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Nathaniel Lowe was preaching the need to remain patient, to avoid panicking at this point, following Sunday’s 6-1 loss to the Cardinals. The Nationals had just been swept over the weekend and completed a miserable, 1-5 homestand that dropped them to a season-low seven games under .500.
“But you can’t win the World Series tomorrow,” Lowe said. “You can’t fix your entire stat line in one at-bat. We need to continue to work pitch to pitch and keep going.”
As the only member of the current roster who actually has won the World Series – in 2023 with the Rangers – Lowe’s words carry a little more weight than most within a highly inexperienced clubhouse. But how patient can the Nats afford to be right now?
The season is one-quarter complete, and the Nationals are 17-24. That’s a 67-win pace over a full season, which would represent a four-game regression from the last two seasons.
They’re nine games out in the NL East. They’re seven games back in the NL wild card race, with only three teams currently behind them: the Marlins, Pirates and Rockies (the last two of which fired their managers in recent days).
What’s the balance, Lowe was asked, between showing no panic and showing some legitimate urgency here in mid-May?
“That’s the $10 million question, isn’t it?” he replied. “If we had all the answers, we’d like to snap our fingers and figure it all out. But it’s a long season. It’s a lot of ups and downs. Ideally, you just want them to get a little smaller and trend up the rest of the way.”
Only a week ago, the Nationals did seem to be taking some baby steps in the right direction. After winning two of three in Cincinnati, then winning the opener of a doubleheader against the Guardians, they improved to 17-19. Considering their 1-6 opening week of the season, their 16-13 record since was something to be proud of.
But five straight losses at home doused those flames of encouragement in a hurry. Now, it would take a perfect 7-0 road trip to Atlanta and Baltimore just to get back to the .500 mark. Even a 4-3 week, while successful, would only leave the Nats at 21-27 when they get back to town.
“I think we’re close,” left-hander MacKenzie Gore said. “We’re frustrated. This was a tough homestand. We’ve got to be a little better as a group. We’re doing a lot of good things. We’re just not quite doing enough to win right now. It’s just one thing here and there, and you start winning games. No need to panic. But we do have to clean some things up, and we do need to start winning games.”
What do the Nationals need to do to start winning games? Let us count the ways …
* Early offense: If it feels like they’re always playing from behind, it’s true. They’ve now given up the first run (or runs) in 12 of their last 15 games. Manager Davey Martinez keeps preaching the need to score first to take pressure off everyone, and there’s validity in that sentiment.
* Quality starts: The most encouraging aspect of the season’s first month was the rotation’s ability to minimize damage, and actually dominate on a somewhat regular basis. But each of the last four days, Nats starters have been charged with four earned runs. Given their offensive woes, that’s not good enough.
* Production from the bottom half of the lineup: Of course, every team is going to get more offense from the guys at the top of the order than the bottom, but the disparity in production for the Nationals is pretty extreme. Their No. 1-2 hitters have a combined .792 OPS. Their No. 3-6 hitters have a .687 OPS. Their No. 7-9 hitters have a .618 OPS.
* Some bullpen stability: The worst bullpen in the majors continues to be a major problem, but maybe there’s some hope. Kyle Finnegan shook off back-to-back blown saves to return to form. Jose A. Ferrer’s five-run blowup Tuesday was bad, but that’s the only game he’s been scored upon in five May outings to date. Cole Henry has been scored upon in only one of his nine major league outings. Jackson Rutledge has given up earned runs in only one of his last eight appearances. Also, Lucas Sims, Colin Poche and Eduardo Salazar are no longer here.
