The Nationals have won 3 of their last 13 games, and possess the second worst record in the National League. The team is currently batting .235, have an OBP of .310, are slugging .357, and have an OPS of .667. They also have 229 total RBIs and 781 total bases. What is amazing about all of these statistics is that the Nationals trail all other NL teams in each of them. In fact, these numbers would be the worst in the MLB, if not for Seattle’s .305 OBP and Kansas City’s 227 RBIs. It is really amazing how bad this team’s offense is. If you filter any of these statistics using runners in scoring position, or runners on, etc., you just need to look at the bottom of the list to find Washington.
The team’s inability to score runs goes along nicely with a bullpen that likes to give them up. The bullpen, which was once considered the strength of the team, has quickly become a liability. Nats pitchers have given up the second most number of runs and earned runs in the National League with 114 and 108 respectively. They have also walked a total of 107 batters, which is the second highest total in the NL. Their 4.37 ERA is the worst era in the National League, and have the worst percentage of save opportunities converted in to saves at 48 percent.
There are not a lot of good things to say about this team. Thomas Boswell thinks that the ownership should have signed at least one free agent just to give fans something to root for. All I know is that a team with Ryan Langerhans on the bench is a team in trouble. At least they got rid of Rob Mackowiak.
The Trouble with Dukes
The Nationals signing of Elijah Dukes was controversial. Dukes is best known for sending a picture of a gun to his wife, and that is not the only incidence of bad behavior in his brief career. He has been mostly quiet so far this year, although he has spent most of the season injured. He did get ejected from a minor league game. On Tuesday, there was the first sign of Dukes-related friction in the dugout when manager Manny Acta got into an argument with him. Apparently, Acta was not happy about Dukes showing up an umpire last week, and was not happy about Dukes showing up pitcher Matt Capps. Nationals batters have not really had the opportunity to show anyone up this year, but it is clearly behavior that Manny will not tolerate.
When the Nationals signed Dukes this year, they said that he was going to be given a short leash. Contrary to many expectations, Dukes started in his normal spot last night after the incident. Dukes, Acta, and Bowden had a meeting after Tuesday’s game and according to Acta, “We talked it out after the game, and we’re cool, we’re fine.” As Mark Zuckerman points out, this is not an issue that is likely to go away anytime soon.
Photo by Flickr user randomduck
