Nationals Series Preview: Two clubs in a post-championship funk

The Kansas City Royals and Washington Nationals have each won a title in the last decade - more recently than the New York Yankees! But those titles are a fading memory as each club has been among the worst teams in baseball the last few years. For the Royals, the title was in 2015, but the ride was over by 2018 and the club has struggled to get back to relevancy since. For the Nationals, the title came in 2019 with the core disbanded by 2021. They have lost 107 games and 97 games in each of the last two seasons, and are currently in last place.

Washington Nationals (21-29) at Kansas City Royals (15-36) from Kauffman Stadium, Kansas City, MO

Nationals: 4.16 runs scored/game (22nd in MLB), 4.64 runs allowed/game (19th)

Royals: 3.88 runs scored/game (26th), 5.31 runs allowed/game (28th)

Bryce Harper, Trea Turner, and Juan Soto are not walking through that door. Those dangerous Nats hitters have been replaced by Jeimer Candelario, Joey Meneses, and Dominic Smith. Even though it is a collection of cast-offs from other organizations, the Nats have the youngest collection of hitters in the big leagues. They have hit a bit better in May, but overall they are near the bottom of the league in most offensive categories.

Nats hitters put the ball in play - they have the third-lowest walk rate and the lowest strikeout rate in baseball. But they don’t hit it over the fence much - only the Guardians have hit fewer home runs. Guys like Meneses and Smith have had power in the past, but have yet to see it materialize this year.

Washington may be developing a pair of promising pitchers in Josiah Gray and Mackenzie Gore, both former top prospects the club acquired in separate trades for Turner and Soto. After giving up five runs in his first start, Gray has a 2.05 ERA in the nine starts since then. He throws in the low-90s but has one of the better sliders in the game and he throws it often. Gore is a kind of a left-handed version of Gray - he throws a bit harder, but still relies on a slider and high groundball rate, although both can have trouble with walks at times.

Patrick Corbin is the disaster contract on the books for the Nationals, but he has been less terrible this year after posting a 6.05 ERA in the last two seasons combined. He is a sinker/slider pitcher now and has posted one of the best walk rates among all pitchers. The Royals haven’t announced a starter for Sunday, and I keep projecting that Daniel Lynch will join the rotation, but maybe this is the series he actually does get activated.

Nationals relievers collectively have a 4.50 ERA with the second-lowest strikeout rate of any bullpen. It includes a lot of cast-offs like former Orioles first-round pick Hunter Harvey, former Cubs reliever Carl Edwards Jr., Rule 5 pick Thaddeus Ward, and former Royals pitcher Andres Machado. Closer Kyle Finnegan already has 10 saves, and aside from a five-run blow up early in the year, he has been pretty solid.

The Nats have been a much better road team than home team, and they’ve gone .500 over their last 24 games after a rough start. Still, they are team with little depth and few weapons. If the Royals are going to improve on their pitiful record, they need to take a home series against a team like the Nationals.