Now that the Nationals have lost six in a row, it is officially time to panic in the nation’s capital. At this point
last season, Washington was 20 games above .500, at 60-40. Now through 100
games this season, the Nat’s are four games below .500 with only a 48-52
record. What happened to the team that
was picked to make the World Series?
The Nationals' strength last year was the excellent pitching staff from
top to bottom. Last season they were 1st in the NL in ERA, opponent’s
batting average, and walks/hits per inning. Now those numbers have slipped to 6th,
7th, and 5th. These numbers are reflected in the bullpen
as well, which went from 3rd best to 8th. Even though the stats declined from last year,
the numbers are still respectable, and indicative of a winning ballclub. What
about the other factors in baseball?
In DC’s first place season last year, the team finished 4th in
batting average, 5th in runs, and 6th in on base
percentage. Now the Nationals’ bats have
struggled to 13th, 14th, and 14th out of the 15
NL teams in those respective categories. They have not fared any better in the field as Washington fell from 4th
to 15th in number of fielding errors and 2nd to 15th in
fielding percentage.
Despite these numbers, teams find a way to win by cliche sports terms
like lucky or clutch. Batters can be clutch when runners are in scoring
position or when called to pinch hit. Last season they were 7th and 1st
in batting average in those situations, but now 11th and 12th.
In close games, the team has faltered as
well. They went from 27-21 in one run games and 13-7 in extra inning games last
year to just 16-14 and 5-7 in those situations now.
The reason the Nationals had
such lofty expectations this season was that they either improved or returned
each spot of their roster. The team has not seen major injuries, and is
healthier overall compared to last season. How could a team (not
full of aging vets, but young rising stars) get worse without major injuries or
key player movement?
The answer? Mojo. Curses. Karma.
Whatever you want to call it, but there is definitely something going on in the
mental makeup of the players. It started in the last month of the regular
season last year when Strasburg was cautiously benched due to his innings
limit, starting the Strasburg curse. Then
in one of the last home games of the year, winless Racing President Teddy Roosevelt
finally won, creating the Teddy curse.
Now a mediocre president, Taft, joined
the race, bringing mediocrity to the 4th inning entertainment and
possibly another curse.
On a more realistic note, one player change in the offseason might have an
unforeseen mental impact as well. Goofball slugger Michael Morse brought humor
to the clubhouse and broke up the tension last season with his antics, but was
traded away in January. Now the pressure of meeting lofty expectations may
be getting to the young team. Perhaps
the Nationals can overcome the statistic and curses to use the remaining 62
games to catch the injury-riddled Braves and win the division again.