...
It didn't help that the park was so full of NYY fans. The cheer that went up when the game ended was absolutely deafening. Frankly, I hope it made the guys -- and Toboni! -- sick. Nobody should have to hear that at home.
Guess it's been a while since you've been to a Nats home game vs the Yankees, Mets, Cubs, or Phillies ......
The Yankees, Red Sox, Cubs, Phillies and Dodgers fans take over nearly every MLB stadium….winning teams for decades, huge cities, lots of wealth there….not just DC. Want to shut them up? Win.
When Paul Toboni invests in pitching then they’ll win. Right now he looks like an analytic redo of Mike Rizzo. It doesn’t matter what strategy Butera tries. When your bullpen sucks it sucks. And the starting pitching with a few exceptions isn’t far behind.
Griffin fantastic
Alvarez 4 to 5 innings
Micko and Littel have been ok
Cavaliers has his moments
They do miss Irvin.
Bullpen is mostly hopeless.
It's a shame as the batting is a playoff team.
I'll pray to the baseball Gods they go into the all star break with a W..
If I Cade goes 8 innings. Bring in Griffin to close
Meant Cade sorry for typo
I don’t think it’s the coaching approach, it’s execution. How many waiver wire guys and DFA reclamation projects are the Nats going to cycle through in hopes of finding a diamond in the rough?
I’m optimistic, and I’m not the most critical fan when it comes to the prevailing theories about the Lerners being unwilling to spend. They brought in a great new manager and front office. They are clearly improving the organization from top to bottom. But no matter what happens, until we see an extension for one of these young stars, a trade for a starter with a good reputation, or a big FA signing, we have to assume this team is unwilling to expand payroll to improve. The perception that ownership is preventing the team from competing is the elephant in the room and it makes me a lot more willing to turn the game off at the end of the 7th inning, no matter how much fun this season has been.
I'm with ya
I guess it wasn’t so clearly the wrong move to pull Beeter last night in favor of Krook as it appeared to most yesterday. Talk about flipping the script. Krook finished the last 5 outs with 0 hits and 0 runs, after Beeter blew the save unable to record a single out. When Krook took over it was still a winnable 2-run game. Strange game, baseball. Butera’s decision making doesn’t seem so black and white today in terms of right or wrong.
Just because Krook inexplicably did well tonight once the lead was already blown doesn't mean he was the right decision yesterday instead of Beeter, because Krook blew that lead.
Maybe the real answer is no one in this bullpen is dependable and there is never a right choice, except finding a way besides recycling waiver wires to beef up the bullpen.
It may be already too late as the Nats are now fading from wild card contention. A real shame one of the premier offenses in MLB likely will not get to the postseason.
“inexplicably”
What this says is, Toboni and the rest of the Nats’ front office don’t know who is a good MLB pitcher and who isn’t. If Krook’s performance today is “inexplicable” then Toboni is an idiot for signing him and today’s performance is just random one-in-a-million dumb luck, and last night’s performance is what anyone with baseball knowledge expected would happen.
Alternatively, it’s not inexplicable how Krook performed today. It’s exactly how Toboni expected him to perform. Otherwise, he would not have signed him, isn’t that correct?
And what about all the other bullpen pitchers Toboni has signed who generally pitch badly but inexplicably sometimes pitch well? This is just getting silly. He's taking a bunch of flyers on pitchers hoping someone actually can be salvaged. If you really think he's choosing all of them because he thinks they'll all pitch like Krook did once today all the time, then you are saying he's a terrible judge of talent.
I generally respect your posts as being logical and well informed, but you're betting the wrong horse on this one.
No, that’s not correct. Krook is just the latest discard Toboni has been forced to shuffle through. All the other relievers he’s signed who were either DFA’d or otherwise cast off (who have made up a significant portion of our BP this season) have been inconsistent at best, although some have had moments. That’s why he’s continuing to sign discards. It’s his main, desperate option until they trade for, sign, or develop some better pitchers.
On the surface you might be right and you have a case to make. But selecting Krook to close against the Yankees in one of his first games as a Nat and with his track record was still pretty dang peculiar. High leverage spots, and closing in particular, require extra fortitude as well as ability.
I’d like to say it’s good that Butera seemed more “flexible” today but he may also have been driven more by what were his available options for this game.
Burning lefties as openers also reduced his choices of lefties later in these last couple games. Let’s hope Cavalli is “on” tomorrow.
Wasn’t happy about Krook coming in last night, but the Ribalta and Beeter we saw today is pretty typical performances for them. They have no one who would pitch 8th or 9th innings on a competitive team.
Minor note: today was Dylan Crews' 162nd career MLB game
162 G, .214/.280/.353, 19 HR, 34 SB, 0.9 fWAR
6.9 BB%, 22.2 K%, .249 BABIP
Notably, his wOBA vs. xwOBA split is .281 vs .315, as he's underperformed his expected numbers in each of his 3 seasons with the Nats so far. This year, he's running a .320 xwOBA, which is dead on league average. His BABIP in a full composite season would have rated 4th lowest in baseball among qualified hitters in 2025. Think the best is yet to come with him, but even if he regresses to just an average bat, his speed and glove will make him at least a solid supplementary player moving forward.
I think it’s more than a minor note. He now has had nearly 600 at bats. His batting stats across all three partial seasons are all similiar. Not sure what they can do to change his trajectory that hasn’t been tried. It’s not a lack of effort, he is a hard worker and serious.
The old adage of,” you can’t make a silk purse out of a sow’s ear” is my best analogy for the Nats BP. And yes the big red elephant in the room is spelled, “Lerner.” I wish Mark Lerner would take Lerner Lesson from father…put your money where your mouth is or sell the team!!!
With even a competent bullpen we’d be in good position for wild card this year. But 27 blown saves at the mid point of the season???!
Strategy moving forward is crystal clear. Invest money and/or prospects in improving the bullpen. Scrap heap strategy has not worked for Rizzo or Toboni.
Doing the opposite sure worked out better for George Costanza… Bullpen I believe has 27 saves to go with the 27 blown saves, so .500 is the theme and the result of the day…
Blake Butera can only put on the mound someone who is on the roster. The cupboard is bare. O brother!
I am sorry.. Did we lose again today in the fashion that has been a bit too familiar, or is the matrix broken?
🍺🍺⚾️⚾️⚾️🍺🍺🤷🏼♀️🙋🏼♀️
Jose A Ferer and Robert Garcia would surely make a difference….And the Bennett trade looks pretty bad right now
Giving up Bennett seemed risky when it happened, was pretty sure he would be good. Apparently Toboni loves Peralta from Boston for his stuff and possible upside. I understood why they thought the needed Ford, but clearly he is not on track for the majors….