The predictions were nearly universal: The Washington Nationals would win the National League East division en route to the National League pennant. A dominant pitching staff and a potent offense would certainly be enough to tear through the rest of the league.

So far, not so good. For the first time in 574 days on Wednesday, the Washington Nationals woke up with a losing record at 10-11. The team has lost nine of its last 12 games and has seen its run production decrease while ERA has increased.

Washington began the year at 3-0 with a sweep of the Miami Marlins in which the team allowed only one run. Standout pitcher Stephen Strasburg had a dominant opening day shutout start and Gio Gonzalez followed that up with a shutout of his own. Gonzalez picked up a win his second time around, but Strasburg has not won a game since opening day.

Gonzalez, a Cy Young Award finalist from a year ago, has a 4.50 ERA courtesy three bad outings after his first two of the season. Strasburg sits at 1-4 with a 3.16 ERA, largely the victim of poor run support. Washington has only scored nine runs while he has taken the ball.

Strasburg only gave up six, two, four, and three runs in his last four outings, but each time allowed runs before the Nationals were able to score. This is a situation the Nationals were not in very much last season. It seemed that whenever the Nationals scored in bunches last season, it was part of a blowout. Battling back to put up at least five runs has not been a success for a team that cannot hit.

Two of the Nationals’ eight starters from opening day are now on the disabled list – third baseman Ryan Zimmerman and catcher Wilson Ramos. Two others, second baseman Danny Espinosa and first baseman Adam LaRoche, are hitting under .170. Left fielder Bryce Harper is the only player consistently hitting for Washington, batting at a .360 clip with nine homers. The next healthy everyday player is shortstop Ian Desmond, down at .295.

The team has struck out 191 times thus far, with the .135 hitting LaRoche leading the club with 28 strikeouts.

With the pitching and offense struggling, the defense has to be having a solid season, right?

Nope. The Nationals have committed 19 errors in 21 games, seven of them coming from Desmond. Desmond committed only sixteen errors all of last season.

For now, all the Nationals can do is relax and play baseball. There are still 137 more games to be played, plenty of time to catch up, hit better, and play better defense. Oh, and Stephen Strasburg? He’s still a Cy Young candidate. Mark my words.