Four in a row! As noted the Nats haven't done that since the very end of May. Should it be enjoyed? Yes! If you are still following the team live it up. Good baseball is better than bad baseball is better than no baseball and soon you'll have no baseball. Should it be celebrated? Naaaaaaaaaaaah.
Now of course a run like this starts the mind going on about furious finishes. But that's where the too late comes in. Even if the whole league was cooperating the Nats would still be 4 out of first and with 17 games to go that's a pretty big hurdle. 12-5 vs 7-10 or something. A run that could be derailed by a simple Atlanta win in the series against the Nats (which may be played somewhere other than Atlanta - which would get all the stories going) or Colorado win at the end of the year.
Notice I said "even if the whole league is cooperating" because it isn't. The Braves have also won four in a row turning that 12-5 vs 7-10 dream into a 15-2 vs 6-11 nigh impossibilty* The Wild Card keeps churning and while the Nats have made major gains against the Phillies, Dbacks, and Dodgers, the Cardinals have basically held ground (now 8 ahead) and all it was going to take was one of those teams holding position to make the WC2 a non-issue.
Why am I still talking about the season? Because why not? It's still going on so I'm still talking about it until it has it's last breath. I'm not saying there's a chance again.**
What I will mention is Juan Soto homering his way back into the ROY race. This squeaks his OPS back over Acuna's (who tripled and walked twice last night) Soto is still a half-step behind because of all the other mitigating factors (Acuna better in field, on basepaths - that we've been allowed to see, team is going to beat Soto's team). Barring someone going 0-8 or 8-8 this will dovetail nicely into the Braves/Nats series. FOR ROY SUPREMECY!
*I never say never because it's never never until it's technically never.
**When would I? I suppose if they are able to hold at 8 and then sweep the Braves? Basically go into next Monday 5 back or closer. That's not a good spot but the MIA/NYM/MIA games would set up for a run that could get you thinking.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
17 comments:
As always, this bunch of gutless softies plays their best baseball when there’s absolutely no pressure on them to do so. It’s about as shocking as the sun rising in the east.
They’ll probably finish the session like 14-3 and miss the playoffs by two games. Because of course they will.
I think what the Nats are really playing for is putting the Lerners in an uncomfortable position, like the back of a volkswagen. If the Nats go on a run and finish the season 2 or 3 back in the East or the Wild Card, then the narrative is going to shift to: "Why did the Lerners give up on this season?" Matt Adams alone would have swung one game the Nats way because he basically beat them. Their Pythagorean record indicated they were better than their record. etc. etc.
Of course, I'd love to see them go on an Oakland A's type run and lose zero games the rest of the way, that would probably get them into the playoffs. I also wonder if they have a cardboard cutout of Ted Lerner in the clubhouse that they pull a piece off of for every win.
Nats just need to schedule 80 true doubleheaders next year. That seems to be the secret to their success.
ruining the Phillies shot at the postseason is good enough for me
Harper: thoughts on Soto still being above .300? What does it mean for team marketing and the clubhouse if Soto beats Harper's 22 HRs as a teenager in fewer games? Acuna is unbelievable - losing ROY to him wouldn't even overshadow Soto's debut and implications for Nats.
SFiD - MALLRATS REFERENCE
billy hacker - over .300 or slightly under doesn't matter too much. They are still going to (rightfully) market the hell out of him and hope he steps up into superstardom over the next couple years. Either "Bryce & Soto : new Bash Brothers" or "Soto & Robles : the Future of OF play is now" will be the marketing next year.
WATCH OUT ATLANTA!
17 wins to go to finish out the regular season on a 21-0 win streak. Then 11-0 playoff run. Finishing out the year with 32 wins in a row between the end of the regular season and and the playoffs. Because why not.
Sarcasm above. Seriously though, it would be awesome if they could some how miraculously win the next 5 and best case they would be 3.5 back with 12 games to go. Then you would have to hope they are tied or in front of the Phillies. Then hope the Phillies win 6 or all 7 of their remaining games against Atlanta. If Nats keep winning then its a race to the end. Not likely by any stretch of the imagination.
I agree with anonymous that they didn't start playing better until they were counted for dead. Plus, am I the only person that thinks Davey still has no idea how to manage pitching. He left Roark in 3-4 batters too many. They really had no business winning that second game last night. Rizzo would argue that "the boys played hard to the end." I don't disagree but I don't see Martinez ever being more than average.
