Will returning vets help bring consistency to Nats lineup?

The Nationals rank in the middle of the pack in most offensive categories right now. They're sixth in the National League in runs scored per game (4.4), 10th in batting average (.237), eighth in on-base percentage (.316) and eighth in slugging percentage (.403), though tied for third in home runs (78).

What's more notable, though, may be the path they've taken to get to this point. The Nationals may have a middle-of-the-pack lineup in the big picture, but they seem to have either a great or a terrible lineup on any given night.

For example, over their last 17 games they've scored an average of four runs. Nothing too interesting there, right?

Except when you break it down game-by-game and realize they've scored six or more runs four times and two or fewer runs seven times.

They've been held to five or fewer hits five times in their last nine games, including Sunday's 2-0 loss to the Giants in which they managed three singles and nothing else.

Why have the Nationals been so hit-or-miss at the plate? Some of it may be a product of hitting coach Kevin Long's approach, emphasizing hitting the ball in the air over mere contact. That leads to more home runs but also more strikeouts.

But it may also have to do with the names of the guys who are showing up in the lineup right now. Manager Davey Martinez regularly has been fielding batting orders featuring noted streaky hitter Mark Reynolds as his cleanup man, 19-year-old Juan Soto batting fifth, erratic center fielder Michael A. Taylor batting sixth, and still-unproven Wilmer Difo and Pedro Severino batting seventh and eighth.

It's tough to count on five runs a night with that kind of lineup, even more so when the guys at the top of the lineup - Trea Turner, Bryce Harper and Anthony Rendon - have had inconsistent seasons themselves.

Salvation may be on the way, though, in the form of two hitters known for their consistency: Adam Eaton and Daniel Murphy.

Eaton already is back from his ankle surgery and was a key contributor in Saturday's seven-run outburst. In only nine games played so far this season, he has 11 hits and 12 runs and has reached base 16 times. He's the perfect table-setter, a guy who not only gets on base, but also drives teammates in when given an opportunity.

Murphy, meanwhile, is making the road trip with the club and could be activated Tuesday night to make his long-awaited season debut following October knee surgery. No, he may not be 100 percent his pre-injury self, but who wouldn't get excited about the return of a guy who in his two seasons in Washington owns a .334/.387/.569 slash line?

Eaton and Murphy are valuable not only because of their bottom-line stats but because of their approach. Each excels at keeping at-bats alive, getting the bat on the ball and delivering base hits with runners in scoring position (Eaton has hit .478 in a limited number of those at-bats as a National, Murphy has hit .381 in many more at-bats over the last two seasons).

Perhaps by the end of this road trip to New York and Toronto, we'll have a different outlook on the Nationals lineup, thanks in part to the efforts of Eaton and Murphy.

At the very least, it's probably not fair to judge this lineup as a whole until we've actually seen it in something resembling its whole form for the first time in 2018.