{"id":35565,"date":"2025-07-03T14:57:10","date_gmt":"2025-07-03T14:57:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/35565\/"},"modified":"2025-07-03T14:57:10","modified_gmt":"2025-07-03T14:57:10","slug":"the-nationals-declared-their-rebuild-over-then-they-stumbled-toward-last-place","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/35565\/","title":{"rendered":"The Nationals declared their rebuild over. Then they stumbled toward last place"},"content":{"rendered":"

As spring training began, Nationals manager Dave Martinez declared his organization\u2019s elongated rebuild complete.<\/p>\n

In the five-plus seasons since Washington won the World Series in 2019, the organization hasn\u2019t even sniffed .500. Their 323-469 record post-championship tells the story of a one-time perennial contender whose top stars migrated out, be it for more lucrative contracts, retirement or because they were traded.<\/p>\n

What was left over was less tangible: the promise of a rebuild via the acquisition of young, controllable talent. What was built once in the nation\u2019s capital, they hoped, could quickly be rebuilt.<\/p>\n

And that takes us back to Feb. 18 \u2014 the first day of full-squad workouts in West Palm Beach, Florida. Martinez, entering his eighth season as skipper in the District, made clear his belief that they were ready to fulfill that promise.<\/p>\n

\u201cI hear a lot about how our core guys are going to be really good. That they\u2019re coming,\u201d Martinez said. \u201cAnd I really don\u2019t want to hear that anymore. I told them today, \u2018We\u2019re here. These are the core guys. \u2026 It\u2019s time to go out there and perform.\u201d<\/p>\n

Three months in, his words seem hollow. After splitting a doubleheader Wednesday, the 36-50 Nationals are on pace to finish with fewer wins than the 71 they collected in each of the previous two seasons.<\/p>\n

Asked to explain the gulf between his expectations and his team\u2019s reality, Martinez could only muster a string of cliches.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve been in almost every game, we really have,\u201d he said on Saturday from his office before a game against the Angels. \u201cWe\u2019re going to put one foot forward every day. These guys don\u2019t quit. They play hard every day. It\u2019s 26 guys out there pulling on the same rope. They get after it. We\u2019ve fallen short in some games, and we play hard.\u201d<\/p>\n

It\u2019s an answer that speaks to what is seemingly a larger issue: Things are going poorly, and the organization \u2014 led by the second-longest tenured manager-GM duo in baseball \u2014 has not presented a clear explanation why, or a way out of the malaise.<\/p>\n

On-field, some of those reasons seem obvious. Their 5.84 bullpen ERA is the worst in the sport. They only have three above-replacement everyday hitters in their lineup. And the starting rotation, outside of ace MacKenzie Gore, has minimal swing-and-miss potential.<\/p>\n

Their identity was rooted in speed last season. But this year, Nationals baserunners are on pace for roughly 140 steals, compared to a league-leading 223 last year. All while getting thrown out at a higher clip.<\/p>\n

Those are things anyone can identify from reading box scores or stat pages. What\u2019s at the root of these problems, however, is the real issue. And that\u2019s one that the team and its leadership don\u2019t seem fully prepared to address.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think we\u2019ve been playing pretty good baseball. We beat good teams,\u201d said Nationals shortstop CJ Abrams. \u201cWe\u2019ve shown what we can do; it\u2019s just whether or not we\u2019re going to keep going. We\u2019ve got to keep our heads down, stay where our feet are and keep playing good baseball.\u201d<\/p>\n

Responsibility, ultimately, does not lie solely with the players. As The Athletic\u2019s Ken Rosenthal noted in May<\/a>, the Nationals have many of the hallmarks of a stagnant organization, with leaders in safe jobs, reporting to an ownership group that is famously hands-off. On Monday, The Washington Post reported<\/a> that the team doesn\u2019t invest in the same high-tech robotic pitching trainer as virtually everyone else. Player development has become a growing concern, as is scouting. These factors make completing a rebuild far more challenging and have left an incomplete team relying on a few standout players.<\/p>\n

