‘We’re gonna have to step up’: Nats’ June in review

After a hopeful May, the Nationals in June went into a severe slump. From June 3 to 20, the team went 2–13. They were playing some tough opponents, including the division-leading Braves and Diamondbacks, and had some tough losses. Later in the month, the team’s fortunes began to pick up, as they went 6–3 from June 21 to 30. For the month as a whole, they had a 9–16 record, ending the month in last place in the NL East, 21 games behind the Braves, with a 33–48 record that was the second worst record in the National League and the fourth worst in MLB.

The month began with the Nats at home, opening a home stand against the Phililies, who were only one game ahead of the Nats in the NL East. The Nats rallied in the eighth inning to win the first game 8 to 7, briefly slipping into a tie for fourth place with the Phillies. But they lost the next two, with the final game an 11 to 3 blowout loss. (The Phillies would go on to post an 18–8 record for June and ended the month in third place in the NL East with a 43–38 record.) Next came the red-hot Diamondbacks, who had just moved into a tie with the Dodgers for the lead in the NL West. The Nats lost two games. The third game was postponed because of hazardous air quality due to smoke from Canadian wildfires. The Nats were 1–4 on the home stand.

The Nats’ next road trip began in Atlanta, where the division-leading Braves won two of three tightly competed games. Then they played against the Astros in Houston, for the Nationals first return to Minute Maid Park since winning Game 7 of the 2019 World Series. The Astros won the first two games. In the second game, the Nats rallied to tie it in the top of the ninth, only to lose the game in the bottom of the inning on a play that was reminiscent of Trea Turner‘s interference call in Game 6 of the 2019 World Series—except that this time the umpires failed to call interference, thereby allowing the Astros runner from third to score the winning run. Davey Martinez had a meltdown, which would not be his last one this month. The Nats came back to win the final game of the series in extra innings, giving them a 2–4 record on the road trip.

Returning home, the Nats faced the Marlins, now second place in the NL East. The Nats were swept by the Fish in the three-game series for the second time this year. Since the beginning of the 2022 season, the Nats now have a 4–21 record against the Marlins. After losing the first two games of the next series against the Cardinals, the Nats had lost five straight and 13 of their last 15 games. The second game of the series included a dugout confrontation between MacKenzie Gore and Victor Robles, who had missed a routine flyball to center field. (Robles, who had just returned from the injured list, went back on the IL the next day with back spasms.) The Nats managed to win the third game against the Cardinals on a wet afternoon. The Nats had one final game on the home stand, the rescheduled game against the Diamondbacks that had been postponed two weeks earlier. They lost it, giving them a 1–6 record on the home stand.

The next game was in San Diego against the Padres, and the Nats were trounced 13–3. But they came back and won the next two games, giving them their first series victory in June. They followed this with a series in Seattle against the Mariners, where again they lost the first game and won the next two. After a travel day, the Nats opened the final series of their road trip in Philadelphia, where they won the first game 2 to 1, having won 5 of the 7 games on the road trip that were played in June.

The Nats’ weak record during June reflected poor hitting and relief pitching. Their weighted runs created (wRC+), an overall measure of hitting, was 85 during June, ranking 23rd among the 30 teams. Their 21 home runs ranked 28th. Only Lane Thomas, Jeimer Candelario, and Stone Garrett hit well during June. And the relief pitchers’ ERA of 5.30 for June ranked 26th in baseball. The starters’ ERA was 4.43 for June, which ranked near the middle of the pack at 18th.

Several players made their debuts with Nationals during June. Derek Hill, age 27, who was a non-roster invite to spring training, took over center field duties starting on June 21 when Robles went on the injured list again. (Alex Call had been optioned to Rochester when Robles first returned from the IL.) From 2020 to 2022, Hill had played 95 games for the Tigers. Lefty reliever Joe La Sorsa debuted with the Nats on June 23. La Sorsa, age 25, had been claimed from the Rays off waivers two weeks earlier, and had only two games of major league experience. Amos Willingham, a 24-year-old relief pitcher who was drafted by the Nats in the 17th round in 2019, made his major league debut on June 28 in a middle relief role.

The Washington Post reported that Stephen Strasburg was no longer able to participate in any rehabilitation activities, and that the Nationals did not have any disability insurance policy on his contract. The most reasonable assumption is that his career sadly is over, though he remains under contract through 2026 (and will be owed deferred money through 2029).

