The Nationalsstill assess what we have and the deadline, ”GM Mike Rizzo told reporters (including Washington Post’s Jesse Dougherty and MASNsports.com’s Byron Kerr) today about the club’s plans for August 31st. club intends to be buyers.
“We are here to win the World Series this year, and that never changes in my mind as in [manager Dave Martinez’s] mind as the mind of the owner, ”Said Rizzo. “We are here to win, and we are very, very competitive. When we see a place to improve ourselves in a deal that makes sense to us, we are never afraid to pull the trigger. ”
Today’s 9-3 victory over the Marlins improved the Nationals’ record to a modest 11-14, although, like almost every baseball team, Washington is still in the playoffs this short season. Rizzo net “think it’s too late to make adjustments everywhere, but we need to play better, ‘Recalls how the 2019 Nationals came back to a 19-31 start to the season.
“I have seen flashes of brilliance and mediocrity, ”Rizzo said of this year’s Nats. “We need to be consistent… .You had to play clean baseball, caliber baseball baseball. We went through this last year and have cleaned it up after a slow start. We must do the same thing now. ”
Rizzo is no stranger to memorable trade-offs, perhaps most notable for taking over Daniel Hudson by the 2019 deadline given Hudson the lead role in the Washington World Series title of 2019. Although the Nats’ bullpen last season was a glaring mistake, this year’s team did not necessarily have such an obvious weakness point, except perhaps a starting rotation that Rizzo Bullish is against.
May Stephen Strasburg done for the season, Austin Voth en Erick Fedde have both played major roles in the early five, plus prospects Wil Crowe also recently made his Major League debut. The veteran trio of Max Scherzer, Patrick Corbin, en Anibal Sanchez have also had their ups and downs, with Sanchez in particular trouble ahead of a strong outing in today’s 9-3 victory over the Nationals.
“We get conversations all the time about our starting pitching and we feel very, very happy that we have that kind of depth of young arms that can contribute at the level of the big league, ”Said Rizzo. “Very excited about the opportunities of these young children. You look at the Voths and the Feddes, the way they performed last year in a world championship season and helped us fly the ship and pitch extremely well in a pennant race. You run out of guys like a Wil Crowe and Seth Romero, who have shown their game plays in the major leagues. That is very positive news for our progress. ”
If a new starter might not be likely, getting more help would certainly seem like more of a possibility, and Dougherty also believes that “a low-cost veteran bat would help.” The likes of Adam Eaton en Eric Thames have struggled around the plate this year, and Starlin Castro will likely miss the rest of the regular season due to wrist surgery. On the plus side, Juan Soto en Trea Turner have torn the lid of the ball, rookie Luis Garcia has done well for Castro on second base, and Asdrubal Cabrera has hit well to record the snail on the corner infield spots from Thames and Carter Kieboom.