Bro
You have given Max David a heart attack. He hasn't even responded yet so I presume he is in intensive care at some local hospital caused by your post. It ain't over till it is over...see Jay's post above.
Harper, I hope you have umbrella insurance, because if Max David had a heart attack you will be sued by some PI attorney before sunset.
Jay
You actually think Martinez is average. He didn't have a reliever up until Roark had given up three runs on five hits last night.
Every night Martinez goes to bed after praying that he will wake up and turn into an average manager. Fortunately for him, he has figured out that the Learners are too cheap to eat the 1.85M left on his contract, so he probably has this gig for another two years.
This is what happens when you just give a franchise to owners who don't have a sports background. They think you run it like a real estate business.
Jay: I agree about Martinez being nothing more than average. He seems to react too slowly as if he hasn't already gamed out numerous possibilities, so he has to examine each situation as if it's the first time he's encountered it, which gives the other team's manager the advantage. I think the better managers are playing chess and planning several moves ahead while also being aware that there are multiple scenarios that they might be dealing with. The game's too fast for Martinez at this point. I guess his bench coaching experience did not involve being "the guy" juggling all the pieces and scenarios.
And the coaching staff appears to be mediocre. Losing Lopes AND Maddux really hurt. I hope that the Nats at least go after a really good pitching coach.
That said, I read some commenters on another site claiming that Roark fell apart too fast to even warm someone up. Zuckerman, however, over at MASN did sarcastically note that Martinez "finally" took Roark out.
A lot of us rip Davey for his in-game managing, and the stupid camels thing and Zim's mystery spring and apparently surrendering to Gio's demand to be left in. But how would we feel if the injury bug hadn't hit so hard this year? I don't know; but you probably do better with a veteran manager dealing with these injuries and in how the pitching staff is handled. Overall, he's not very inspiring for us fans, that's for sure. "The boys fought hard."
I don't think it fell apart that fast for Roark. Roark went double, pop out, single with men on 1st and 3rd now, double to score 1 and now 3-1, pop out for second out, singlets score 1 to make it 3-2, double to score 1 to make it 3-3, single to make it trailing 5-3, double to put runners on 2nd and 3rd and the guy on 3rd was Wilson Ramos so any other baseball player on earth likely would have scored since Ramos is so slow it looks like he's walking around the bases. Collins then came in to get Bautista out. That was definitely a slow rally in my opinion. It's not like it was two bloop hits with two outs and a home run. It actually could have been even worse. When Roark has struggled recently it has been in the 5th, so Martinez' radar should have been up.
It's not like Roark went ground out, single, hit by pitch, pop out, hit by pitch, and then grand slam. Oh wait, that was what Madsen did back against the Cubs. That was another brain fart for Martinez. At what point after the second hit batter did he think Madsen was going to get out of it.
Anyway, I whole heartedly agree that it seems Davey is slow to react and sometimes seems asleep at the wheel to me. The worse thing in my opinion is that it seems like now he just blames the players. How many times have we heard that "pitchers have to get outs at this level" or "we need to drive in more runs" etc. At the end of that Cubs series he said, "We should have left here with 3 wins, and instead we are leaving here with 1." Great of him to shoulder the blame. (sarcasm again)
singles not singlets. Sorry for typo.
Braves magic number to eliminate the Nationals is 10....to eliminate the Phillies is 13. Obviously we need to get on a streak (like win ten in a row) and the Braves need to utterly collapse (like lose ten in a row.) C'mon, Atlanta!!!! GAG!!!!!!!
At worst they'll be 9.5 (lose tonight & Thursday, Braves end up winning today), at best they'll be 6.5 (win tonight & Thursday, Braves lose today) or somewhere in between. In any case we wouldn't be closer than 3.5 once the series ends. In the best case scenario can we make up 3.5 games playing 5 games against the Marlins, 4 against the Mets & 3 in Colorado while the Braves play an imploding Phillies team for 7, Cards at home for 3 and Mets for 3?? I think Braves should go at least 5-7 in those 12 games meaning we'd have to go 10-2. Still possible yes, but the odds are against it. Just be happy they are still breathing and I can't wait for Harper's post on Monday when they are 3.5 back breaking down the remaining 2 week schedules for the Braves & Nats :)
Max David
Glad to see you are still alive. Everyone was worried that you were in intensive care. I will have to speak to my brother about his total indifference to your welfare.
@Johnny Callison
"The game's too fast for Martinez at this point."
Baseball is too FAST?
Post a Comment