Taking stock of the Nats with the season 33 percent complete

LOS ANGELES – Monday was Memorial Day, the traditional day on the baseball calendar when it becomes acceptable to start drawing broad conclusions about a team or a player’s performance for the season. It also happened to coincide with the Nationals’ 54th game of the year, making this juncture all the more significant.

Yes, the Nats have now completed one-third of their season. Time flies when you’re having fun, right?

The Nationals have had more fun to date than in prior seasons. That’s what happens when you win more games, play in competitive games on a more regular basis and get major contributions from several young players who could be a part of the long-term plan around here if they keep this up.

To be sure, this is not a good team. Not yet. Following Monday’s 6-1 loss to the Dodgers, the Nats find themselves with a 23-31 record. That’s worst in the National League, fourth-worst in the majors. Nobody should be celebrating that.

Still, for a franchise that went 55-107 games one year ago and entered this year with exceptionally low expectations, a 69-win pace can only be viewed as encouraging. The fact the Nationals have played .500 ball since April 20 also helps frame things in a more positive light.

What has been the biggest key to the Nats’ progress through the first two months of this season? Pitching. Specifically, starting pitching.

You may recall the Nationals rotation was bad last year. So bad that the group finished with a 5.97 ERA, far and away the worst mark in the majors.

Would you believe this year’s rotation has produced a 4.35 ERA through 54 games, good for 13th in the majors. Yes, they’ve got an above-average rotation, with an overall ERA lower than those of the supposedly superior Dodgers, Yankees, Padres, Cardinals, Phillies and Mets. Who saw that coming?

The quintet of MacKenzie Gore, Josiah Gray, Patrick Corbin, Trevor Williams and Jake Irvin has consistently pitched well enough to give this team a chance win every night. And really, what more can you ask of a rotation like this one?

Hand-in-hand with improved pitching is improved defense, especially on the infield. Jeimer Candelario, CJ Abrams, Luis Garcia and Dominic Smith are turning more groundballs into outs this season than in the past. To wit: The Nationals have converted 74.5 percent of grounders into outs, the 12th best rate in the majors.

At the plate, the Nats lack punch. This is no surprise. A team that entered the season knowing it probably wasn’t going to hit many homers has in fact not hit many homers. Only the Guardians, with 30, have hit fewer than the Nationals, who have only 38 as a team.

But you may be surprised to learn this lineup has been hitting with some consistency and some authority. The Nats are batting .264 overall, good enough for third in the majors and tops in the National League. Their .328 on-base percentage ranks eighth in the majors, fourth in the NL.

The Nationals do need to do a better job turning those baserunners into runs. They’ve scored 227 runs to date, an average of 4.2 per game. That ranks 22nd in the majors. And that stands as an important area for growth over the remaining two-thirds of the season.

They also need to be better at closing out close games when they have the chance. Their bullpen, the strength of last year’s team and expected to remain that way this year, ranks 22nd in the majors with a 4.45 ERA. Opponents are batting .251 off them, the fourth-highest average against relievers in the sport.

Speaking of close games, the Nationals are playing in a lot of them. Eighteen of their 54 games have been decided by one run. Only five other teams have played in more.

But their record in those close games is 7-11. That would be another area for possible improvement, as a young team learns how to win close games on a regular basis.

Put that all together and you have the makings of a successful season, at least based on the super-low expectations attached to this team entering the year.

The Nationals have exceeded most everyone’s expectations through their first 54 games. Now we find out if they can continue to do it through their final 108.