Baseball can be a funny game. Even the best teams will lose at least 60 games over the course of a season, and even the worst teams can go on heaters from time to time.
Last week, Nationals fans dealt with two extremes, from getting swept by the fourth-place New York Mets before taking three of four from second-place Atlanta for the second time in two weeks.
And after posting five wins against the Braves in each of the previous three seasons (and that’s over 13 games in 2023, but over 19 games in 2022 and 2021), the Washington Nationals already have six with five more games between the two clubs.
Forty-percent of the way through the schedule the pitching has exceeded expectations, with more than a few young arms impressing. Unfortunately, the offense has remained somewhat suspect, and one reason why the Nats rank 23rd in scoring is the fact the “easy runs” aren’t coming (Washington’s 51 homers are the third fewest in the majors).
Can players like Lane Thomas return to 2023 form? Actually, one would settle for C.J. Abrams returning to his April 2024 form. And the Nats “new patsy” isn’t on their schedule until August 23.
Digesting the Division: Philadelphia (45-20) split its series in London with the New York Mets, with Ranger Suarez improving to 10-1 on the season with an ERA of 1.81. Atlanta (35-28) drops nine games back thanks to its recent issues (2-6) with the Nats, while Washington (30-35) saw its cushion over the New York Mets (28-36) shrink thanks to last week’s sweep.
Miami (22-43), after going 14-13 in May, are back to their old tricks, starting June with six losses in seven games (they come to Washington this weekend).