Record:

9–16 (.360)

Pythagorean Record:

9–16 (3.80 R/G – 5.12 RA/G)

June MVP:

Lane Thomas (.340/.374/.640, 6 HR, 21 R, 17 RBI, 169 wRC+, 1.1 fWAR).

Starting pitcher of the month:

Josiah Gray (2–1, 4.28 RA/9, 6 GS, 33⅔ IP, 9.4 K/9, .324 opp OBP, 0.6 RA9-WAR).

Reliever of the month:

Kyle Finnegan (1–1, 1.59 RA/9, 9 G, 11⅓ IP, 6.4 K/9, .214 opp OBP, 4.09 RE24, 6 shutdowns, 1 meltdown, 0.7 RA9-WAR).

Worst month:

A tie between Corey Dickerson (.226/.236/.283, 0 HR, 1 R, 5 RBI, 36 wRC+, –0.6 fWAR) and Chad Kuhl  (0–1, 10.64 RA/9, 8 G, 11 IP, 5.7 K/9, .483 opp OBP, –0.6 RA9-WAR). On June 26, Kuhl was released by the Nationals.

Best start this month:

Patrick Corbin (June 28, 4–1 win over the Mariners in Seattle) pitched 7 shutout innings, giving up 5 hits and no walks while striking out 9 for a game score of 76.

Worst start:

Patrick Corbin‘s previous start (June 23, 13–3 loss to the Padres in San Diego), when he gave up 7 runs on 7 hits and 3 walks in 5 innings, with 3 strikeouts, for a game score of 25.

Tough losses:

• Patrick Corbin (June 13, 6–1 loss to the Astros in Houston) gave up 2 runs on 4 hits and 5 walks in 5 innings while striking out 5, for a game score of 51.
• Jake Irvin (June 22, 5–3 loss to the Diamondbacks in Phoenix) gave up 2 runs (1 earned run) on 5 hits and 1 walk in 6 innings while striking out 6, for a game score of 61. He left the game with the Nats trailing 2–1.

Cheap wins:

• None

Biggest shutdown:

Jordan Weems (June 27, 7–4 win over the Mariners in Seattle in 11 innings). In the top of the eighth, the Nats tied the score at 4 runs apiece, where it stood at the end of the ninth. The Nats had failed to score a run in the top of the tenth, when Weems got the call to pitch in the bottom of the tenth. An intentional walk was issued to J.P. Crawford, and then things gotten very dangerous when Weems walked Julio Rodriguez, loading the bases. But he got out of the jam, getting a foul pop-up, a strikeout, and a ground out to get out of the inning with the tie intact. The Nats scored three runs in the top of the 11th, and Weems closed out the game in the bottom of the inning on a fly out followed by two strikeouts. (Win probability added/WPA +.382)

Worst meltdown:

Kyle Finnegan (June 9, 3–2 loss to the Braves in Atlanta). The Nats were ahead 2 to 1 when Finnegan took the mound in the bottom of the eighth. He gave up singles to Sean Murphy and Eddie Rosario, and the runners advanced to second and third on an error. Finnegan then got a pop-fly for the first out. The second out came with a grounder to first that also allowed the tying run to score. Orlando Arcia then singled, driving in the go-ahead run (WPA –.523). The Braves closed out their 3–2 win in the top of the ninth.

Clutch hit:

Dominic Smith (June 14, 5–4 loss to the Astros in Houston). The Nats were behind 4–3 with one out in the top of the ninth with Ildemaro Vargas on first when Smith came to bat. He launched a triple into the right-center gap, tying the game (WPA +.508). Unfortunately, the Nats were unable to score Smith, and Hunter Harvey allowed the Astros to score the winning run in the bottom of the ninth (with some help from the umpires who failed to call a runner interference play).

If you would prefer a clutch hit in a Nats victory, the runner-up is Lane Thomas (June 27, 7–4 win over the Mariners in Seattle) who hit a double down the right field line to drive in two runs in the top of the 11th inning. (WPA +.484)

Choke:

Jeimer Candelario (June 17, 5–2 loss to the Marlins at home). In the bottom of the eighth inning, the Nats were trailing the Marlins 3–1 but had runners on first and third with no outs when Candelario came to bat. He grounded into a double play, and while it scored a run, it killed the Nats hope for a game-tying rally. (WPA –.217)

Memorable fielding plays:

• Alex Call ran down a sharply hit ball and made a fine diving catch.
• Lane Thomas made a nice catch against the wall.
• Alex Call robbed a home run from Michael Harris II.