Talented and resilient Nats have earned respect of sport

CHICAGO - If you're among those who remain skeptical about the 2019 Nationals, if you believe this bullpen is going to ruin the season, if you believe the manager still isn't making the right moves to win ballgames, perhaps it's time to listen to what others are now saying about this team.

Others, as in the team that just got swept this weekend by these Nationals.

"They're hot," Cole Hamels told reporters inside the Cubs clubhouse after Sunday's game. "Probably as hot as any team we'll ever play right now."

"They just don't chase," Joe Maddon said, referring to a Nats lineup that strung together quality at-bat after quality at-bat. "That's what we need to be able to accomplish -- that 'we're going to force people into the strike zone' -- and when you do, that's what happens."

Members of the Chicago media raved about the Nationals all weekend, from the dominant rotation to the deep lineup that features speed, power and the ability to manufacture runs, to the way they seem to play as one unit instead of a collection of 25 individuals.

"The Dodgers are mighty from top to bottom," Steve Greenberg wrote in the Chicago Sun-Times. "The Braves are exciting and fearless. But another, Bryce Harper-less contender is throwing haymakers at everybody."

The rest of the baseball world has caught on to what's going on with D.C.'s ballclub right now. And rightfully so, because it has reached heights never before seen around these parts.

The Nationals have now played 80 games since bottoming out on May 23 at 19-31. They've gone 54-26. That's one game shy of half an entire season at a 109-win pace.

It's not only the best record in the majors during this span, it's the best 80-game span in club history.

That's right. No Nationals team has ever been better over an 80-game stretch. Not the 2012 team that finished with a club-record 98 wins. Not the 2014 team that won 10 in a row and cruised to a division title. Not the 2016 or 2017 teams that played exceptional baseball for Dusty Baker.

Nope, this is the Nationals team that has done it. Whether it does something else the aforementioned teams never did - win in October - remains to be seen. But it certainly seems to have a few qualities those division winners might have been lacking.

"Resilient," manager Davey Martinez said. "They're very resilient. I'm telling you, I've said this all along: They're not going to quit. That's who they are."

It takes resiliency to turn 12 games under .500 into 16 games over .500. It takes resiliency to overcome a bullpen that blew a three-run lead and still emerge victorious in extra innings against one of the best home teams in baseball.

It also takes talent and consistency to put yourself into position to win every single game like these Nationals have done.

They've now been ahead in the eighth inning or later in 19 consecutive games. (They've gone 15-4.) And they've now been ahead or tied in the seventh inning or later in 57 of their last 61 games. (They've gone 41-16 in those games.)

Yes, they could - should - be even better if only their bullpen had been able to close out a few of those winnable games. But the fact they keep putting themselves in position to win at this rate is remarkable in itself.

Now, the pessimistic view harps over the fact this sustained run of excellence hasn't helped the Nationals gain any significant ground in the National League East. The Braves have gone 52-29 since May 23, and so the Nats still sit six games back in the division with five weeks to play.

Atlanta remains overwhelming favorites to win the NL East: 84 percent according to FiveThirtyEight.com, 87 percent according to FanGraphs.com.

But the Nationals have now become overwhelming favorites to make the postseason: 97 percent according to both websites. They hold a four-game lead over the Cubs for home field advantage in the wild card game, a 5 1/2-game lead over the Phillies for a mere berth in the do-or-die playoff game.

Given everything they've been through over the last five months, that's a pretty remarkable and advantageous position to be in.

There's still a long way to go. Nothing has been locked up. And we have no way of knowing how this is all going to end.

But no matter where this season goes from here, the 2019 Nationals deserve real respect. They've already done something no previous incarnation of this team has ever done.

And maybe - just maybe - they've got what it takes to really do something no previous Nationals club has done.