BA up to .202 after yesterday.

Right. The hugely improved player development is glossing over Rizzo's draft record.

On the other hand, I'm waiting for one of the bloggers to compare the production of the off-season pick-ups year to year (too much work for me). I'd like to see it quantified just how much more production Toboni is getting with how much less money spent.

No question Toboni's a much better dumpster diver than Rizzo.  Weimer, Mead, and Vivas are hall of famers compared to Senzel, Gallo, etc.

INNING             BAL   WSH
2nd   Ruiz homered to right (366 feet), Abrams scored and Nuñez scored.   0   3
3rd   Abrams doubled to right, Wood scored.   0   4
7th   Basallo homered to right (376 feet).   1   4
7th   O'Neill homered to left (402 feet).   2   4
7th   Ward singled to left, Taveras scored, Henderson to second.   3   4
7th   House doubled to left, Wood scored.   3   5
7th   Orioles challenged (tag play), call on the field was upheld: Daylen Lile reaches on a fielder's choice, fielded by shortstop Gunnar Henderson. Brady House scores. CJ Abrams to 2nd.   3   6
7th   Ruiz singled to left, Abrams scored and Lile scored, Nuñez to second.   3   8
7th   Young homered to left (391 feet), Ruiz scored and Wiemer scored.   3   11
8th   House homered to left (369 feet), Mead scored.   3   13

Balimore Oreos             3
Washington Nationals  13

Really makes this quote stand out more to be honest.

Right. The hugely improved player development is glossing over Rizzo's draft record.

On the other hand, I'm waiting for one of the bloggers to compare the production of the off-season pick-ups year to year (too much work for me). I'd like to see it quantified just how much more production Toboni is getting with how much less money spent.

https://www.federalbaseball.com/washington-nationals-analysis/91059/can-washington-nationals-finally-get-back-500

Notes the Nats are 0 for the last 15 games when they could reach .500 with a win.

Sunshine? We have Cade Cavalli going, Varland (9) and Lovelady (11) did not throw that many pitches while Alvarez gave the  rest of the bullpen a day off, and Lord and Schultz should be available with 3 days off.

Spencer Nussbaum had a list, I think. May 14, in The Athletic. https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/7280097/2026/05/14/washington-nationals-500-record-streak/

Nationals have had 15 chances to get to .500 in the past 2 years. They’re 0-15 in those games

CINCINNATI — On Thursday, gravitas was supposed to give way to catharsis.

It was not supposed to end with outfielder Joey Wiemer chuckling on the mound, nor with infielder Jose Tena losing a flyball in the sun in right field, then accidentally kicking the ball away when he couldn’t find it. It was not supposed to end in a 15-1 loss to the Cincinnati Reds, at least not in their ideal version of events.

It’s an almost unfathomable streak to process. Especially if you’ve been around for all 15 of them.

“We’ve been teasing (that .500 mark) for a while here,” outfielder Jacob Young said. “Hopefully, we can kind of get over that hump and start going the other way.”

It’s never bad to play .500 baseball on the road, Young said. Whether the Nationals are snakebitten or the wounds are self-inflicted, whether they blame youth or an Etsy curse, whether they think about it or they don’t, it’s not an easy thing to stomach.

“You want to be contending, and to be contending, you’ve got to be at least .500,” Young said. “Everyone knows that. We’ve been teetering with it, of course. But I think if we can just catch a little momentum here and win a few in a row, we can kind of just forget about that number and go the other way.

“It’s a team goal. Once you go out there, you try to execute to get to that main goal, but it’s not something you can think about when you’re out there. You’re just going out to play that game, win that game, and … when you get in the clubhouse afterwards, you kind of assess where we are as a team, and go from there.”

The newcomers felt a bit different. They’re happy with how this road trip went — a 3-3 stretch against the Reds and Miami Marlins. Lefty Foster Griffin (signed this winter) said it was just the sort of thing they’ll have to figure out over the course of 162 games. He was more concerned with the nine runs he had just given up.