Certainly didnt help. Lester is thriving in St Louis after leaving. When he left, he and Corbin were neck and neck for worst pitcher in baseball.
Joe Ross and Erick Fedde look awful.
Scherzer left and basically is the best he's ever been.
The entire bullpen seems unable to throw strikes.
So tell me, who IS to blame for all this? It isnt just one person or a handful. Its literally every pitcher except Espino who is getting worse as the season progresses.
Maybe the pitchers themselves? Fedde has never been much. The bullpen is a collection of guys that Rizzo accumulated in the same places he found Josh Harrison and Alcides Escobar, although Harrison and Escobar have had good major league seasons. Max had a 2.76 ERA on a .892 WHIP pitching for the Nats. He has been better with the Dodgers, a better team. Maybe having better fielders and hitters helps.
And Max seems always to have been his own pitching coach.
Lester? He pitched for the Nats about the way he pitched for the Cubs in 2019 and 2020. He is not pitching brilliantly with the Cardinals.
So, to repeat: there is no basis -- none -- for blaming the bad pitching on the Nats' pitching coach.