After a joyless season, Nationals realize change is coming

From the moment the Nationals took the field on opening night, one thing was obvious: The 2020 season was going to be different. Really, really different.

By the time it ended Sunday evening, perhaps some aspects of what took place out there were starting to feel normal. We got used to the sight of managers, coaches and umpires wearing masks. We got used to the sight of empty stands and the sounds of artificial crowd noise. We even got used to the designated hitter in National League games, seven-inning doubleheaders and automatic runners on second base in extra innings.

Maybe everyone got used to the unprecedented changes that were required for a Major League Baseball season to be started and completed during a global pandemic. But that doesn't mean everyone enjoyed it.

"If we were winning, I'm sure the season would've been a lot more fun," shortstop Trea Turner said. "But all the things we had to deal with, and how the season went for us on the field as well, it was just tough to come to the ballpark and be positive. You're kind of faking it and being positive. Last year, you could see it wasn't something we had to try to do. It was just fun. This year, we had to try to have fun, and it's hard to recreate that."

Perhaps in other towns where there is still more baseball to be played, this 60-game scramble was a blast. Not in Washington, where ballgames became a nightly chore and the goal became simply to finish the season with everyone as healthy as reasonably possible.

The Nationals did a good job keeping everyone healthy from the coronavirus. Several players missed portions of summer training after testing positive for COVID-19 before reporting for camp but suffered no ill effects once they were cleared. Only one player, Juan Soto, tested positive once the season began, and his opening day positive test is believed to have been inaccurate.

The Nats did not, however, stay healthy from baseball-related injuries. Their roster was ravaged by them, big and small, prominent players and lesser-knowns alike. Seventeen players in total spent time on the injured list, one of them (Sean Doolittle) twice. Fourteen of those players ended the season on the IL.

"I think the COVID part of it, we mastered very, very well," general manager Mike Rizzo said. "It was the start-stop-restart of spring training and the early season that kind of bit us with our veteran lineup."

Injuries undoubtedly played a huge role in the Nationals' disappointing, 26-34 record. How could they be expected to contend without Stephen Strasburg, Starlin Castro, Howie Kendrick, Adam Eaton, Tanner Rainey and Doolittle?

But it's also not fair to blame the team's season entirely on injuries. Even if healthy, these Nats were going to have a tough time winning enough games to reach the postseason and attempt to defend their title.

The starting rotation, the bedrock upon which Rizzo built this entire sustained run of success, crumbled. Yes, they sorely missed Strasburg and Joe Ross, who opted out shortly before camp began. But those who remained did not pitch to the standards they previously set for themselves.

Max Scherzer was the best of the bunch but still not the elite version of himself. Patrick Corbin ranked last in the majors in WHIP at one point. Aníbal Sánchez had a worse two-month stretch than he did to begin the 2019 campaign. Austin Voth was dreadful until a couple of late September gems. Erick Fedde was erratic.

This team has long been built to win behind great starting pitching. Once that group faltered, the domino effect was massive.

"We just couldn't get starters to go deep in games," manager Davey Martinez said. "So we had to use (relievers) an awful lot. A lot of guys for four outs, five outs early. And they got taxed."

Rizzo made a real effort to improve his bullpen after last year's struggles. And early on, it actually was the strength of this roster. But it couldn't handle all the extra work forced upon it. Doolittle wasn't himself and got hurt twice. Will Harris spent time on the IL and never lived up to his three-year contract. Daniel Hudson blew five saves, a few of them in jaw-dropping fashion.

There were bright spots, particularly from up-and-comers Rainey and Kyle Finnegan. By this time next year, we might even be talking about those right-handers having taken over late-inning duties from their veteran counterparts.

"It was impressive to watch," Hudson said of his rising bullpen mates. "I would say the sky's the limit for both of those guys pitching in the back end of the bullpen with their stuff and their makeup and who they are as ballplayers, teammates and people. It's going to be fun to watch for years to come."

At the plate, the Nationals were inconsistent. They got MVP-caliber performances from Soto (.351/.490/.695) and Turner (.335/.394/.588,) but got diminished production from returning regulars Eaton and Victor Robles, got disappointing performances from newcomers Castro (who also got hurt) and Eric Thames, and watched as top prospect Carter Kieboom failed to seize his opportunity to play every day.

In the field, they were simply the worst team in baseball. The only position that rated as above average by defensive metrics (surprisingly) was third base, where Kieboom didn't match the previous standard set by Anthony Rendon but more than held his own, especially when playing the equivalent of second base when in the shift.

Improved defense will be among Martinez's No. 1 priorities next spring, along with all those other so-called "little things" that became such a big problem for this year's team.

"We definitely have to get back to the fundamentals early," the manager said. "I've already worked out a schedule for spring training next year about doing a whole lot more. ... I've been working on it for the last couple weeks, trying to get everything ready for spring training next year. Because we've got to get better at it."

Before they ever arrive in West Palm Beach, the Nationals' decision-makers have plenty to figure out roster-wise. Do they intend to keep this core group intact and make another run at a title or do they think more drastic changes are needed?

"Just as I was the architect of the world champions in 2019, I'm the president and general manager of the last-place Nationals this year. That stings," Rizzo said. "We're going to do everything we can not to have that happen again. We're a winning organization. We've got a bunch of winners over here. And our goal is to win again."

Whatever the path to reaching that goal proves to be, this much is certain: After losing a few key members of their 2019 championship squad this year, the Nationals will lose even more before 2021. The connections from their greatest moment will slowly decrease, a new group taking over in search of future success.

The specter of the reality looming in the near-future made this season all the more difficult to enjoy. The 2020 season was supposed to serve as a victory lap for Washington's first World Series-winning team in 95 years. Instead, it became a sad, two-month slog through a season few were able to savor.

They can only hope the next time they take the field as a team, even with more familiar faces gone, they'll finally get a chance to have their well-deserved moment in the sun with a fan base that never got the chance to shower them with love this year.

"I really feel horrible for the guys," Martinez said. "They earned every bit of that. And I always tell them: Look, 2021 is coming. There will be baseball. Hopefully, there will be fans. And these fans won't forget. We're world champs, and nobody's ever going to take that away from us."