In the third inning, Jacob Young made one of the most incredible catches you will ever see. He scaled the wall like spiderman to make an insane grab to rob Heriberto Hernandez of extra bases. It was a truly thrilling moment. Outside of that, it was the same dreary, depressing Nationals that we have gotten used to since the trade deadline.
I do not think I have ever seen a team go from ultra-exciting to completely unwatchable so
quickly. The 2021 Nats come close, but even that does not do this justice in my opinion. A team that played with so much energy and vigor for the first 4 months of the season is slowly walking towards season’s end like a zombie.
With James Wood and CJ Abrams injured as well as Luis Garcia Jr. and Curtis Mead being traded, this lineup is the rotting husk of the one that took baseball by storm. Some of this is misfortune, some due to the front office stripping away pieces, but the 2026 Nationals look a lot like the skeleton crew that Miguel Cairo led to end last season.
The Nats have had problems late in games for a while now, but the lack of spunk we are seeing at the end of games is just sad. These last couple games, the Marlins have scored first before the Nats would respond and tie the game. However, the second the Marlins retook the lead, there was nothing left for the Nats. Maybe they would make one final push before inevitably leaving runners in scoring position.
The numbers from this month are beyond ugly, and the Spencer Nusbaum tweet down below comes with a content warning. They have dropped to a truly shocking 11-30 against divisional opponents. In this road trip, the Nats went 1-8 while scoring just 20 runs. Given where this team was just a month ago, it is truly sad to see what has become of this group.
Selling at the deadline was the smartest move on paper, but it has clearly left a huge mark on the clubhouse. Curtis Mead, Foster Griffin and Luis Garcia Jr. were not only major on field contributors, but they were also leaders. There is now a leadership and talent void.
In addition to that, it does not seem like the announcement of CJ Abrams’ position switch has done anything to help the atmosphere. With James Wood on the shelf and the offense depleted, there was already a lot on Abrams’ plate. The position switch just seems like something that should have been done in the offseason.
Given how the first half went, there is still hope for this team moving forward. If they can recapture that offensive magic once they are healthy and reinforced next season, this could be an exciting team again. Hopefully the pitching additions start to make their mark next season as well.
Clearly 2026 was not a top priority for Paul Toboni. His goal is to build a sustainable winner and in his eyes the deadline sell off was necessary evil in achieving that goal. I largely agree with that assessment, but we will need to see these prospects turn into winning players down the road. The jury is still very much out on this deadline, but in the short term, it made the team much less watchable, even more than expected.
However, the talent gap is not the only one that the Nats will have to bridge if they want to climb the NL East standings. Whenever we have played the Marlins, there has been a real gap on the situational side. We saw that today when the two teams had bases loaded and two out situations. The struggling Abimelec Ortiz was unable to come through while Xavier Edwards just guided a ball into left for the Marlins.
While Miami does not have much in the way of star talent, their crisp and team oriented style is one the Nats need to take a look at. They are not a team that beats themselves and has quality depth.
Being 11-30 in division and seeing the season crumble like this needs to be a wakeup call for management. It felt like besides the bullpen, this group could not do a whole lot of wrong. Now, they are being hit by adversity and the team is not responding well.
Moving forward the Nats need to build a reliable and steady team that can withstand the vigors of a 162 game season. Do not get me wrong, I still have faith in this regime in the long term. There are positive signs on the horizon with the young talent on the farm, but eventually the rebuild wary fanbase needs to see wins. Just as it looked like the light was flickering on, it disappeared. Hopefully it comes back next season.
