How?
That is not supposed to happen when you can send out sixth-place finisher Gio Gonzalez (2.96 ERA), Stephen Strasburg, whose ERA of 2.52 was good enough for third, and Cy Young winner Max Scherzer (2.51).
The most significant difference between those last two is not so much their ERA’s but their IP: 175/200.
After those three you have workmanlike innings eater Tanner Roark (4.67)…and not much else. Neither Eric Fedde nor A.J. Cole has the experience or available innings even to cover all the fifth starts this year. And that is just the first problem for the Nats in 2018.
Second is the mystery of why they haven’t won in the past.
Is it because there has been so much turnover in the manager position? And/or, is Harper a bad guy to have in the locker room? His attitude suggests it but far from gives proof to the assertion.
We can all see that one culprit is the untimely injuries to Strasburg. Does that make him soft? And does that affect the team? When the team botched his innings limit in 2012, how much did his agent demand they not overuse his client?
Whatever the problems have been, even last year, they have to get solved now. Harper is a free agent, and the Nationals are not known for spending a lot on non-pitchers. Plus, many of their starting players are already in their 30’s: Matt Wieters, Zimmerman, Murphy, Gonzalez, Scherzer, and Roark.
It looks like time to rebuild.
Planning Ahead
In fact, that might be why the team has not added another pitcher, as the Nats are favored to win their division easily, although not as comfortably as last year, they probably feel they can afford to wait. They have a huge payroll already, and there is always the chance that disaster strikes and the team tanks.
If for some reason they are out of it by July, which is highly unlikely, they can trade Harper for a fortune in prospects. But if they are in it, as they should be, they can get a front-line starter for less than half of his salary for the season.
And the clock is ticking.
Because either the 2019 Nationals are going to spend more money on Harper than they have ever spent, and still find a way to surround him with enough talent to win the World Series, or they are going to start their next rebuild around top-ten OF prospect Victor Robles.
The Red Sox are not in quite that position, but they’re close.