NATIONALS CRISIS
Preseason World Series favorite needs a hot finish to make playoffs
Washington Nationals stars Bryce Harper and Jayson Werth, their jerseys and undershirts ripped off and uniform pants still on, sat on the visiting clubhouse couch at Busch Stadium, staring vacantly ahead.
It was the look of a season of despair, trying to wrap their heads around the idea that their hopes of a playoff berth, let alone Washington’s first World Series title in 91 years, could be over before Labor Day.
There were dazed looks in every crevice of the clubhouse, from the manager’s office to the trainer’s room to the dining room,
“That was a tough one,” Nationals manager Matt Williams said after their loss Monday, and he repeated it three times for emphasis.
When starting pitcher Gio Gonzalez was asked how crushing the 8-5 loss to the St. Louis Cardinals was, with the Nationals blowing a two-run, seventh-inning lead, he said softly, “You can’t win them all,” and walked away.
The trouble is the Nationals have spent this season losing almost as much as they’re winning. They are 66-65 after blowing a 5-3 lead in another 8-5 loss Tuesday to St. Louis, and mediocrity won’t get you anywhere in baseball except a one-way trip home after the first weekend of October.
“We just haven’t gotten a flow to our lineup or any kind of synergy to the ballclub, and that’s what’s been so frustrating,” general manager Mike Rizzo said.
The Nationals are 6 1⁄2 games behind the New York Mets in the National League East and nine games out of the wild-card race with a month remaining. It might not be mathematically impossible, particularly with six games
left against the Mets. But only two teams since the advent of divisional play in 1969 have overcome a deficit of at least 6 1⁄2 games after Aug. 31 — the 1978 New York Yankees and the 1995 Seattle Mariners.
Considering 22 of the Mets’ final 31 games are against the woeful Philadelphia Phillies, Miami Marlins, Atlanta Braves and Cincinnati Reds, a collapse in Queens hardly seems inevitable.
And if the Nationals stay home in October, there’s plenty of speculation Williams could lose his job one season after winning the NL manager of the year award.
“It’s the expectations, you know,” Williams said, “and when you don’t meet expectations ...
“But who wouldn’t want those expectations?”
Williams understands the scrutiny. Yet when the everyday lineup is together for only two games and Stephen Strasburg makes only 18 starts and is questionable for his next one with back tightness, Rizzo says, Williams and his coaches deserve praise, not condemnation.
“We know we have an uphill battle, but I’m so proud of Matt and this coaching staff,” Rizzo said. “They haven’t given up and think that they’re in it, and that’s a credit to the guys out there.”
If the Nationals are going to spare themselves the embarrassment of sitting home after being the preseason favorite to win the World Series, they need to go on a historic run. They had a 21-6 stretch three months ago, but these days they’ve lost 26 of their last 43 games.
“We just need to focus on ourselves,” ace Max Scherzer said. “We can’t worry about the Mets or anybody else. You just got to go out and play your best baseball.
“You play your best baseball, and anything can happen.”
Maybe the Nationals are not capable of another hot streak. Maybe Harper’s MVP-caliber season will be absolutely wasted. Maybe the club will forever be haunted by the decision to shut down Strasburg in 2012.
“You can’t do anything about (the past) now,” said first baseman Ryan Zimmerman, who has 16 RBI in his last nine games, “unless we want to sit and pout about it.”
The Nationals refuse to do that, and after spending the last few years as heavy favorites in the NL East, it’s kind of nice, they insist, to play the underdog.
“We got a whole month of the season left to get rolling and hopefully get in contention, and if we do that, then maybe we can shock the world,” Harper said.
One man who could make a difference, beginning Wednesday against his hometown team, is Scherzer, their $210 million crown jewel of the offseason.
Scherzer, who two months ago was pitching as if he was going to win another Cy Young Award, feels as responsible as anyone for flat-lining in August. He started five games in August and went winless — 0-3 with a 6.43 ERA, allowing opponents a .881 on-base-plus-slugging percentage and seven home runs in 28 innings.
It was the worst month of his career; Rizzo said the same about himself, as his club went 12-17.
“I never like to judge myself over a few starts or a month. It’s what you do over a whole year,” said Scherzer, 11-11 with a 2.88 ERA. “You’re going to have ups. You’re going to have downs. But I won’t judge myself until the end.
“Now, when the (season) is over, you can judge me all you want, and I’ll be more than happy to comment.”
Scherzer has thrown three complete games this year, two more than he did in his five seasons with the Detroit Tigers, to go along with two shutouts and a nohitter. He’s 22 innings shy of reaching 200 for the third consecutive season, and his 8.04 strikeout-to-walk rate is easily the best of his career.
Yet as well as Scherzer pitched in a four-game stretch June 14 to July 2 — 34 1⁄3 innings, 11 hits, four runs, three complete games, two shutouts, a no-hitter and a 1.05 ERA — he has pitched just as poorly in his most recent fourgame stretch. Take a deep breath, and look: 22 innings, 29 hits, 17 earned runs, seven homers and a 6.95 ERA.
“When I got hit, like I did against the Giants (seven hits and six earned runs in three innings), it was a good thing,” Scherzer said. “It allowed me to know that my arm slot is off. It let me know there are things I’m doing mechanically that are wrong. It gave me a chance to really reflect about how I’m actually throwing the ball, to get myself right.”
The adjustments have been made, Scherzer has changed his arm action, and he sees no reason why this won’t be a September to remember. “I feel confident that I’m capable of having success in my next start,” he said. “This is a great test for us. If we want to go to the playoffs and win the World Series, we’ve got to beat playoff teams. It’s as simple as that.”
Once the Nationals leave St. Louis after Scherzer’s start and return to Washington for a seven-game homestand, the schedule is quite favorable. The only team left on their schedule with a winning record is the Mets; there are 20 games against the Braves, Marlins and Phillies.
“We think we have the talent on this team when we put it together to win a championship,” Rizzo said. “We are the defending National League East champions. We won it two of the last three years, so these players know how to win. They really think they can do something crazy and win this thing. Who am I to say no?”