The Washington Nationals were one of the best teams in baseball last season and after getting eliminated in the playoffs, the team was looked at as a World series contender, but nearly a third of the way through the season they haven't looked that way.
The Nats are currently at .500 with a 27-27 record after getting shut out by the Baltimore Orioles during rivalry week and the team has a number of issues it needs to address if they want to make another playoff run this season. The team has been dealing with injuries all year and already has a high amount of games lost to the DL and the play of Danny Espinosa has been rough as well and he also is dealing with a wrist fracture.
Second base has been a black hole in the lineup with Espinosa and Steve Lombardozzi and one option, according to SI.com, could be to pull off a trade to get a solid bat in the lineup at that position. The report says that a good option for the Nationals could be Texas Rangers second baseman Ian Kinsler, who could end up being expendable as they have young star Jurickson Profar and no real place to put him currently. The move could solve problems for both teams, but one big issue could be a rib cage injury to Kinsler that he is recovering from. Kinsler has a large $62 million contract, but his bat could be worth it and he also is a Gold Glove caliber second baseman.
The team has had short discussions about moving Ryan Zimmerman over from third base, but that isn't something the team is so keen on doing. The team could move him and promote Anthony Rendon to take over at the position, but the team has also used Rendon at second base in the minors, meaning he could be the name that comes up to take over for Espinosa instead. The second baseman is hitting a paltry .162 in just over 150 plate appearances and the Nationals offense can only take so much more of play like that while other players like Denard Span and Bryce Harper are struggling.
One of the toughest parts for the Nationals has been dealing with Harper since he crashed into the wall earlier in the month against the dodgers and now he has played just 10 times over the last 20 games while dealing with other injuries. The team's offense has been scoring just under four runs per game and the pitching has been the main reason they are still there in the East, as Jordan Zimmermann, Stephen Strasburg and Gio Gonzalez have been keeping things together on the mound.
The Nats offensive stats are looking bad now and they could get worse, as the team is ranked 26th in the league in scoring and needs to get more runs in. The team is ranked 28th in batting average and 29th in on base percentage and the slugging hasn't been much better while ranking 26th in the league and if the team doesn't shape up soon, they may be on the outside of the playoffs after having the best record in the NL last season.
