A lot can happen with seventy-three games to go.
The
Washington Nationals hopes of avoiding a second-straight season on the outside of the postseason come down to the next 73 games of baseball. If things go well, the ballclub is positioned for a decent run in the postseason. If things go poorly, the organization may be facing an existential crisis and faces the possibility of losing
a key member of the lineup for the second straight offseason.
Here are the biggest questions facing the Nationals in the second half of the season:
1. Will the bullpen be good enough?
The question from
just about the first day of the season. Will the Nationals relievers get it together? The Nats still have the worst bullpen ERA: 6.08. Worse than the woeful Baltimore Orioles and woebegone New York Mets. A
pitching coach has lost his job, a high-priced offseason acquisition, too.
Fernando Rodney has emerged as a potential savior, but how much can Washington expect out of the 42-year-old? Will the Nats be forced to overwork closer
Sean Doolittle? A slight improvement will do wonders considering how well the rotation has been: 3.55 ERA over 528 innings pitched.
He's off the hot seat, but for how long? The Nationals have turned their season around
following his ejection against the Mets when they fell to 19-31 on the season, but how long will this last? Martinez's jump will come down to managing the bullpen (yes, the bullpen, again) and pushing the right buttons on platoon players like Matt Adams, Howie Kendrick, Gerardo Parra, Kurt Suzuki and Yan Gomes.
Will he get a contract extension? Will he be traded at the July 31 deadline? Will he remain for the rest of the season and then sign an extension? He's
made an All-Star team, but what will the Nationals do with their 29-year-old fan favorite? Much of this will come down to Mark and
Ted Lerner and Scott Boras, sitting down and figuring out a price. If this is the end, it has been a fantastic season for Rendon: 20 HRs with 62 RBIs and a 150 OPS+ in the first half.
He leads the big league's in innings pitched with 129 1/3 and strikeouts with 181. He's third in ERA at 2.30. And fourth in WHIP. Clayton Kershaw was the last pitcher to win an MVP award in 2014, the first NL pitcher to do so since Bob Gibson in 1968. In order to win, Scherzer has to continue his hot run of form and somehow get even better. His WAR sits at 5.5, tops among NL pitchers, but behind Cody Bellinger's 6.6 in the NL.
5. Will Mike Rizzo make moves at the trade deadline?
Signing
Trevor Rosenthal did not work. But Patrick Corbin and Anibal Sanchez have been decent additions in the offseason. Kendrick, who turned 36 years old Friday, has been a revelation. Can the Nationals GM swing one deal at the deadline that separates from their division rivals? Or does Rizzo stick with what he's got? Let the team continue to rise,
keeping valuable prospects together. Losing another
Lucas Giolito-type player would be a tough pill to swallow if the Nats flounder down the stretch.
Washington holds a club option for the 2020 season, but it is unlikely the Nationals decided to pay him $18 million. Zimmerman, the original face of the franchise, has struggled with injuries this season, playing just 27 games in the first half. And he hasn't fared too much better at the plate, with a slash of .240/.315/.396 and an OPS+ of 82. However, there may be one more magic moment Mr. Walk-off.
How Soto didn't make the NL All-Star squad deserves some sort of inquiry. The outfielder who can't legally buy a beer until the end of October has shined in the first half of his sophomore campaign with 15 home runs and 56 batted in over 79 games. Soto has slashed .300/.406/.537 for a .943 OPS and a 140 OPS+. He sits at 11th in the big leagues in OPS.
Bryce Harper? He's 56th.
