- 2 days ago
The Sports Junkies debate if the Washington Nationals are legit playoff contenders.
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00:00Cool thing happening with Grant and Danny a bit later today.
00:03Their Nats are over 500. Parade is on.
00:06It's actually Tuesday today.
00:09I'm getting mixed up Monday or Tuesday because it's a three-day weekend.
00:135.25 p.m.
00:14They're going to walk from the station here on 1015 Half Street
00:18to the center field gate.
00:20The plan is for people to make signs and wear Nats gear
00:22and walk to the ballpark to celebrate the Nats being over 500.
00:26They're going to Walters at the ballpark for a game watch.
00:30And hang at the start of tonight's 6 p.m. game.
00:33And Walters is giving the first 100 fans in Nats gear that show up a free beer.
00:39So, cool thing to celebrate.
00:41Nats are playing good baseball.
00:43Over 500.
00:44They get a resounding win over the Indians last night.
00:49And they've been hot of late.
00:50Well, you've got to start paying attention.
00:51Do you know how far they are out of the wild card?
00:54Yes.
00:55Two games.
00:56Two games.
00:56That's it.
00:57Now, there are a bunch of teams in the mix.
01:00We get that.
01:01But if you're hovering around 500 in Major League Baseball,
01:06you have a shot to at least get in the wild card.
01:09Like division.
01:10They're playing so much better than anyone expected.
01:12The division is an absolute long shot.
01:15I don't expect them to contend for the NL East.
01:18All right.
01:19But the wild card, two games back, or right now, the last wild card spot in the National
01:24League is the Diamondbacks.
01:25They're 29-24.
01:27So, they have one more win than the Washington Nationals.
01:31That's it.
01:32It is pretty stunning.
01:35Because the city has kind of forgotten about the Nationals in a way.
01:39They've got to be starting to get pumped.
01:41I would think that a buzz should start to build.
01:44Based on the runs that they're scoring?
01:46So, maybe that's going to happen with this parade.
01:47I mean, C.J. Abrams has looked fantastic.
01:49He's got 12 home runs.
01:50James Wood's got 14.
01:53I mean, they hit six home runs yesterday.
01:55Six.
01:56It's crazy.
01:56It's a hot team, too.
01:57A team that had won eight of nine coming in.
01:59Jacob Young had two last year.
02:01He's got seven.
02:03They're doing something right.
02:04I'm not saying seven is great, but for a guy that had two, that's probably, if he continues
02:08this, going to hit 20.
02:09How much?
02:10You know, we had Rizzo call in.
02:12It was super nice.
02:13We should also thank Dan Quinn, right?
02:14Jason helped set all that up.
02:16Thank you, Riz.
02:17Awesome.
02:17Rizzo called in, and he's taking some pride in it.
02:20How much do you give the previous administration?
02:23How much credit did they get?
02:24But these are still some of the guys.
02:26They assembled a lot of the talent that's here.
02:28It just took too long.
02:30It took too long.
02:31You know, at first they were saying it wasn't a rebuild.
02:34And it's now a rebuild on a rebuild.
02:37And clearly they don't have the pitching.
02:39But it was also frustrating for guys like Mike Rizzo that ownership would not go out
02:44and build on, add more veterans, big money veterans that could help young guys.
02:49They wouldn't spend money like they did back in the World Series era.
02:52And not that they're spending money now.
02:54So for whatever reason, this coaching staff, Blake Buter and his entire staff, they're doing
02:58a really good job on a day-to-day basis of getting these guys prepared.
03:04And those young guys are just getting better and better and better.
03:06And what I'd say is the Band-Aid players, like Curtis Mead, they're delivering.
03:11These are probably not guys that I think are going to be part of their long-term picture.
03:16But they picked up, you know, bargain basement guys to fill in roles.
03:22Again, I hate to sound like a broken record, but I said at the beginning of the year that
03:26sometimes teams, they start winning and they start believing in themselves and it kind of
03:30takes a life of its own.
03:32It doesn't mean it's going to end up in the playoffs or anything, but they're clearly outperforming
03:37expectations.
03:37And they're more aggressive.
03:38Way beyond.
03:39I mean, Nunez leads the league in stolen bases and he's only hitting 188.
03:44And remember, we talked to Paul Tiboni about Zach Littell when they acquired him and he
03:52basically said the first five or six starts were like spring training starts for him.
03:57And that kind of has been proven true because if you look at his last one, two, three, five
04:03or six games, actually his last five starts.
04:06Now, one of them wasn't a start because he was coming in after an opener like last night.
04:12But his last five starts, 24 and two thirds, ERA is 2-1-9.
04:17Before that, the previous five starts, 23 and two thirds, ERA was 8-4.
04:22All right, so he went from 8.4 ERA and the last five starts, he's at 2.1.
04:27So he's doing something different.
04:28All right, now he's more aggressive.
04:31He's more comfortable.
