“World Series or bust,” said Washington Nationals manager Davey Johnson.
At the outset of Spring Training, Johnson discussed the high expectations his team had for 2013. After all, the 98 wins marked the most in Major League Baseball in 2012. Much of that team was set to return, loaded with more experience and a desire to return to the great heights the team reached a year before.
I wrote a piece at the time about the high expectations set for my beloved Nationals and just how excited I was for the season to get started. Whoops.
The Nationals started 3-0 — in fact, they were the last team in the majors to lose a game. When they did fall, it was ugly. Washington was defeated 15-0 in their fourth game of the season, perhaps a sign of the struggle to come. That game was started by Dan Haren, a free-agent pitcher the Nationals brought in for $13 million in the offseason to try and bolster the back end of the rotation. Haren turned around and rewarded the Nationals with a 9-14 record and 4.87 ERA, a far cry from what $13 million should buy a team.
In fact, Haren’s season included a stretch of eight straight losing decisions and eleven straight team losses in games started by him. It’s awfully tough to win a World Series when you have a guaranteed loss every fifth day. In addition, the Nationals’ bullpen, a dominant aspect of the team a year ago, has struggled in 2013. Another acquisition, closer Rafael Soriano, has surrendered six blown saves. Last year’s closer, Drew Storen, was sent down to the minor leagues in late-July after he struggled with his middle relief role.
The Nationals’ bench, who performed admirably in clutch situations or in fill-in roles in 2012, also struggled in 2013. When pivotal players such as outfielders Jayson Werth and Bryce Harper missed time with injuries, the team’s production dipped. The Nationals had a glaring inability to come back this year, a trait that was a hallmark of the magical season a year ago.
The aforementioned problems certainly hampered the Nationals this year, but other numbers are glaring. For example, the Atlanta Braves, the team that won the National League East this year, beat the Nationals 13 out of 19 times this year. The Braves’ margin of victory in the division? Less than 13. How about the St. Louis Cardinals, the team that eliminated Washington from the 2012 playoffs? A clean six-for-six sweep of the season series.
Sure, the Nationals rolled through September, but the team was playing the likes of the Philadelphia Phillies, New York Mets and Miami Marlins. Stack these Nationals up against a team such as the Braves, Cardinals, Pittsburgh Pirates or Los Angeles Dodgers and the result was a struggle game in and game out.
Will the Nationals be back among baseball’s elite in 2014? The possibility certainly exists, as Harper and starting pitchers Stephen Strasburg and Jordan Zimmermann are some of the best young talent in the league. But what is to suggest that similar disappointment will not occur? We’ll just have to wait and find out. Wait and let it sink in that that 2013 is officially a bust.