Nats looking at O's rebuild blueprint

The Battle of the Beltways is one of the most unique rivalries in sports.

Between 1972 and 2004, there was not a Major League Baseball team in Washington, D.C. The Orioles arrived in Baltimore in 1954. That created a couple of generations of Washington baseball fans growing up rooting for the Baltimore team.

When the Nationals arrived ahead of the 2005 season, the latest edition of the Washington baseball club started slowly, but surely, regaining its fan base in the region. But there are still plenty of fans that remained loyal to the Orioles. And with the two teams less than 40 miles apart, it has created lively atmosphere whenever the regional rivalry is renewed.

“It's kind of fun,” Nationals manager Davey Martinez said ahead of Tuesday’s series opener against the Orioles. “They're just around the block really. So it is fun, but for me and for the coaching staff and the players, it's business as usual. We're playing an opponent. We try to go 1-0 today. We know that they're close by. A victory would be awesome today, no matter who it is, but it is kind of fun. Plus, a good friend of mine over there is the manager as well. So I can't wait to see him and talk to him and see what's going on over there. But it'll be a lot of fun tonight.”

Martinez is of course referring to Orioles manager Brandon Hyde, who was with him on Joe Maddon’s coaching staff with the Cubs from 2015-17. When Martinez was hired as the head man of the Nationals before the 2018 season, Hyde took over as Maddon’s bench coach before being hired by the Orioles ahead of the 2019 season.

“It’s always fun to play a team close to home,” Hyde said. “I’ve got a lot of friends over there, but we’ve had a great crowd showing of Orioles fans here the past few years. We’re looking forward to that again tonight.”

The strong showing of Orioles fans over the last few years has coincided with the organization’s growth from a rebuilding team to a contender in the American League. When Hyde and executive vice president and general manager Mike Elias took over the team, they embarked on a mission to rebuild the farm system through trades, high draft picks and the international free agent market with a focus on player development.

Sound familiar?

Last year was the most significant jump for the Orioles, going from 52-110 in 2021 to 83-79 and just missing out on an AL Wild Card spot last year. That caught the attention of the baseball world, including the Nationals, who are hoping they can follow Baltimore’s blueprint back to contention.

“I definitely look, and we all do, about where they were and how they started and where they're at right now,” Martinez said of the Orioles’ process. “Last year, they had a really good run. And they are starting off fairly well this year. So yeah, we can actually see kind of a similarity where we're at right now with our young guys. And it's all about development, and those guys have done a good job developing their young players. I think thus far we've done a good job of developing our guys. That being said, we still have a ways to go. Our guys are super, super young. They get an opportunity to play every day at the major league level. So it's about the teaching moments every single day. Having good conversations, having tough conversations with them, getting them to learn you know what it takes to play every day here in the major leagues. And we're enjoying it, we really are.”

Of course, the Nationals’ path to their rebuild included four National League East division titles since 2012 and a World Series championship in 2019. Over the same timeframe, the Orioles won the AL East once and made the AL Wild Card Game twice.

But now both teams are looking to the future, with one slightly ahead of the other. The Orioles’ timeline should be taken as the exact plan for the Nationals. That’s still hard to determine. But whenever both teams are competitive again at the major league level, it should create even more great atmospheres for the Battle of the Beltways.

And in case you were wondering, the Orioles are also slightly ahead on the all-time scoreboard between the two teams: The Orioles lead the head-to-head series 51-39, including going 24-21 in D.C. and 21-18 at Nationals Park.