Stuck in Mediocrity

The Nationals are stuck in mediocrity. At least until they can get fully healthy. Some of you may look at the Nationals 37-31 record and say "how can you say the Nationals are mediocre, they're in second place and only a few games out of first?". It's pretty simple really, while the Nationals have done a spectacular job of treading water, going periods of time without Daniel Murphy, Anthony Rendon, Ryan Zimmerman, Adam Eaton and Matt Wieters in the lineup, it's been just that. Treading water.

If you look at the schedule that the Nationals have played so far this year, they're 10-9 against good teams (teams 5+ games over .500), they're 12-16 against average teams (teams between 5 games under and 5 games over .500) and they're 15-6 against bad teams (teams 5 games or more below .500). You've got to beat the bad teams, which they are doing. Especially right now, when you've got a depleted rotation and a lineup that just isn't getting the job done. If you want to be considered better than mediocre, you have to be better than 12-16 against the other mediocre teams in the league. This past weekend, the Nationals went to Toronto and got swept by a Blue Jays team who had won only 5 of their past 15 games, 4 of those wins coming in a 4 game sweep of the 20-50 Orioles. It was a pathetic display of baseball to say the least.

Right now, this team is missing 2/5 of their rotation, a key bullpen piece and they're still without their starting catcher and starting first baseman. We don't have a timeline for any of those players. The fact that Anthony Rendon, Bryce Harper and Trea Turner are all hitting below .265 tells you all you need to know about the lineup. They are now 2-5 in their last 7 games, 3 of those losses were shutouts and 5 of the 7 were against teams with sub .500 records. With Stephen Strasburg and Jeremy Hellickson on the disabled list, it's time for the offense to pick up the slack that the pitching staff has been carrying all season long.

Michael A Taylor now hitting .236 compared to Bryce Harper's .217. There was never a point in my life where I thought I'd tell you that Michael A Taylor deserves more playing time than Bryce Harper. Michael A plays spectacular defense to go along with his .412/.459/.588 June batting line (don't forget about the 8 stolen bases as well). Yet, he's the one in a battle for playing time because nobody wants to be the one to tell Bryce and his .146/.241/.208 June batting line that they're taking a seat on the bench. Oh, and Bryce has also struck out in 22 of his 48 June at bats. It's getting worse, not better. If you want to continue to play him everyday, that's fine, but don't continue to hit him at the top of the lineup. Hit him 7th. Treat him like a normal player who's in a slump, not like a superstar who can do no wrong.

The Nationals have 28 games left between now and the All-Star break. They have 12 games remaining against good teams, 5 games against average teams and 11 games against bad teams. A 15-13 finish to the first half would be alright. 18-10 sounds better, but when you're down 2 starting pitchers, it puts you in a tough spot, even when you're playing 11 games against so called "bad" teams. That would put the Nationals at 52-44 at the break. It may not be enough for first place, but it would put them in a good enough spot to still win the division if they can ever get healthy in the second half of the year.