FanPost

Armchair Analysis: An Early Grave

Surging Orioles drop Nationals into cellar with 7-3 victory - Big ...

Photo: https://tinyurl.com/y4shacpg

Game 2 of 3 @ Orioles
Box Score

Nationals (7-11) 0 0 0 2 0 1 0 0 0 -- 3
Orioles (12-8) 2 2 0 1 0 1 0 1 x -- 7
L: Patrick Corbin (2-1, 3.91)

The Bad

Patrick Corbin. Let's start with the obvious one. Corbin lost them the game with his outing. 5 runs over 5 innings is nowhere near anything to write home about. He dug the offense into a hole that they ultimately could not climb out of. I will be the first to acknowledge the good he has done for this team in the past two seasons, but I also do not believe he is worth what he's getting paid. In December of 2018, the Nats signed the left hander to a 6 year, $140M deal. Even at the time, it seemed like overpaying to me. He was solid in 2018 to be sure, but $23.3 million a year? That's not far off from Max Scherzer money for someone who had only pitched 3 qualifying seasons (meaning a season with at least 162 innings pitched) in his career to that point. Only in two of those did he achieve an ERA under 4, and he never finished a season with a sub-3 ERA. He had a fine season last year (14-7, 3.25), but again--was it worth close to Max Scherzer money? His struggles this season only confirm my doubts. This contract put a lot of money on the books, and was certainly a factor in why they could not offer more to departing star third baseman Anthony Rendon last offseason. I understand that the Lerners prioritize starting pitching. However, they also need to make sure they're getting their money's worth.

Late Game Hitting. Last night, the Nats scored 9 runs in the final three frames. Tonight, they entered the 7th inning trailing 6-3 and put up a goose egg the rest of the way. Unfortunately, the hitting is as inconsistent as that Tupperware container of tomato soup that's been buried at the back of your refrigerator for a month.

The Good
Juan Soto. It seems like he ends up in this section after every game this year. Seriously, the guy is a beast in every sense of the word. He went 1-for-3 with a 2-run homer and a walk today, and is still batting over .400.

Trea Turner. The Nats' shortstop officially proved that he is back in business tonight, going 3-for-4 with a homer. This was hit second 3-hit game in a row, bringing his average up to .292. With Trea hitting the way he's supposed to, I expect consistently better results on offense. Even tonight, in a 7-3 loss, the offense did not look completely dead like it did in many of their losses this season.

The Question Mark
Luis Garcia. It's his second straight game appearing in this section. After a solid debut last night, the 20-year old struggled tonight to the tune of 0-for-3. 8 at-bats at the Major League level is far too small of a sample size to draw any conclusions, so we'll continue to keep an eye on him and see how he develops. Unfortunately for Garcia, he has big shoes to fill as Starlin Castro's replacement.

Other Thoughts
I have never been impressed with Kevin Long as a hitting coach. I think that last year's strong offensive performance was despite Long, not because of him. I'm not going to get in depth tonight--I plan on making a whole article on him soon (the "All-You-Can-Kevin-Long Special") but right now I will say this. While he may have helped Daniel Murphy become the phenomenal hitter he is, Long also turned many Mets hitters into strikeout kings when he was the pitching coach there. I also see many "little mistakes" at the plate by Nats hitters. Fouling off close pitches when ahead in the count, not being aggressive enough with two strikes, etc. It's the job of the hitting coach to fix that, and I don't see that happening currently. The inconsistency of this offense (and a glance at the batting statistics of Nats players this season) shows that the Nats' offense is performing under its potential. It's the job of the hitting coach to get a lineup to perform up to potential. If your hitting coach isn't getting those results, it's time to find a new one. Firing pitching coach Derek Lilliquist last year and replacing him with Paul Menhart jumpstarted the pitching staff. Perhaps the same could be done for the hitters this year by giving Long the boot.

What's Next
Tomorrow, the Nats and O's face off in the rubber game of this 3 game set, with Max Scherzer taking on (checks notes) John Means, who is 0-1 with a 7.71 ERA. Getting a series win would be huge in building some momentum, especially after failing to secure a series win after taking the first 2 of 4 at Citi Field last week.

About This Series

My name is Cole Bromfield. Anyone close to me will tell you how opinionated I am when it comes to the world of sports. I've even been called an "armchair manager", "armchair GM", etc by some. So I've decided to embrace that label and share my thoughts on my favorite sports teams. After every Nationals game, I will discuss one negative from the game, one positive, one question mark, any other thoughts I have on the game, and what's next. These entries also available on armchairanalysisnats.weebly.com

All FanPosts on FBB consist of content created by site users without editorial oversight by Federal Baseball, and do not necessarily represent the views of the FBB editorial staff.