04:33And you can say the same thing for a couple of the other starters too.
04:37I mean, Foster Griffiths has been a huge add to this.
04:41I mean, he had that awful start against them.
04:43I think it was against the Mets, right?
04:45But yeah, you're right.
04:46I mean, for the most part, he's been great.
04:47Jake Irvin, this last start against the Braves, that's a damn good Braves lineup.
04:51Damn good.
04:52And to shut them down like that.
04:53He kind of stinks he goes on the 15-day IL with a shoulder injury.
04:56That's true.
04:56That hurts.
04:56Hopefully it's two weeks and he's back at it.
04:59Yep.
04:59So it's just fun to watch.
05:02Beyond the pitching, it's just fun to watch them score as much.
05:05They lead the league in run score.
05:07That is crazy with this lineup.
05:10Abrams and Wood are proven.
05:13They're going to be stars.
05:14But the rest of the guys, they're not really proven and they're not household names.
05:18I know.
05:19My wife asked me yesterday.
05:20It was a difference between this year and last year.
05:22And I had a hard – she's like, why are they scoring runs this year and didn't last year?
05:25I had a hard time explaining it.
05:27I had a hard time.
05:29I got to tell you, I listened to the interview on Grand Danny that they had the hitting coach from
05:33the Nationals on.
05:34Impressive dude.
05:35What I would say is different is some of these, what I'm calling Band-Aid players that are filling in.
05:42They're delivering.
05:42And then, maybe this is an approach thing.
05:45Jacob Young, power.
05:49Dale Lyles delivering more.
05:52They seem to be more aggressive on the base paths.
05:55I think we're not really talking about Garcia.
05:58Garcia has been really good.
05:59But knock on him.
06:00Rizzo always loved him.
06:01Yes.
06:02And that's – yeah, Rizzo brought him in.
06:03The knock on him was his defense.
06:07But maybe that's getting a little bit better, although they're kind of using him in different spots now.
06:11He's a first baseman now, not a second baseman.
06:13But he's got punch, man.
06:16He can hit the ball.
06:17Yeah.
06:17So, if you kind of just find a place for him in the lineup, you're not going to get killed
06:22defensively.
06:23You're going to find a place in the lineup for him because he's going to hit.
06:27And Nassim Nunez is leading the majors in stolen bases.
06:30True.
06:30He's batting 188.
06:32Yeah, yeah.
06:32If he gets on base –
06:33I mean, somehow he's leading the league in stolen bases.
06:36He's not even batting 200.
06:38It's crazy.
06:39It's hugely impressive.
06:40I just know the game Vin and I went to, and Dee went with us on Tuesday night, we were
06:45down 5-0 in the first inning.
06:46Typically, you go, well, that's it.
06:48This game's shot.
06:49He's Nats bats.
06:50That lead lasted one inning.
06:52They can bring you back quick.
06:54Lasted one inning.
06:55They had like 10 runs in two innings.
06:57And they kept it moving.
06:59Kept it going.
07:00It's a different team.
07:01I'm just wondering if Nats fans feel like, okay, well, eventually they're going to come back to where we thought
07:07they were.
07:08But maybe not.
07:09I mean, you can't get starting pitchers hurt and miss them for three weeks or longer because the pitching just
07:17doesn't have the depth.
07:19But if the lineup is just putting on 10 runs against good teams or shutting down really good teams like
07:26the Braves, I don't know.
07:29Maybe they're just – maybe it's one of those years where no one thought that they could do what they're
07:33doing, but the players do.
07:36Yeah, I don't think they're going to get to a situation where they go back to like a 65-win
07:41team.
07:42No, they're going to far surpass that.
07:44Yeah.
07:45You know.
07:45I mean, if they could be near that 80-win mark, that would be unbelievable.
07:49What will be interesting is what if they're still two games back at the deadline?
07:54Will they actually acquire a pitcher or two or whatever?
08:00I think they would, yeah.
08:01They will.
08:01They'll spend money.
08:03Well, I mean, sometimes you're only getting guys for half a year, so you're only – most of these guys
08:07are expiring contracts that you're trading for.
08:09But, yeah, I would say if you're two games out of the wild card or in the wild card race
08:15in top three, man, you're going to make some moves.
08:17They're going to have to.
08:18You're going to have to.
08:19What are they going to give up?
08:22I don't know.
08:23They'll have to give up, you know, some of their prospects.
08:26Great problem to have.
08:27Depends on who you're acquiring.
08:29Yeah.
08:29It just – it is all kind of shocking because did not expect this at all.
08:34No, that's fun.
08:35Now you have Dylan Cruz playing, hit his first home run.
08:38And last I checked, he was like around 240.
08:41Yep, 241.
08:42He was two for five yesterday.
08:43Which is not bad for him.
08:44He's got one double, one homer.
08:46Yeah.
08:46I guess he's not a huge power guy.
