NL East (2017)

[RobDibblesGhost]

They refuse to lose...

We'll never catch them now...

[JCA-CrystalCity]

We'll never catch them now...

that's because they adhere to the Unwritten Rules of Baseball.

[Truconfidence]

If the Braves sweep us, we're in big trouble.

if the braves sweep us without freeman and Max and stras going in this series, something went terribly wrong.

[Slateman]

if the braves sweep us without freeman and Max and stras going in this series, something went terribly wrong.

All it takes is not scoring more than 6 runs in a game. Bullpen will take care of the rest

[NatsAllThe Way]

All it takes is not scoring more than 6 runs in a game. Bullpen will take care of the rest

This is absolutely correct.  The Braves scored a ton of runs against the Blue Jays and their pitching is arguably better than ours (considering the bullpens).  With Trea Turner, Zim, Harper, Rendon and Murpy all coming back to earth, we could easily be very screwed here.  Make no mistake, this is a dumpster fire, a big one.

[rileyn]

This is absolutely correct.  The Braves scored a ton of runs against the Blue Jays and their pitching is arguably better than ours (considering the bullpens).  With Trea Turner, Zim, Harper, Rendon and Murpy all coming back to earth, we could easily be very screwed here.  Make no mistake, this is a dumpster fire, a big one.

Yes, I would love to trade places with the Braves.  I'm jealous of their awesomeness.

[monkeyhit]

See Chelsea Janes' article in the Post today. She says that the 25-15 record at the quarter post is "built on a foundation of sand." Wow, pulling no punches.   

[DPMOmaha]

See Chelsea Janes' article in the Post today. She says that the 25-15 record at the quarter post is "built on a foundation of sand." Wow, pulling no punches.   

The full quote:

The Nationals fell to 25-15, the only team over .500 in the National League East. But they are flawed, substantially and glaringly, so much so that the first quarter of the season feels built on a bed of sand, the foundation perilously uncertain — though not, by any means, beyond reinforcement.

Feelings betray, and, other than the bullpen, I'm not going to read too much in to a bad series. If the poor play lingers beyond this week, I'll revisit.

[rbw5t]

If we get swept by Braves, I will be very disappointed, and we will only finish 16 games instead of 22 games ahead of them.

[mitlen]

See Chelsea Janes' article in the Post today. She says that the 25-15 record at the quarter post is "built on a foundation of sand." Wow, pulling no punches.   

Haven't read it yet but I've been thinkin' it  ..   bullpen, 2 or 3 (or more) injury prone everyday starters  ...  one of whom is contributing mightily, LF and 1B are old,  two reliable starters, teams in division injury laden and unlucky (or plain suck)   .....    I'm hopin the Pirates didn't expose us for who we really are.

[monkeyhit]

The full quote:
Feelings betray, and, other than the bullpen, I'm not going to read too much in to a bad series. If the poor play lingers beyond this week, I'll revisit.

Ms. Janes is as close to the action as a non-team member can get, and it should be noted, has shown no previous inclinations to post warning signs. That is why I found her article note-worthy and a bit courageous. She has to face the players and Rizzo on a regular basis.

[mitlen]

He said it.  It was stupid.  He apologized.  2 game suspension is fine.  Case closed.  Move on.

It's not about him.    Why doesn't MLB show the same "understanding" to the fan?   Did he get an opportunity to "apologize" and get his entry into the park re-instated?     Probably not.   He's not one of the gang.     No money or good publicity in it for 'em?   

[dracnal]

Ms. Janes is as close to the action as a non-team member can get, and it should be noted, has shown no previous inclinations to post warning signs. That is why I found her article note-worthy and a bit courageous. She has to face the players and Rizzo on a regular basis.

She may well have pre-cleared it with some folks on the team on the QT and gotten the okay because it helps fight the '25 and 15,' argument that Rizzo is hearing when he asks for money to fix the bullpen.

[Natsinpwc]

She may well have pre-cleared it with some folks on the team on the QT and gotten the okay because it helps fight the '25 and 15,' argument that Rizzo is hearing when he asks for money to fix the bullpen.

