Might be a mind fact, but I thought the DC teams tended to be really quick to freeze out journalists who did try something other than lobbing softballs...
A journalists' job is to tell the story of the team, not just tweet out lineups. Isabelle does a good job covering the Caps but has delved into some deeper issues while maintaining relationships. Beat reporters have a hard time getting critical obviously but there are ways to do their job that encompass more than "Davey says they have to play better."
Where are the articles on Murphy's clear inability to use his legs in his swing? (FP mentions it daily) Ask KLong about it, he'll talk all day (I know because I've done it and he loves talking hitting)
What about Soto's swing and approach make him so unique? (see above)
What's different about Roark compared to 2016?
How, specifically, has Gio changed from his hard-throwing days?
What makes Max's changeup so damn good?
How is Turner a different hitter than last year, or his rookie year? What about defensively? Remember when he played CF?
Does the pressure of "needing to win" weigh on players?
The roster was built on the premise no one would get hurt. There's no depth of arms. What happened?
These are all questions that can help explain aspects of the 2018 Nationals. Too many beat writers fail to seek out an answer for, "Why?" when they go for the five W's. They rely on player/manager quotes and platitudes and nothing of consequence is said. I'm not saying Chelsea/Zuck/etc. do this, it's an industry-wide thing. There are tough questions, there are softballs, and there is "pissing off players and managers." There's a fine line to all of it and you can't be ball-busting every day, but right now all I really see from Nats coverage is daily, "they should get it goin, huh?"
We're at the ASB, under-.500, in 3rd place, our best hitter is a 19-year-old, our star RF is a turd this year, our #2 pitcher is out, our #4 pitcher has an ERA of almost double-digits, and we have no answers. And the media is treating it like it's just normal operation mode. "Real" journalists have hard jobs and if sports writers think of themselves as real journalists, they should do real journalism.
/rant
