Do Nats fans have reunion fatigue at this point?

As the latest tribute video for a pair of key members of the 2019 World Series team wrapped up just prior to Monday night’s game at Nationals Park, the crowd of 22,423 applauded and Trea Turner and Daniel Hudson each waved back in appreciation to the fans.

It was a nice moment, but hardly anything that gave anyone in the park goosebumps.

Nor was the moment a short while later when Turner stepped to the plate to bat for the first time as a visiting player in his former home ballpark. Some in the crowd stood and applauded. Some remained seated and barely moved a muscle.

The ovation, if you want to call it that, wasn’t loud enough or sustained enough to provoke Turner to step out of the box and tip his helmet to everyone.

Not that fans here don’t like Turner. Not that he left the team on bad terms. Quite the contrary. He always expressed an interest in staying here long term, but when the Nationals front office decided to sell last July, Turner was lumped in with Max Scherzer and traded to the Dodgers for four prospects.

“I think it caught me a little off guard,” Turner said prior to Monday’s game. “I think a lot of guys thought they were going to be traded. Max had to waive his no-trade clause, and some of the relievers and this and that … they were on one-year deals. But I didn’t necessarily know I was going to get traded until the lead-up in the week of it.”

Hudson hardly spent as much time with the Nationals as Turner did, but he certainly etched his place into franchise lore upon his acquisition from the Blue Jays at the 2019 trade deadline, eventually closing out the National League wild card game, NL Championship Series and World Series.

The veteran reliever has pitched for six different organizations during his major league career, but none of his various stops meant as much to him as his time in Washington.

“I’ve told people this before: I wasn’t in a very good spot personally before I came here,” he told reporters Monday afternoon. “I wasn’t really having a lot of fun playing baseball. And this organization, this city, this great group of guys over there, it really kind of reinvigorated it for me. I’ll always be grateful for that.” 

So what’s the reason for the fairly understated crowd reaction to Turner and Hudson’s return to D.C.?

Maybe it has nothing to do with either of them and has everything to do with the fact Nationals fans are just tired of welcoming back former players and managers who have gone on to enjoy continued success elsewhere while this franchise slogs its way through its worst season in more than a decade.

This season has felt like a never-ending reunion tour at times. Scherzer was here for opening day and made his Mets debut the following night against his old team. Anthony Rendon was the center of attention when the Nats were in Anaheim earlier this month. Dusty Baker was recognized when he managed his first series back here since ownership decided not to retain him following back-to-back division titles. And now it was Turner and Hudson’s turn to come back to town and experience the same vibe.

Maybe Nats fans have just had enough of it at this point. Maybe the sight of these former stalwarts only reminds them how much has changed for the worse since that glorious month of October 2019.

Rarely do you get a string of reunions like we’ve experienced here so far this season. You might have one of these every few years. Not four of them in the span of two months.

It is both a credit to the depth of talent the Nationals assembled from 2012-21 and a sad sign of how things have turned south since that so many of these prominent people have come back this season for the first time. But it can also be exhausting and start losing its steam when it keeps happening every few weeks.

“I miss those guys tremendously,” manager Davey Martinez said. “But as you know, this game moves on.”

Yes, it does. Scherzer, Rendon, Turner and Hudson don’t play here anymore. Baker doesn’t manage here anymore. All have moved on and found success elsewhere.

It’s perfectly appropriate to celebrate each of them when they return to Washington for the first time. But it’s also perfectly appropriate for some fans to suffer from reunion fatigue at this point.