Helps Rizzo get money from the Lerners. The week after an article from Boz.

[Optics]

Good lord you guys are a bunch of panic monkeys. We were playing at a 110+ win pace, of course we were going to regress some. We're still going to win 92+ games and cruise to an NL East title. We have an offense that is #1 in many different statistics. Harper looks like he's MVP again. Scherzer is still great. Yeah we have some issues, what team doesn't?

We'll pound the Braves this weekend and all of you negative nancies can relax again.

[monkeyhit]

Good lord you guys are a bunch of panic monkeys. We were playing at a 110+ win pace, of course we were going to regress some. We're still going to win 92+ games and cruise to an NL East title. We have an offense that is #1 in many different statistics. Harper looks like he's MVP again. Scherzer is still great. Yeah we have some issues, what team doesn't?

We'll pound the Braves this weekend and all of you negative nancies can relax again.

And "pounding" Atlanta Braves would prove exactly what?

[mitlen]

See Chelsea Janes' article in the Post today. She says that the 25-15 record at the quarter post is "built on a foundation of sand." Wow, pulling no punches.   

https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/nationals/first-place-nats-hit-quarter-pole-with-loss-that-underscores-glaring-issues/2017/05/18/931f2726-3bea-11e7-a058-ddbb23c75d82_story.html

[DPMOmaha]

And "pounding" Atlanta Braves would prove exactly what?

Nothing. The issues are fairly self evident at this point. It would be nice to see that Pittsburgh was just a bad series, but those are/were gonna happen anyway.

[DPMOmaha]

She may well have pre-cleared it with some folks on the team on the QT and gotten the okay because it helps fight the '25 and 15,' argument that Rizzo is hearing when he asks for money to fix the bullpen.

Or a nudge or just a reading of the atmosphere in the clubhouse. Those sort of "suggestions" happen quite a bit between teams and media. Frankly, this team could use a kick in the pants from the beat writers more often.

[Ali the Baseball Cat]

Maybe that's why the Caps flamed out.  The local coverage was nothing but puffery. 

Or a nudge or just a reading of the atmosphere in the clubhouse. Those sort of "suggestions" happen quite a bit between teams and media. Frankly, this team could use a kick in the pants from the beat writers more often.

[GburgNatsFan]

Uhm. There was not a thing to complain about in the regular season, was there?

Maybe that's why the Caps flamed out.  The local coverage was nothing but puffery.

[whytev]

It's not about him.    Why doesn't MLB show the same "understanding" to the fan?   Did he get an opportunity to "apologize" and get his entry into the park re-instated?     Probably not.   He's not one of the gang.     No money or good publicity in it for 'em?   

Of course an employee gets more grace than a crappy paying customer.

[Ali the Baseball Cat]

I guess there was only room for one subject of a hostile media environment

[mitlen]

Here's another "good news" story in the Washington Post this morning.   

"Their 25-15 record this season, through Thursday, has been bloated by their 16-8 intradivisional mark; against everyone else, they are a pedestrian 9-7."

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/sports/wp/2017/05/19/the-nl-east-is-so-bad-its-hard-to-tell-if-the-nationals-are-any-good/

[bluestreak]

Here's another "good news" story in the Washington Post this morning.   

"Their 25-15 record this season, through Thursday, has been bloated by their 16-8 intradivisional mark; against everyone else, they are a pedestrian 9-7."

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/sports/wp/2017/05/19/the-nl-east-is-so-bad-its-hard-to-tell-if-the-nationals-are-any-good/

I guess I'll be the sunshine person. This is crazy panic over 1 series. The pirates are in last, but they weren't expected to be. And before the series the record outside the division was 8-5. Which is .615 ball and includes series wins over Cardinals, Rockies and D-backs. So basically all this fret is over one bad road series.
Look. The bullpen sucks. We all know it. But this amount of angst. In May? Over a team with an 8 game lead? Come on.
I wonder if Cubs fans are doing this.