Nationals Finish June with League Worst Record As Struggles Mount on Both Sides
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There were only three teams in the league in the month of June who failed to win double digit games (surprisingly one was not the Colorado Rockies)- the Minnesota Twins (9), the Kansas City Royals (8), and the Washington Nationals (7).
The Nationals actually ended up taking three losses in a row (at home) to the historically poor-performing Rockies. They did finish the month on a high note with their lone series win against the Los Angeles Angels.
The Nats also went on an 11-game losing streak and were swept during this period by both the New York Mets and the Miami Marlins.
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In the past 30 days it is not just one side of the field that is struggling. They are having clear issues on both offense and defense. Their stars, James Wood and CJ Abrams, cannot be the only ones hitting well in order to win games.
They’re splitting 25th with the third least amount of walks. On-base percentage and RBIS rank 26th with a .306 and 98 (only seven teams had less than 100) while slugging and OPS both come in at 21st. Washington only has a few categories where they sit in the top 20: hits (209), batting average (.246), and strike outs (171) which was actually third best.
The pitching staff is having the same, if not more, amount of problems. They sit last in two categories: saves and home runs allowed. Their ERA is almost five (4.99) and was the third worst this month behind only the Twins and the Rockies.
There were only five teams that had more than 130 runs scored on them, and Washington was one of them. The pitching staff had the sixth-lowest amount of strikeouts, as one of just six to have less than 200 in the last 30 days.
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Washington has a tough stretch to start the month, taking on the Detroit Tigers, who are tied for the best record in the league at 53-32, and then the Boston Red Sox.
After this stretch at home, they then have to travel to take on an incredibly hot Milwaukee Brewers and then the Saint Louis Cardinals, both are closing in on 50 wins this season.
The only team in the NL with a worse record is the Rockies, who have yet to win their 20th game. There are only three teams in the majors with worse records: of course, the Rockies, the Chicago White Sox, and the Athletics. As the league approaches the All-Star break, it’s clear that some changes need to be made and maybe some drastic ones.
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Maddy Dickens resides in Loveland, Colorado. She grew up with two older brothers, where their lives revolved around sports. She earned a master's degree in business management from Tarleton State University while simultaneously playing basketball and competing in rodeo at the collegiate level. She successfully parlayed a reserve national championship into a professional rodeo career and now stays involved in upper-level athletics by writing for On SI on several different MLB teams' pages, along with some NCAA sites.