When you're out in the backyard playing Wiffle ball, the Washington Nationals aren't a bad team to pretend to be. With young stars such as C.J. Abrams and James Wood -- as well as Luis Garcia Jr. for half the season — the Nats' lineup is sprinkled with multi-tool everyday talent.
So why are they a last-place club, despite entering Wednesday with the third-highest OPS in all of MLB? As you can probably guess, it's because their pitching is a trainwreck. And on Tuesday night, its ineffectiveness earned a place in the record books.
The Nats blew a 4-1 eighth-inning lead against the San Diego Padres to register their 38th blown save of the season, the most by any team in a single season since the save statistic was adopted in 1969. Jared Simpson and Erik Tolman combined to allow four runs in one official inning of work. Years of mediocrity following their 2019 World Series championship have gifted the Nationals with loads of top-end talent, but they lack major league caliber depth.
The trade of Foster Griffin, their best starting pitcher and an All-Star, to the Cleveland Guardians didn't help, but the pitching staff was always trending toward disaster. Only the Athletics and Colorado Rockies carry worse team ERAs. Their ineptitude on the mound will lead to the exciting young lineup being dismantled before it ever gets an era in Washington, D.C.
Garcia was dealt to the New York Yankees and Abrams was well known to be on the trade block at the deadline. The Nationals proved with Bryce Harper and Juan Soto that they won't shell out big money, no matter the generational talent. When they started to construct this young core years ago, the Nationals likely believed they had a team that could make history.
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