Nats hope to return from break energized
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SAN FRANCISCO -- The All-Star break couldn’t have come at a better time.
The Nationals’ first half ended to the tune of a 3-1 loss to the Giants on Sunday at Oracle Park, being swept by the Majors' best team. For a team that has endured an odd 3 1/2-month stretch to begin the season, the upcoming four days of rest will be invaluable.
“It’s been a weird year,” said All-Star shortstop Trea Turner. “We started off the year pretty bad and we were fairly healthy, for the most part. We started to climb out of that and start playing pretty good baseball, and then we got hit with a lot of injuries so we’re having to climb out of another hole.”
A weird year, indeed.
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The Nationals were operating close to full strength when the season began, but sputtered out of the gates. Through two months, they were seven games under par. The Nationals made up for that lost ground thanks in part to Kyle Schwarber’s historic stretch. Then, July. The Nationals lost nine of 11 games and now head into the break five games under the .500 mark.
Much of Washington’s recent struggles can be attributed to the injury bug, which has hit the team hard in recent weeks. Chief among those currently on the injured list is Schwarber (right hamstring strain), who was far and away the Nationals’ most productive hitter in the first half. In this series against the Giants alone, the Nationals lost catcher Yan Gomes (strained oblique) and right-hander Kyle McGowin (right biceps fatigue) to the injured list.
“It happens to everybody,” said Ryan Zimmerman. “Every team goes through it at some point. It’s kind of that when that stuff happens, you have to have guys that can step up and help you win and other guys have to step up and maybe start playing more. That’s part of it.”
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While this season has, for the most part, not gone the Nationals' way, they’re only six games back of first place. The Mets are the only team in the NL East that has a winning record. With a strong second half, it wouldn’t be far-fetched to imagine the Nationals at the top of the division.
“We still got a lot of season left,” said manager Dave Martinez. “I’m excited about that. We’ll start getting some of our guys back hopefully. It’s that time where you get that four days off, you come back, you’re energized.”
“The group and the leadership we have, everyone understands that this is still really up for grabs,” said starter Erick Fedde, who allowed three runs across five innings. “I know we didn’t finish the break too strong, but looking ahead at the schedule, there’s lots of games we can win, lots of division games we can move ahead. Everyone here realizes if we can get healthy and stick together, the division is totally up for us to win.”
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One player in particular worth watching after the All-Star break is Juan Soto, who might be on the verge of going on a tear. Soto has slashed .329/.434/.500 in his last 23 games heading into the break and Max Scherzer believes Soto will actually benefit from participating in the Home Run Derby, where he’ll face off against two-way sensation Shohei Ohtani in the tournament.
• T-Mobile Home Run Derby: Monday on ESPN
“A lot of times we hear different guys [say], ‘The Home Run Derby screws me up going into the second half.’ I think for Juan, there’s an opportunity,” said Scherzer. “Like, hey, use this and this might propel you into the second half."