Can the Washington Nationals turn it around in the franchise’s most pivotal season ever?
That’s the question that remains unanswered as the struggling Nationals appear set to make a push towards altering the disaster of a narrative for this season. A report by Jon Heyman suggests that Bryce Harper most likely won’t be traded and the team is backing off the notion of selling ahead of Tuesday’s MLB non-waiver trade deadline. They have their sights on a winnable division race that sees them six games out of first place in the National League East. While, keeping Harper and not selling to push towards October is good news to hear, now a report surfaces that repaints an ugly picture over this season.
There appears to be issues behind the scenes that have rocked the foundation of the clubhouse.
“The clubhouse is a mess,” one source toldĀ Jeff Passan of Yahoo Sports.
All signs point back to two targets that have drawn the ire of the players, Harper and first-year manager Dave Martinez. Ironically, the two have a solid relationship but the same cannot be said about the other players. Adam Eaton chastised the team’s sense of urgency and mindset following Sunday’s 5-0 loss to the Miami Marlins Certainly that is not all the signs of a strained clubhouse.
There was the heated exchange between the team’s best two pitchers, Max Scherzer and Stephen Strasburg. Both men carried their disagreement into the clubhouse between innings. Trea Turner was benched for not hustling on a bunt and even Martinez had to speak to Harper for the same issue off a grounder that led to a double play.
Harper’s recent comments that suggested the team would not have lost on Saturday to the Marlins if they had already acquired catcher J.T. Realmuto, who hit the walk-off RBI-single, rubbed his teammates the wrong way. In large, because the team is arguably one of the most talented teams in the majors. Their struggles are not due to talent and Harper’s comments were viewed as āunprofessional and potentially divisive among (Harperās) teammates,ā according to Passan.
Martinez’s learning on the fly to be a manager while being the man in charge of a team that won four division titles in six years and aspired to win the World Series this Fall, does not help matters either.
All of this comes after the Nationals’ brass decided to make a change at manager after disappointments in the NLDS in back-to-back seasons, dismissing Dusty Baker despite two division titles in two years for an unproven first-time manager in Martinez. Also, the team parted ways with previous clubhouse leader Jayson Werth, and while Scherzer is respected in the clubhouse by accounts, enough to hold a players-only meeting, he does not hold the same credentials of a leader like say Werth.
it appears the Nationals are crumbling under pressure in all aspects. Harper has had a dismal season at the plate, hitting .220. Meanwhile, Martinez is getting a rude awakening out of the shadows of Joe Maddon, and the Nationals are struggling to stay healthy and maintain their level of excellence. Then throw in the uncertainty of Harper’s future with the team, as he is set to become a unrestricted free agent at the end of the season. If the narrative is the change for D.C.’s baseball club, there has to be a change in their mindset and possibly culture.
