You’re not supposed to glean much from a two-game stretch, especially in the context of a full baseball season. But for Ian Desmond and the Nationals, the past 48 hours have provided hope that the three-time Silver Slugger Award winner could be on the verge of ending his prolonged slump.
After notching the game-winning RBI the previous night in extra innings, Desmond came back Thursday with two hits in the Nats’ 7-0 win over the Braves; one was a third-inning two-run home run, the other a sharp single up the middle in the eighth.
While manager Matt Williams told reporters afterwards that driving pitches to centerfield is a sign of a hitter who’s seeing the ball well lately, at this point Desmond isn’t exactly going to complain about how they fall.