WASHINGTON 鈥� There are some elephants in the room. Perhaps better put, in the dugout of the Washington Nationals.
The team has been squandering games they should have won. They waste good starting pitching with an ineffective and inconsistent offense and a leaky bullpen. So, let鈥檚 take a look at those elephants:
1. Michael A. Taylor. Yes, he shows flashes of brilliance, but that鈥檚 just what they are 鈥� flashes. Too often he is more , where he struck out five times, often swinging at the first pitch and sometimes striking out on three pitches. I won鈥檛 even go after him for the egregious, game-costing error he made in the ninth 鈥� that happens. But his baserunning is sloppy, bordering on foolish, and his hitting is just not major league leadoff quality. He needs to go to the minors to work things out and I cannot figure out why the Nats haven鈥檛 made that move.
2. Ryan Zimmerman is killing them. Seriously, the 鈥渇ace of the franchise鈥� stinks at the plate. I wouldn鈥檛 be surprised if he leads all of baseball in men left on base. Instead of being 鈥淢r. Clutch,鈥� he is Mr. LOB. He does now, and always has, hit into a lot of double plays. Now he鈥檚 added being a strikeout machine (on pace to break his career high of 133) to his resume. I know he鈥檚 a good guy and the Nats owe him a lot of money, but is this season about a big group hug or winning?
The Nats need to get a big bat to add to their lineup and they need to do it now.聽 It ideally would be a center fielder (they passed on Dexter Fowler when he was begging for a job … how鈥檚 that working out?) but they always could move Harper to center and let the big stick play right and maybe first base. I鈥檓 talking about somebody several dozen ticks above the ineffective Clint Robinson.
3. The bullpen needs help. The set up guys are gassed from overwork and the Nats do not have a closer. That they kept Jonathan Papelbon when pitchers like Craig Kimbrel and Aroldis Chapman were changing uniforms is unfortunate, but in the past. This is about the future. Seems the Yankees might be willing to part with Andrew Miller. He鈥檇 be costly, but so is blowing games in the ninth.
Which brings us back to Papelbon. When and if he is healthy, it鈥檚 time to have this talk: 鈥淛on, I know your contract says you will be the closer, but we have to make a change. You can stay with us as a set up man in the bullpen or we can cut you. You decide.鈥�
My hope is he鈥檇 ask to leave. The reality is the Nats have not had a dependable closer since their first season when “The Chief,” Chad Cordero, recorded 47 saves.
The Nationals have a small window to win a championship. Wilson Ramos is a free agent after this year, Jayson Werth will be gone after next and Bryce Harper will most likely take his talents elsewhere following 2018. The current team might be able to win the division as it is constituted, but will be in no position to get past the first round of the playoffs against the likes of the Giants or Cubs.
Hey, Mike Rizzo and the Lerners 鈥� time to start addressing those elephants in the dugout before it鈥檚 too late.
