David Huzzard: Explaining the Nats' struggles

It is no secret that the Washington Nationals aren't playing well right now. They are 7-12 since the All-Star break, having allowed an average of 4.2 runs a game and scoring 3.4 runs a game. Both these numbers are well bellow league average and even further bellow what the Nationals are capable of. The Nationals have come out of the break pretty much the same way as they started the season. They were able to rally from that first sluggish start and will have to do so again if they wish to catch the Mets and win a third division title in four seasons.

The Nationals need both the pitching and the offense to step up. The return of the injured players was not the boost people were expecting, but we've seen this earlier in the season as well. Ryan Zimmerman and Jayson Werth are still in some ways working on getting their timing back (Anthony Rendon rolls out of bed hitting) while Danny Espinosa and Clint Robinson were already playing at game speed. The Nationals are a better team with Werth and Zimmerman playing up to their abilities, but in order for them to do that, they need reps against major league pitching, which takes reps from players who were performing.

Offensive struggles for the Nationals unfortunately don't end there. Ian Desmond and Wilson Ramos have underperformed all season long, and while shortstop and catcher are not offensive positions, Ramos and Desmond are far below league average. An average MLB shortstop has an OPS of .667, and an MLB-average catcher has a .679 OPS. Ian Desmond and Wilson Ramos have an OPS of .615 and .631, respectively. The only Nationals hitter with an OPS over .800 is Bryce Harper, and the Nationals can't expect him to have a multi-homer game every outing.

The Nationals' offensive struggles for the second half are easily explained by players returning from injury trying to find their timing and players that have struggled all season. The solution for the first is to ride it out and the second is to maybe try someone else. Jose Lobaton is no offensive powerhouse, but if you're not getting offense from a position, you might as well get defense. When it comes to defensive ability, Lobaton is superior to Ramos in nearly every aspect of the game. As far as shortstop goes, Danny Espinosa has produced at the major leagues this season and Trea Turner has torn up the minors. The fall of Desmond has been a sad thing to witness, but if he hasn't put it together by now, there is little chance he does so before the end of the season, and the Nats need better production from that spot in the lineup.

When a team plays losing baseball for a month-long stretch, it is often not just because of one thing, and that is very much the case for the Washington Nationals. The five man rotation and the bullpen have both struggled to start the second half. Gio Gonzalez may have a 2.61 ERA, but he has not been efficient in his recent outings and has forced the soft middle of the Nationals bullpen into too many games. Max Scherzer and Joe Ross have identical 3.38 ERAs and have been dominate at times in their combined seven outings. There is little to complain about from them, but there is plenty to complain about with Doug Fister and Jordan Zimmermann, who both have an over 5.00 ERA to start the second half.

Starting pitching was supposed to be the strength of this Nationals team, and to start the second half, it has been a weakness. It is easy to trust the track record or the guys in the rotation. Plus, Stephen Strasburg will return this weekend to take someone's spot, and it could be Fister, who has struggled worse than any of the Nats starters to start the second half. While the Nats offense could use a combination of patience and shuffling, the cure for the Nats rotation is simply patience. Zimmermanm is better than a 5.09 ERA, Gonzalez will have an outing longer than five innings again eventually, and Scherzer is likely better than his 3.38 second half ERA.

I know it's not what people want to hear, but I was right when I said it in April, and I'll be proven right again this time. Losing stretches happen in baseball, and the Nationals will pull out of this one and play to their potential eventually.

David Huzzard blogs about the Nationals at Citizens of Natstown. Follow him on Twitter: @DavidHuzzard. His views appear here as part of MASNsports.com's season-long initiative of welcoming guest bloggers to our pages. All opinions expressed are those of the guest bloggers, who are not employed by MASNsports.com but are just as passionate about their baseball as our regular roster of writers.