Wait, we waited an entire winter for that? And they lost? Okay, wrap it up, season’s over, forfeit the next thirteen years, the fundamentals (whatever those are) are broken.
Everyone—from MASN to The Post to The Athletic to Chuck freakin’ Todd—declared that the Nats’ inability to hit with runners in scoring position, play small ball, and manage the bullpen correctly was essentially a continuation of last year.
While the bullpen thing is slightly troubling, the major upshot from yesterday is that the Nats faced the best pitcher in the NL last year by fWAR, were able to string a few hits together, and then the reigning Cy Young winner shut down every rally with the help of some dumb luck that will likely not occur regularly.