Evan Habeeb-USA TODAY Sports
For the Washington Nationals, it would be pretty easy to associate the word “nightmare” with the year 2013. Every possible worst-case scenario has played out, from injuries to every key player on the team to the big offseason pickups being complete busts. The division has also been a nightmare. Aside from sitting 14.5 games back, Washington is 20-23 against the NL East, and has floundered around the .500 mark for most of the season, falling as far as third place at certain points in 2013.
Sadly, it has come to the point where Washington has no choice but to look toward the 2014 season. The fact of the matter is, Washington probably does not have a late season run in them, and probably have dug themselves too deep of a hole to crawl out of and make the postseason. It is pretty safe to say at this point that Washington has not gotten over their debacle that was Game 5 of the 2012 NLDS. The loss still haunts them today, the most obvious being in their offense, whose hibernation patterns are comparable to that of a bear’s.
By no means am I suggesting Washington mail in the remainder of 2013. There is still a small, albeit a very small, chance Washington turns things around drastically and the team ahead of them, the Atlanta Braves, have blown big leads, so it’s not as though they have no chance whatsoever. The sad truth, however, is that very few teams have turned around this bad of a season and overcome that large of a deficit to win a division, let alone make the Wild Card game, as they sit 8.5 back of that spot as well.
It’s tough to admit, but Washington is probably on its way to, bar none, the most disappointing season after a playoff appearance perhaps in any league’s history, let alone baseball. It’s a tough pill to swallow, but it’s the truth.
