Will Bryce Harper (34) ever see a World Series with the Nationals? Photo Credit: Geoff Burke-USA TODAY Sports
WASHINGTON — Washington Nationals young pitchers Reynaldo Lopez and Joe Ross, the latter of whom had been used as a pinch-runner in a crazy Game 5 of the National League Division Series, sat at their lockers and stared at the floor.
Veteran reliever Oliver Perez walked over and gave a hug to reserve outfielder Chris Heisey, whose pinch-hit homer in the seventh had given their team late life.
And starting pitcher Max Scherzer, staked to a lead going into the fateful seventh inning, gave a hug to rookie Trea Turner and told the young center fielder that he had an incredible second half of the season.
It was a quiet clubhouse in the early morning hours Friday for the Nationals, who let a 1-0 lead slip away and lost to the Los Angeles Dodgers 4-3 in the fifth and deciding game of the NLDS.
The game lasted four hours, 32 minutes and will be remembered for Dodgers ace lefty Clayton Kershaw coming out of the bullpen to get the final two outs after he was the starting pitcher in Tuesday’s Game 4.
“It’s tough to take, a tough loss,” said Dusty Baker, the Washington manager.
In three of the past five seasons the Nationals have won the NL East title. Each time they won at least 95 games and they did it with three different managers: Davey Johnson in 2012, Matt Williams in 2014 and Baker this season.
Washington lost in the NLDS in 2012 to the St. Louis Cardinals and in 2014 to the San Francisco Giants.
And while the Nationals fell short of their first NL Championship Series, there is no reason to think the club will not contend on a regular basis under general manager Mike Rizzo from now until into the next decade.
“You know, we got some improvements to make, and hopefully we’ll be back in the same position next year,” said Baker, who signed a two-year deal prior to the 2016 season.
There was a lot of talk during the 2015 season that the window was closing for the Nationals as free agents Jordan Zimmermann, Ian Desmond, Denard Span and Doug Fister — as expected — left town.
But with Scherzer at the top of the rotation and Stephen Strasburg signed to a seven-year deal in May, Washington could be the envy of the division next year, even with the injury problems that have befallen Strasburg.
The Nationals may have had one of the best 40-man rosters in the majors at the end of this year, and every player on that list was active at some point in September. Even young players such as infielder Wilmer Difo and catcher Pedro Severino were on the playoff roster and were used.
Washington fanned 1,252 times this season, down from 1,344 the year before. The Nationals were 1-for-10 with runners on base in Game 5 against the Dodgers, a theme in previous playoff losses.
There are other concerns. At the top of the list is closer, where Mark Melancon was acquired in a trade with the Pittsburgh Pirates in late July and will be a free agent. Former closer Jonathan Papelbon, acquired at the trade deadline in 2015, was released in August.
The Nationals have a number of good, young arms in the bullpen, such as Blake Treinen and Sammy Solis. Whether or not they are closer material remains to be seen. But the Nationals may be smart to sign Melancon.
First baseman Ryan Zimmerman has shown signs of slowing down, as he batted .218 during the regular season but hit the ball hard against the Dodgers.
The infield seems set with Anthony Rendon at third, Danny Espinosa at short, Daniel Murphy at second and Zimmerman or Clint Robinson at first. Murphy had a MVP-like season as he hit .347 with 25 homers and 104 RBIs, while Rendon batted .270 with 80 RBIs and Espinosa had 24 homers even though he hit .209 and struck out 174 times in 516 at-bats.
While the Nationals may be built for the regular-season, their playoff approach at the plate is suspect. The Nationals fanned a record 63 times in the series with the Dodgers. If Washington wants to make more contact overall, it could put Turner at shortstop next year and go with Ben Revere or others in center field. But Rizzo has backed Espinosa in the past and may stick with him.
Catcher Wilson Ramos (.307, 22 homers) had the best season of his career before he tore his ACL on Sept. 26 and missed the playoffs. He is a free agent and the injury may have cost him millions.
Even if Ramos departs, the Nationals have solid backup Jose Lobaton to go along with rookie Severino, who is more athletic and quicker than Ramos and Lobaton.
Bryce Harper had a down year by his standards, hitting .243 with 24 doubles, 24 homers and 86 RBIs after he was the National League MVP in 2015 when he hit .330 with 42 homers.
The find of the year was center fielder Turner, drafted as a shortstop out of North Carolina State in the first round in 2014 by the San Diego Padres. He was acquired in a trade by the Nationals in 2015 and this year played six games in center at Triple-A Syracuse before joining the Nationals for good in July.
The speedy Turner hit .342 with eight triples, 13 homers and 40 RBIs with 33 steals in just 73 games. He would have given Dodgers shortstop Corey Seager a run for the NL Rookie of the Year award had he played the full year.
Right-handed starter Tanner Roark, who doesn’t get as much notice as Scherzer and Strasburg, was 16-10 with a 2.83 ERA and led the majors in games in which he pitched seven scoreless innings.
“We’ve got to go back to the drawing board, better fundamental play, cut down on strikeouts, cut down on our walks,” Baker said. “Because you know, in this series, it seemed like whenever we walked somebody, they scored. So yeah, there’s always some things that you can improve on, even if we had won the championship. So like I said, we’ll got back to the drawing board, put our heads together, and hold our heads up high.”
