Once a pitching-rich club, Nats have lost their way

In a summer full of agonizing losses, Wednesday's 8-6 defeat at the hands of the Marlins had to rank among the Nationals' worst. Not just because of the end result, but because of the path they took to reach that result.

After getting five scoreless innings from starter Josh Rogers, and after getting a well-balanced offensive attack from a lineup that has been better than advertised since the trade deadline, the Nats still found a way to lose after their bullpen imploded. Five relievers combined to allow eight runs in four innings, with closer Kyle Finnegan accounting for four of the runs in the top of the ninth alone.

It was enough to drive a manager (or his team's fans) mad. But for Davey Martinez (and for Nationals fans) it couldn't have come as that much of a surprise. Alas, this has become commonplace this season around here, especially in the last two months.

The Nationals have scored five or more runs 27 times since the All-Star break, yet their record in those games is a paltry 9-18. They're 5-15 since the trade deadline, and a shocking 1-9 since Aug. 26.

Despite trading away stalwarts like Trea Turner, Kyle Schwarber, Yan Gomes and Josh Harrison on July 29-30, the Nationals lineup isn't the problem. It's the pitching staff, which is both among the worst in the majors and among the worst in club history, and there's no getting around that.

The Nats own a 5.70 staff ERA since the All-Star break, which ranks 29th in the majors and stands as the worst mark in club history by leaps and bounds. Next on the list: The 2006 pitching staff, which sported a modestly better 5.22 ERA in the second half of a 91-loss season.

It would be a bit more tolerable if these subpar performances were coming from young pitchers who are undoubtedly going to be part of the organization's long-term success. But aside from a few such cases (most notably, Josiah Gray) you can't even say that.

The underperformers are either past performers who have been significant letdowns (Patrick Corbin, Erick Fedde, Jon Lester, Tanner Rainey, Wander Suero) or inexperienced pitchers who aren't making a strong case for guaranteed jobs in 2022 (Austin Voth, Sam Clay, Patrick Murphy, Gabe Klobosits).

And that only leaves you wondering just how large the task is this winter for general manager Mike Rizzo. How many of these pitchers can he confidently count on next season? And if changes are needed, how many better options can he acquire, and how much money can he spend on them?

Even if the Nationals are in a full-scale rebuild and aren't necessarily positioned to win in 2022, they've got to make some real strides in the pitching department. An organization that for so long was built on the broad shoulders of their pitching staff has devolved into one that can't give up fewer than five runs a night on a regular basis.

If they've got any hope of climbing the mountain again in relatively short order, they're going to have to start with a revamped pitching staff capable of leading the way once again.