The Nationals Bring Struggling Offense From Florida To Cincinatti

The Nationals have added a new page to their ever-growing catalogue of offensive struggles.

Monday’s addition? Bouncing an extra-base hit—the team’s first such hit since Friday against the Marlins—off of the unwitting umpire standing near second base, only to have the officials limit the play to a single due to “umpire interference”. It was a play that dumbfounded even the Nationals’ broadcasters and one that seems destined to end up on this week’s SportsCenter blooper reel.

It also summarizes the Nat’s moribund offensive performance over the last few games. The team has scored just 6 runs in 4 games (and 4 of them were in Friday’s win over the Marlins, a rare dominant performance that seems a glimmer in the rear-view mirror now). Why can’t the Nationals get their offense going?

Here are a few reasons:

• The heart of the order have been silent. In the past 4 games, Zimmerman, Dunn, and Willinghamm have gone 9 for 40. That’s a batting average of only .184. What’s even more frustrating is that in many of this group’s plate appearances, they’ve had runners on base. And they couldn’t bat them in. Which is kind of what they’re supposed to do.
• Substitute players from the bench have made costly mistakes. Specifically Adam Kennedy and Willie Harris, neither of whom has been a great help to the team in the past few games. Kennedy did have 2 hits in 2 games against Florida, but he’ll more likely be remembered for his two egregious baserunning mistakes: one on Saturday, when he ignored Pat Listach’s signal to hold at third base and was easily thrown out at the plate, and another on Sunday when he arguably killed a game-tying rally in the ninth inning by overrunning second base and getting thrown out with no trouble. Willie Harris, who hasn’t gotten many plate opportunities recently, did draw a walk against Cincinatti on Monday, but he’ll probably be more remembered for popping up a very hittable pitch down the middle of the plate with the bases loaded and the Nationals down only two runs. Not the effort you like to see from your subs.
• Most of the team’s hits have been cheap singles. In the last 4 games, the team has only had 2 extra-base hits. Their total number of hits in those games? 31. That means that the Nats have hit 29 singles in 4 games. And since the Nationals have only gone 3 for 28 (.096) with runners in scoring position, it’s safe to assume that the majority of those hits were pretty harmless trips to first and second base. If your opponent’s pretty sure that you can’t get hits with runners on 2^nd and 3^rd, they’ll give you all the singles you want.

It goes without saying that if the Nationals want to keep their aspirations of being a competitor in the NL alive, they’ll need more production than what they’re currently getting. It’s likely enough that Zimmerman, Dunn, and Willinghamm will heat up again just like they did earlier this year. The real concern is with the hitters behind them, like Michael Morse, Adam Kennedy, and Willie Harris. Decisions need to be made about what kind of future they have with the team. Michael Morse has shown promise in some of his at-bats and he should be getting more plate appearances to keep him fresh. Kennedy and Harris, however, have seen their production decrease since April and have become liabilities behind the plate and on the bases. And with the amount of money that team is paying them to come off the bench, it might be time to part ways. Otherwise, the Nationals may find themselves in a very extended offensive slump that will set them back from ever becoming a competitive franchise.