Marlins 6, Nats 5
On the surface it didn’t look that bad. The Nationals fell behind early to Florida, committed a couple of errors in the field and didn’t seem all that into a Sunday afternoon game in September with seemingly nothing on the line. But they rallied to cut the deficit to one run and had a few chances to take the lead before Florida’s bullpen took over.
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What Nats manager Jim Riggleman and his coaching staff saw disturbed them, though. The energy level a team needs to compete at this time of year just wasn’t there. And with jobs on the line and evaluations being made daily Riggleman let his coaching staff tell the players exactly why their effort was unacceptable.
Read the details in our game story here. Pretty straightforward. Jordan Zimmermann struggled and Washington’s batters couldn’t get on base after the fifth inning. Zimmermann made a pair of bad pitches to young slugger Mike Stanton and the Florida outfielder sent both of them into the bleachers. Washington’s bullpen kept the game close with one run allowed over six innings thanks to five different relievers. But it wasn’t enough. And Riggleman, whose job ultimately depends on the effort his players give, wasn’t having any of it. While his coaches were the ones doing most of the talking in the post-game meeting – instead of him voicing the same concerns over and over – Riggleman had some strong words for his club during his post-game media session.
“Just can’t happen. You can’t go to the level that teams such as the Padres, Giants, Yankees, Tampa Bay – those teams who are going to be right there at the end – you can’t be in the same class with them until you have everybody on board pulling the same way,” Riggleman said. “And putting personal statistics behind them and milestones behind them and all that nonsense. Until everybody’s pulling in the same direction and getting after it every day it’s not going to show up in the win column.”
He didn’t call out anyone in particular. Likely, that message was intended for multiple ears. But it’s still disturbing all the same. No player we spoke with afterwards took issue with the comments or the reason for the meeting – Ryan Zimmerman, Adam Kennedy, Ian Desmond, Jordan Zimmermann. Ivan Rodriguez chose not to comment. But overall – as the players put on their suit-and-ties for a flight to Atlanta – they accepted the lecture as something that losing teams will hear.
“We have discussion after every game,” Ryan Zimmerman said. “I wouldn’t say there wasn’t a need for it. We played a [expletive] game. We battled back, but until we start playing nine innings then that will be the message.”
At 60-83, the Nats are already guaranteed a fifth straight losing season. Unless they completely fall apart over these final 19 games they won’t reach 100 losses for the third year in a row. But that’s a pretty low bar. Even 90 losses will leave this club with a sour taste heading into the offseason. As last year’s season-ending seven-game winning streak showed, a strong final stretch can at least put the Nats into a better frame of mind heading into next season. But tanking the final three weeks? That’s not something anyone – players, coaches, front office – wants to deal with. That was the message Riggleman wanted delivered. That was the message the players say they received.
“If you’re an elite team in baseball you can have a day where the energy level’s not where it is and it kind of goes under the radar,” Riggleman said. “But it don’t go under the radar when you’ve lost 100 for a couple years in a row. We’re going to figure out who the keepers are and figure out who is going to be part of this club in the future that’s going to help us get out of these doldrums.”
Follow me on Twitter @bmcnally14
