Washington Nationals find themselves in familiar territory

The Washington Nationals had a comeback for the ages in 2019. They are looking to replicate that performance again this year.

Last season, the Washington Nationals found themselves with a 19-31 record after approximately one-third of the season. They appeared to be dead in the water, their playoff aspirations on life support at best. Then the Nationals turned their season around, culminating with the first championship in franchise history.

As they say, history repeats itself. The Nationals are currently 7-11 thus far, which works out to a 19-31 record over a normal season.

Instead of despair as the one-third mark of the schedule approaches, the similar records can give Nationals fans hope. There is still a chance that the season can be turned around in time, especially as the top eight teams will reach the postseason this year. All the Nationals have to do is get to the middle of the pack.

But this year is somewhat different. Stephen Strasburg has battled injuries and is back on the Injured List. Anibal Sanchez has fallen off a cliff, as had Sean Doolittle before he was injured. There is no production from the lineup, excluding the trio of Juan Soto, Trea Turner, and Asdrubal Cabrera.

The Nationals had issues last season as well. They completely overhauled their bullpen over the course of the year, plucking relievers from the scrap heap and making a series of seemingly minor deals to restock their relief corps.

The problem is that time is against the Nationals. They have more holes to fill, and just about six weeks to push for a playoff spot. The trade deadline is in 15 days, and at a time when more teams feel as though they have a chance, it may be difficult to get those pieces they need. Nonetheless, hope springs eternal, just as it did last year.

The Washington Nationals are in a similar boat as they were in 2019 in terms of their record. However, it will be much harder to overhaul their roster and get back into contention.