When things go south for the 2025 Washington Nationals, they get really ugly. For the fifth time this season, the Washington Nationals have a losing streak of at least five games. I cannot remember a Nationals team where the lows are this low. When things go south, the Nats look like they will never win a game again.
This week has been one of those weeks that have become all too familiar for Nats fans this season. After playing solid baseball for a couple weeks, things have just totally imploded.
The bullpen which was pitching well for a while can’t get an out anymore, the defense is schoolboy level and the offense is mostly quiet.
These patterns have defined the Nationals season. They play some decent baseball. Win two out of three for a couple series, maybe drop two out of three to a good team. However, they have these runs where the bottom just falls out. The 11 game losing streak in June, the 8 game losing streak to end August and now this losing streak in September. This team just cannot stop the bleeding.
The crazy thing is that it is all aspects of play that just totally fall apart. These runs have no bright spots. Outside of CJ Abrams and yet another Daylen Lile triple, there was not much to cling onto last night. Last night, the Nats committed three errors, all in the outfield. Stuff like this is why I called this the most embarrassing Nationals team.
Outside of these crazy losing runs, the Nationals actually show some good things from time to time. This September is a great example of this Nationals cycle. The Nats actually started this month very well. Before this losing streak, the Nationals actually started the month with a 9-4 record. They looked very bright in the series against the Marlins and Cubs to start the month.
Before this losing streak, the Nats actually won a series against the Pirates. The bullpen was locking games down with Clayton Beeter and Jose A. Ferrer at the back of the pen. However, that bullpen has totally capitulated in this losing streak.
When the Nats are losing by a run or two, the bullpen has real trouble stopping the bleeding. When you have to rely on pitchers like Mason Thompson and Shinnosuke Ogasawara to stop the bleeding, the blood will keep gushing. Lately, the bullpen has done a decent job keeping leads when they have them, but they can’t stop one run deficits from becoming five run deficits.
The Nationals have to improve a lot of things next season, but stopping the bleeding is one of them. If the Nats are not going to sweep teams, they cannot fall into these long dry spells.
These ugly runs make sense for a team that is so young, but it is also a sign of a team that lacks leadership. Where are the veterans trying to steady the ship when things get so ugly. This ugliness is why the Nationals are going to have their worst record since 2022.
2025 has been a disastrous season for the Washington Nationals. Having five losing streaks of at least five games is a recipe for failure. The next Washington Nationals manager has a lot of big tasks ahead of them, but stopping these ugly runs needs to be near the top of the list.
