It has been a tale of two seasons for the Nationals already this season. When the Nats are on the road, they are a fun, exciting force that can beat anybody, holding a 12-7 road record. However, it has been a different story when the Nats are playing in front of their home fans. They have a dismal 3-11 record at Nationals Park after last night’s loss.
For last night’s game in particular, it is tough to blame them too much. I do not think any lineup was going to do any damage against the version of
Jacob Misiorowski we saw. The Miz was sitting at 101 MPH with mid to upper 90’s sliders and a curveball that was up to 90 MPH. He was also locating at a high level. Sometimes you just have to tip your cap.
However, this was a continuation of the Nats home woes. For his part, Blake Butera attributed the issues to bad luck rather than any differences in preparation. He said if he did notice anything different in how they prepared, he would talk to the team about it. However, he has not seen anything like that so far.
It is worth noting that the Nats have had a pretty tough home slate. They have faced the Dodgers, Braves and now Brewers at home. However, they have dropped some more winnable series against teams like the Cardinals and Giants at Nationals Park as well. The home record should level off some once they stop facing elite teams at Nats Park as often.
You still get the sense that they just don’t have the same juice at home. The pitching has really struggled at home this season. They have allowed 101 runs at home to just 90 on the road. The fact they have played five more road games than home games makes that even more alarming.
It is also just frustrating for the fans. We have seen momentum from nice road trips just disappear when the boys head home. There are fans wondering if the Nats should just play all of their games on the road, and I cannot blame them.
Outside of yesterday against Misiorowski, the offense has not really been a problem at home. They are still averaging over 5 runs per game at Nationals Park. James Wood has actually been a much better hitter at home. 8 of his 10 homers have been at Nats Park and he has a 1.183 OPS at home. Bats like Wood and Daylen Lile have been thrilling the home fans, but it has not been enough.
You cannot win a whole lot of games when you are allowing over 7 runs a game, like the Nats are at home. I would imagine that those numbers will just naturally come down, but it is worrying. It is worth noting that Nationals Park becomes more hitter friendly in the summer as the heat and humidity come in.
I will be watching to see how the staff performs at home in particular. While they have faced a lot of good lineups at Nationals Park, it is still an ominous sign to see them allow this many home runs during a time of the year where the park plays bigger.
Foster Griffin will be on the mound for the Nats today, and he has been something of a stopper for this team. So far this season, the crafty lefty has been the Nats ace, and someone we can rely on. I am curious to see how he fares against a team seeing him for the second time though.
Hopefully that is not too big of an issue for Griffin. The Nats need to win this game, especially with Zack Littell on the mound tomorrow. For every game the Nats lose at home, there are going to be more and more questions. Blake Butera can talk about bad luck, but that explanation is not going to hold up forever.
The Nats have been a fun and exciting team, but most of that excitement has not taken place in front of their home fans. That is a shame because this Nats team really is a joy to watch when they are on the road. If they played like they have on the road at Nationals Park, it would really galvanize this fanbase and get butts in seats.
They have not done that so far, and it has everyone searching for answers. There is definitely some randomness and a tough schedule that can explain some of this, but the Nats simply need to play better in front of their home fans. We know what this team is capable of, they just have not shown it at Nationals Park.