Abrams is one of those players, a core part of Washington\u2019s rebuild, and his .842 OPS to go along with 17 stolen bases means he\u2019s living up to his end of the bargain. But, despite his assertion, the Nationals have not been playing good baseball. At the time of his comments, they\u2019d won just 4 of 19 games, which started with an 11-game losing streak.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

C.J. Abrams has been one of the team\u2019s bright spots. (Ronald Martinez \/ Getty Images)<\/p>\n

Washington sits in last place in the National League East, 14.5 games back of the first-place Phillies and 10 games back of a playoff spot, with seven teams still to jump. Yet in the clubhouse, the players keep their heads down and hope; what else can they do?<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t think we\u2019re too far off,\u201d said veteran first baseman Josh Bell. \u201cYou look at wild-card teams in the hunt right now, and I don\u2019t think they\u2019re better teams than we are. They just have played better.\u201d<\/p>\n

Bell was a part of the blockbuster trade that sent would-be franchise player Juan Soto to the Padres in 2022. In that sense, Bell\u2019s perspective is unlike anyone else\u2019s in the organization. He was dealt as part of the rebuild and returned nearly three years later, hoping to see the fruits of his departure.<\/p>\n

Their clubhouse is filled with players who should be foundational building blocks, acquired by longtime president of baseball operations Mike Rizzo. That includes Dylan Crews, the No. 2 overall pick in 2023, and Keibert Ruiz, a catcher acquired in the Max Scherzer trade to be their backstop of the future. Then there\u2019s outfielder James Wood \u2014 already one of the top players in baseball at just 22 years old.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s that talent that gives Bell the belief that they can make a miracle comeback in the 2025 season. But even if they don\u2019t, he said, something special could happen in D.C. over the next three to five years. The Nationals fanbase wants to believe that, too. Like Bell, they see the talent. Just not the evidence to back up the rosy outlook.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think that\u2019s part of the fan experience. Wanting more from your team,\u201d Bell said. \u201cEven being with the Diamondbacks last year \u2014 a team that had come so close to winning it all \u2014 there was still the same atmosphere. Panic in the fanbase. But you\u2019re right where you want to be.\u201d<\/p>\n

But are they? FanGraphs gave the Nationals just a 2.9 percent chance of making the playoffs before this season started. Despite what Martinez said in February, it\u2019s not as though they are vastly underperforming expectations as a whole.<\/p>\n

What makes their record more concerning is the context of how they arrived at it. Abrams, Gore and Wood are All-Star caliber right now. And it\u2019s in spite of those great players \u2014 all returns in the aforementioned Soto trade \u2014 that they sit beyond the outskirts of contention before the All-Star break.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s been fun to watch in spurts. And once we\u2019re consistent, I think that\u2019s where it\u2019s really gonna turn,\u201d said starter Jake Irvin.<\/p>\n

As for why they haven\u2019t been consistent, Irvin was at more of a loss. \u201cThat\u2019s harder to answer when you\u2019re in it. Sometimes you run into a good arm, just different baseball things. We have the pieces here, but we haven\u2019t all played together for a while. It\u2019s getting to learn each other\u2019s games.\u201d<\/p>\n

When the Nationals went on their World Series run six years ago, they did so only after coming back from the dead. They famously started that season 19-31 \u2014 10 games back of the division, and 8.5\u00a0 out of the wild card.<\/p>\n

That team kept believing, kept playing, and ultimately made the postseason. That team, however, is not this team.<\/p>\n

That group had Soto, Trea Turner and a healthy Anthony Rendon in the lineup, with Scherzer, Patrick Corbin and Stephen Strasburg in the rotation. That group had the credibility of four postseasons in the prior seven years as evidence that they could turn things around.<\/p>\n

This Nationals team has none of that. And now, it has to grapple with the hope of a rebuild ending, against the reality that it might just not be working at all.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think we can be better,\u201d Martinez said, I really do.\u201d<\/p>\n

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