After Only 7 Games It's a Bit Too Early To Panic About The Nationals Woes

Yesterday’s game was a complete shit show. Dropped fly balls, another Ian Desmond error (his 5th in 7 games), and Zimm had no velocity and had tons of problems with his control. All in all, one of the ugliest Nats games in 10 years. But I think we all need to relax here. It was 1 early April game out of 162.

The Nats still have the best rotation in the league. The pitching will keep them in games. Especially the 1 billion dollar man Max Scherzer, who has been nothing but impressive in his first two starts. Scherzer has been lights out with a .66 ERA and 16 Ks. The pen has sucked but the starting will be great.

But the problem is nobody is hitting. As a team they have 43 hits (29th in the league). 17 runs (28th). .185 average (dead last). That’s the issue. Yes, 3 key parts of the lineup have been out. But the other guys have to step up. The only guy hitting above .300 after only 7 games is Clint Robinson. Bryce does have 2 HRs already, but isn’t making contact otherwise, hitting only .222. And Ryan Zimmerman has started off the season a paltry 4/26. That’s not going to cut it. However, the Nats still aren’t completely healthy. Werth finally returned to the lineup but Rendon and Span are still out. Those are 3 key parts to the lineup.

But I will say it again, it’s much, much too early to worry. Give me more than 7 games before I freak out. It’s a long, longgggg season. On June 1st of last year the World Series champion Giants were 1 game under .500. Did anyone even think about the Royals at this time last year? There are just so many games left to be played that worrying about the first 7 games in April is a bit foolish. If they are still dropping fly balls a week from now, yes, reason for concern. Two weeks from now, yes, something is wrong. But that doesn’t happen with major league ballclubs. Dropping fly balls like they did yesterday isn’t a thing that will linger. Hitting .185 as a team can only improve. So while things look fucking awful so far, come on, it’s early April. I’m not hitting the panic button before 5% of the season has even been played.