Nationals now must look within to find answers after stunning postseason defeat

Suddenly, the Nationals season is over. The season began on March 31 and ended on Oct. 7. The team that won 96 games, had the best record in the National League, is out of the postseason after a mere four games. The Nationals have won 280 games over the past three seasons, won a pair of division titles, but have yet to advance to the League Championship Series. What happened? Really, how did this happen so fast? The pitching was good. Allowing the Giants to score nine runs in four games. The defense let the Nats down at critical times. Whether it was Gio Gonzalez not getting out of the way of a grounder towards Anthony Rendon. Rendon did not charge the ball that hard and the Giants had another base runner. Gonzalez also had trouble with a comebacker to the mound that got past him for a base hit. Did Matt Williams not manage the bullpen correctly? After Matt Thornton faced two left-handed hitters, should Williams have gone with Tyler Clippard or Drew Storen or even Stephen Strasburg instead of rookie Aaron Barrett? Is the Nationals approach at the plate fundamentally flawed? During their early west coast trip to face the Oakland A's and Arizona Diamondbacks, the opposing radio teams commented on how the Nationals had been scouted as a free-swinging baseball team and that if you baited their hitters, they would swing and get themselves out. The Giants were able to get the Nationals to swing at bad pitches, dictating the strike zone with the help of some generous calls by some excited umpires. But the bottom line of this series was the lack of production for the Nationals offense as they were held to nine runs in four games themselves. During the regular season, the Nationals scored 686 runs in 162 games, which was No. 9 in MLB and No. 3 in NL But in the NLDS, the Nationals could not take advantage of the limited opportunities presented to them offensively. The Nationals were just 2-for-23 with runners in scoring position (8.7 percent). They hit four home runs, all solo shots, three of them from Bryce Harper. It was a successfully season in winning the division and the Nats certainly showed they have potential and a young team that could stay together for a few seasons to come. What changes will be made? Will Ryan Zimmerman move to first base? Will Adam LaRoche move on? Will the team look for another third baseman, perhaps a lefty hitter like Kyle Seager of the Mariners to even out the lineup if LaRoche leaves? Will they sign Ian Desmond to a long-term deal? Will they make changes to the pitching staff? Is Ross Detwiler moving on after not being placed on the postseason roster? What about the closer spot? There are questions, not as many as most teams may have heading into the offseason. So that is good news. Unfortunately, some of the questions the Nationals have in this offseason after an abrupt ending to a promising season, are the kind that are not easily answered with only personnel changes. The Nationals will have a few months now to turn inside to the front office, the coaching staff and the players in the clubhouse and find some answers and ways to put themselves in this same position next season with a better opportunity to advance.