The Washington Nationals pitching staff is on a record setting run, and not in a good way. Over the past four games, the Washington Nationals have given up 80 hits. That is something that has not happened since 1932.
The carnage came early and often in this one. Within eight pitches, it was already 3-0 A’s, as the fearsome top of the Athletics lineup was all over MacKenzie Gore. It was another disaster start for Gore, whose season is coming apart at the seams.
At the All-Star break, MacKenzie Gore’s ERA was sitting pretty at 3.02. However, after four disastrous starts, that number has ballooned to 4.29. It came a little bit later this year, but that MacKenzie Gore midseason disaster we are all so familiar with has come.
However, Gore was not the only Nats pitcher to have an ugly evening. Both Gore and the bullpen allowed 8 runs last night. In the Nationals four August games, they have allowed 16, 8, 14 and 16 runs. In total, that adds up to rock bottom for a franchise that has been hitting new lows all season.
After Gore, we saw trade addition Clayton Beeter make his Nats debut. He showed us his swing and miss stuff, as well as his lack of control. One thing that stood out to me was that Beeter was throwing a ton of fastballs. Of his first 11 pitches, 10 were fastballs. It fits with the Nationals fastball heavy pitching philosophy we wrote about a couple days ago.
It is something teams are having little issue with. As the rest of the league is moving away from heavy fastball usage, the Nats are doing just the opposite and it is not working at all. Nationals pitchers do not have good enough fastballs to be throwing them as much as they are.
It is why we are seeing so much damage. The top four hitters in the A’s lineup combined for 16 hits last night. It was one thing when the Brewers, who have the best record in baseball came to town and tore apart this pitching staff. However, when a team like the A’s does it, you know things are grim.
Right now, watching Nationals games feels like some sort of punishment. Earlier in the season, the team was losing plenty of games, but you could find bright spots. Now those bright spots are becoming harder and harder to come by. The only positive I could find from yesterday’s game was the fact that PJ Poulin accomplished his dream of becoming a big leaguer and threw a scoreless inning in the process.
It is very grim to be a Nats fan right now. The stars that were so good early in the year have been terrible lately. Gore has a 13.21 ERA since the All-Star Break and James Wood’s numbers since July 4th look like something you would see from a pitcher in the pre-DH era of National League baseball.
This is one of those seasons where you can’t wait for it to be over. This 2025 season will go alongside 2008, 2009 and 2022 as the worst seasons in Nationals history. Given preseason expectations, this year might take the cake as the worst season in Nationals history.