Ah, the 2018 New York Mets. Saturday’s Say Hey, Baseball captured the team’s hot start. The team stepped into the 2018 season acting brand new. The 2017 Mets? They don’t know her. Couldn’t have been them. Losing streaks? Can’t relate. Only two teams have a better record and only three teams have a better run differential than they do. The bullpen has played to be impeccable and the offense is producing. It took until Saturday to record the team’s second win. The Mets have moved the playoff meter in their favor more than any other team. Partly, because the Nationals, across the standings in the NL East, are too busy doing their best to keep their heads above water and their win percentage above .500 to notice.
The Nationals are struggling to find wins right now
This episode of Say Hey, Baseball is a sample size whodunnit.
Brad Mills-USA TODAY Sports
The Nationals haven’t won a non-Max Scherzer or Stephen Strasburg start since the fourth game of the season, 11 games ago. The Mets swept them, then the Braves took two of three. The hole in the fifth starter spot, filled by AJ Cole’s career 5.13 ERA, has not helped, but it has not been the dawning of the Nationals problems. Cole gave up only two runs (improving from the 13 he allowed in his season debut) in his second start. Those two runs, a four-run deficit, and another two-run deficit were insurmountable through Washington’s second series with Atlanta, against even a rotation who last year combined for only 7.1 fWAR and a bullpen who last year combined to be the 27th best in baseball. In total, the Nationals have produced just over two runs per game, even after a “breakthrough” game in which they put up only their second four-run frame this season to beat the Rockies 6-2.
It has taken an orchestration of low offensive performance across the roster to get to this point. Fifteen games often have a measured impact on final standings, but they don’t have much predictive value. The NL East has been a cesspool in years past. With the strength of the competition back on the upswing and the Nationals underperforming, it’s easy to laser in on occasional errors or an offseason of stagnancy in which the biggest move made was departing with a manager who recorded 192 wins and never dipped below a .500 record in two years seeming to bite at their heels. Washington isn’t as bad as they’re playing, of course, and the end results will probably still show that. A sputtering offense plays opposite to rose-colored glasses; it makes reality so much worse.
The Nationals are joined by the Dodgers, the Cubs, and the Yankees in early season underperformance. It is reasonable to suspect these supposed-to-be super teams are being framed by small sample sizes. Afterall, first impressions mean nothing in baseball.
- Look, I’m sorry. But the “never bunt, hit dingers” thing is wrong. It’s bad and it’s wrong. A safety squeeze is one of the most exciting plays in baseball. It’s a steal of home with a little help from a friend. It’s like if you were running from a cop and your friend pushed him out of the way so you could get a head start. They are incredible, and also, they are good. So, here’s the safety squeeze that started only the second inning in which the Nationals scored four runs this season.
- Hoo boy. It’s one thing to blow a lead and it’s another thing to blow through a ten-run cushion in one inning. That’s what the Braves did Saturday against the Cubs. Don’t be like the Braves Saturday against the Cubs.
- Max Scherzer punctuated his stolen base last week by essentially calling Jayson Werth, one of the all-time most successful base stealers, slow and old. Werth responded by essentially calling Scherzer dumb and wrong. Just two guys being dudes. What’s better than that?
- Uhhh, an ex-Phillies pitcher is running a predatory loan company that targets minor leaguers. ???. Maybe... don’t... do that?
- Around here, we love a small sample size. Let’s compare Shohei Ohtanito the Sultan of Swat, the Colossus of Clout, the Great Bambino.
- Remember a couple bullets ago when the Braves blew a ten-run lead in an inning? This Yankees’ relief appearance was almost as bad. Almost.
- Athletics Nation says Bob Melvin and the front office’s inability to recognize talent is killing the team. Sounds illegal.
- Bullpens are good sometimes, too. The Pirates bullpen helped the team hold onto a 1-0 victory.
- The Mariners scored ten runs on the A’s pitchers. During this onslaught of runs, Dan Vogelbach our One True large adult son hit a large adult homer and it was a large adult mood.
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