08:48No.
08:50But gives him more options because I would say right now it's a crowded outfield because you know that James
08:55Wood, superstar, and then Jacob Young and Lyle and Cruz.
09:00Well, you can DH one of those guys.
09:02Yeah.
09:03So if you can DH one and keep the other three in the outfield, that's – first of all, it's
09:07a good defensive.
09:08And you can keep a guy like James Wood in his bat at the top of the lineup.
09:13I'm surprised that James Wood has been – because remember he was struggling the first, I don't know, three weeks
09:19of the season?
09:19Yeah.
09:20At the top of the lineup, he was striking out a bunch.
09:22But, man, he's gotten more comfortable.
09:24And the fact that he's getting five at-bats, sometimes more, that's great.
09:28You want your best hitter up there.
09:29But it's fun to watch them score a bunch of runs, man.
09:32It's really, really fun to watch.
09:34Dylan Cruz has hits in six of the seven games he's appeared in.
09:37Yes.
09:38So maybe –
09:39So that's solid.
09:40You'll take that.
09:40Look, maybe he got more confident and just got better.
09:42Maybe he's over the hump.
09:44Yeah.
09:44Maybe he just needs to believe a little bit, see the success.
09:47Everyone says his moxie's different.
09:49I mean, everybody, to a person, say it's just a matter of time with him.
09:54Well, it also has to be a wake-up call getting sent down that early in his career when he's
09:58the number two overall pick.
09:59Yeah.
09:59I don't get the sense that he thought he was bigger than that, but he maybe just needed it.
10:04Yeah.
10:05You know?
10:05Need a refresher on the lower level.
10:08But I'm just thankful that they're kind of back again.
10:12Like I say, for me, sort of the litmus test is if you're relevant, you're on the TV at night.
10:17You're always on in the background.
10:19We always are keeping an eye on, hey, what's going on, what's going on.
10:21I haven't been that way for the last couple years.
10:22I haven't even bothered.
10:24What's been the point?
10:25We need to put it on in the background.
10:27They're playing an entertaining brand of baseball.
10:30Now they're back on.
10:31What are the Nats doing?
10:32Hey, put the Nats on.
10:33Put the Nats on.
10:34They're relevant again.
10:35And they're only a game above 500.
10:38Imagine if they really got relevant in the next year or two or so.
10:43I mean, they 200 and let me see how many total runs they have.
10:49298, I believe.
10:51298 runs scored.
10:52That's 17 more than the Braves.
10:54And the Braves are tied for the lead in terms of team batting average for Major League Baseball.
11:00Now to your Rizzo point, what I would say is the trades have worked out like landing guys like Abrams
11:07and Wood.
11:08Those are trades.
11:08By and large, the draft picks have the top draft picks.
11:11Listen, I'm not putting a whole referendum and saying that Rizzo's group didn't have their failings or whatever.
11:18I'm just saying, do they get some credit for this?
11:22100%.
11:22Yeah.
11:22Yeah, they do.
11:24You know?
11:24And if they had more support from above, then who knows?
11:28Maybe they're still employed.
11:31Right.
11:32But we just love the fact that this young staff is making these younger players better.
11:39Yeah.
11:39And certainly more confident.
11:40I think the fresh voices, the young voices, all that clearly has resonated with the guys.
11:47It's been a fresh look.
11:48I mean, the Nats have to be, if not the very top of the league, near the top, top two
11:53or three in terms of games with double-digit runs scored.
11:57They've had a bunch of games with double-digit runs scored.
11:59Maybe it'll wake up the fan base.
12:01Right now, attendance is down about 1,500 from last year.
12:05They're currently ranked 23rd in Major League Baseball in attendance, averaging 22, 427.
12:12Let's see.
12:12It should pick up now that school's out.
12:16Close to being out.
12:18Yeah.
12:18My kid's still got a couple weeks.
12:20I wish it was a couple months.
12:21I think my wife's literally in school for almost another month.
12:25I think her last day is June 24th.
12:26I feel like college kids are out.
12:28Maybe it's a couple more weeks of the elementary school teachers, high school teachers, etc.
12:35Let's see.
12:36Let's see if it doesn't pick up, especially now that they're more relevant.
12:39800-636-1067.
12:40Are you buying into the Nats as true contenders at this point?
12:4428 and 27.
12:45They're above 500.
12:46You can take part in the Nats are over 500 parade going on today, starting at 525 here
12:54with Grant and Danny.
12:55They're going to walk down to the ballpark to Centerfield Gates, wear your Nats gear.
12:59They're going over to Walter's for a watch-the-game party.
13:02Walter's giving the first 100 fans in Nats gear that show up a free beer.
13:06It's time to celebrate the Nats.
13:08Are you buying into them being a legit contender in the NL East?
13:12Two games out of the wild card.
13:13It's been pretty impressive.
13:14We'll take your calls on that next here on The Fan.
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