Nationals falling behind Braves in the NL East
The Washington Nationals were picked as the favorites to win the National League East and play deep into the postseason this year in Major League Baseball. Just last week, the Nationals were only a half game behind the first place Atlanta Braves in the division and it appeared the Nats were positioning themselves to take over the lead from the Braves.
However, things did not work out that way for the Nationals. Just over a week later, Washington has lost four straight games and 7 of their past 10 overall. The Nationals have been on a road trip out west and have not fared well seeing their record fall to 23-23.
Washington has had its problems this season with pitching and offense. The only real bright spot thus far in the pitching rotation for the Nationals is Jordan Zimmermann who has been close to unhittable most of the early part of the season. On offensive, the team has slumped and manager Davey Johnson has had to shake up his batting order.
On Tuesday night, the Nationals lost their fourth straight game falling to the San Francisco Giants in 10 innings. Johnson prior to the game made a big change in the batting order by moving Bryce Harper from the No. 3 spot to the No. 2 spot. This is the first time the entire season that Harper has hit in the No. 2 spot.
However, last season as a rookie, Harper batted second in the lineup in 117 games. Johnson spoke with Denard Span, the team’s leadoff hitter and Harper on Monday about the possible change in the batting order. The three agreed the change might be good for the team and Johnson put it into effect for Tuesday’s game.
Danny Espinosa, the Nationals second baseman has returned to the lineup after sitting for two games. Espinosa has been in a 1 for 30 slump and has seen his batting average fall all the way to .163. His average is the fourth worst out of all the qualified hitters in the league.
In addition to the hitting problems, the pitching has not been good so Johnson decided to bring up to pitchers from the minor leagues and an injury to Ryan Mattheus a reliever for the Nationals on Monday did not sit well with Johnson.
The right hander revealed to the team just hours prior to the team’s Monday night game that he had broken his hand. Mattheus broke the hand on Sunday afternoon during a fit of rage. He punched his locker following an appearance where he allowed five runs during the Nationals’ 13-4 loss. However, he waited until Monday night to let his manager know.
He was put on the 15-day disabled list and the team recalled Yunesky Maya and Fernando Abad from Triple-A Syracuse.
If the Nationals are to contend heading into the long summer, the team’s pitching staff will have to come around and the batting order will have to start hitting their weight, otherwise the summer will be a long, hot unhappy one in the nation’s capital.
