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The Nationals lost in the NLDS. Again.
Friday’s Say Hey, Baseball recognizes that the Nats haven’t won a playoff series since moving, the Dodgers advanced with their best on the mound, and Blue Jays-Indians is going to be some series.
Geoff Burke-USA TODAY Sports
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The Nationals have only existed, in this form, since 2005. In five of those first six seasons, the Nats finished in last place in the NL East. They lost their way into Stephen Strasburg and Bryce Harper and Anthony Rendon in the draft, and then they started to win. Well, in the regular season: while the Nats have made the postseason three times in the six years since all that regular season losing, they’ve yet to advance past the NLDS. In 2012, the Cardinals defeated the Nationals in Game 5 even though the Nats had built up a 6-0 lead in the game. In 2014, Washington didn’t even make it to Game 5, as they dropped the first two games to the Giants — including an 18-inning Game 2.
They’ve added another NLDS loss, this time against the Dodgers. The Nationals were leading the series 2-1, and dropped the final two games despite getting so close to clinching in each. In Game 4, they scored five runs off of Clayton Kershaw, but couldn’t take the lead. In Game 5, they had the lead, might have extended it further if not for the kind of send at third base that haunts a fan base for years, left the bases loaded late, and then had their best hitter this year, Daniel Murphy, weakly pop up in the ninth against Kershaw, who was working on a day of rest. It was, as is the Nationals’ way, painful.
Given the Dodgers haven’t won a World Series since 1988 and the Blue Jays are the most recent World Series champion among the remaining teams thanks to winning back in 1993, the idea of the Nationals never having won anything maybe sounds more painful than it ought to, though. This isn’t to diminish the organization’s failure and the very real pain fans feel from it, but it’s only been 12 years for those who didn’t migrate from Montreal to Washington — the Mariners have a longer playoff drought than that.
The Marlins have a longer World Series drought than the Nats. Meanwhile, the Indians and Cubs alone account for nearly 180 years of World Series futility, and none of these four teams have even been to the World Series since well before the Expos packed their bags. Not to play Baseball Pain gatekeeper, but this Nats core still has time, and its fans haven’t been waiting, comparatively, as long. And they’re certainly talented enough to keep their fans from waiting in the same way the rest of these teams have. Right?
- The Dodgers threw convention out the window in Game 5, using everything they could to stave off the Nationals.
- It sounds weird to say that the Dodgers used their best players to win, but baseball doesn’t always work that way.
- Clayton Kershaw has had horrible luck with his relievers, but when he got the chance to be a reliever, he made himself a playoff legend.
- The last save Kershaw had as a pro? Back in 2006, in the minors, with Kenley Jansen as his catcher.
- Dusty Baker thought he had seen the last of Clayton Kershaw after Game 4, but he sure was wrong about that.
- Let’s not forget the earlier parts of the game, though: Julio Urias became the youngest Dodgers pitcher ever in the postseason, and he did a fine job of it, too.
- The Dodgers are addicted to pitchers on short rest, but it appears to be working out well for them at the moment.
- The Indians set a four-man rotation for the ALCS, and Danny Salazar won’t be part of it or the ALCS roster.
- If the seven games the Blue Jays and Indians have already played against each other in 2016 are any indication, the ALCS is going to be ridiculous.
- Here’s a position-by-position breakdown of the Toronto-Cleveland matchup.
- Someone might try to tell you that Red Sox fans should identify with Cubs fans in order to get you to root for them, but Boston was more successful historically than the Cubs well before 2004 happened. The more accurate analog is the Indians, and Sox fans should go there instead of Chicago, according to this handsome and intelligent writer you might have heard of.
- Here are seven predictions for the Royals’ offseason.
- The Giants aren’t planning to overhaul their bullpen, and that makes sense. They definitely need to make some adjustments, though.
- The Florida Panthers — yes, the hockey team — debuted new uniforms, including a Jose Fernandez warmup jersey.
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