The Nats Craft Beer of the Week

The play from the National's this week required a strong Russian Imperial Stout for this week's craft beer.  It is Stone Brewing's 2018 collaboration Stone Woot Stout, and it gets the job done in all facets of beer drinking.  The beautiful black color masks a dynamic taste created by pecans, wheat, and rye that gives it a sweet toasted type of flavor.  It was also aged in bourbon barrels, so you also get that bourbon aftertaste that makes you feel like you are having that special me-time moment.  At 11.5% ABV, though, you are definitely coming close to that, so please drink responsibly and if you are lucky enough to find this beer at your local craft beer store pick it up immediately because it will not be there forever.  The 11.5% ABV was necessary at times this week, as the Nationals kept themselves 5.5 games back in the NL East in the most soul crushing way.

The Nats were one out away from being 4.5 games back of the Phillies and Braves last night until Ryan Madson gave up a walk off grand slam to David Bote.  It was a microcosm of the Nats season as Wilmer Difo, who entered in the bottom of the 9th as a defensive replacement, bobbled the exchange from his glove to allow the first base runner and Madson hit two batters to load the bases.  Madson claims that he had back issues that caused his poor command, but that still does not remedy the fact that they squandered a 7 inning/0 ER performance from Max Scherzer.  This was the second game this week that Max had to endure a no decision based on a 9th inning, injury laden, let down from the bullpen.  Kelvin Herrera squandered a 7 inning/1 ER performance from Max in the second game of the double header against the Braves this past Tuesday, where Herrera gave up 2 runs in the top of the 9th and was relieved of duty after complaining of shoulder tightness and is now on the DL.  Hopefully the Nats' training staff can actually talk to the bullpen pitchers this week so they can trot out healthy pitchers to try and close out zero and one run outings from Max Scherzer in the future.

The loss last night also extended the Nats' futility as they have not won a series of three or more games against a team with a winning record since May 10.  Madson's woes also extended the bullpen's woes this week, as his performance gave the bullpen a collective 7.16 ERA and 1.65 WHIP for this week.  The cherry on top was that the Nats' old buddy Brandon Kintzler was let off the hook, as he pitched the 9th inning last night for the Cubs and gave up a two run single to Ryan Zimmerman that extended the Nats' lead to 3-0.  Suffice to say that last night sucked, but all the news was not horrible for the Nats this week.

Ryan Zimmerman came alive this week as he hit .476 with 3 HR, 12 RBI, was 4 for 7 RISP, 1.04 SLG%, and a 1.56 OPS.  Grab a Stone Woot Stout to celebrate the return of Ryan Zimmerman just when the Nats need his bat to try and cut into their deficit in the NL East.  There was another National who hit over. 400 this past week, and the name may be surprising.  Matt Wieters hit .428 this past week, including an OPS of 1.02, and in the second game against the Cubs he reached base in all five of his plate appearances.  The Nats as a team actually out hit the combined efforts of the Braves and Cubs as the Nats' .271 team average outpaced the combined .244 average of the Braves and Cubs.  Contributing to this average were the five Nats hitters who all hit over .300 this week in Zimmerman, Wieters, Daniel Murphy (.370), Anthony Rendon (.315), and Trea Turner (.344).  This was also helped by the Nats' starting pitching that had only Tommy Milone give up more than 2 ER's in their appearances, and Max Scherzer continues to dazzle as he gave up only 1 ER in 14 innings of work this week.  Also, have a Stone Woot Stout for Gio Gonzalez as he got his first win in 11 starts this week, and Tanner Roark is also on a come back tour as he won his fourth straight start.  In those starts he has averaged 7.2 innings with a 1.21 ERA and a 0.91 WHIP.  The Nats will need to keep that kind of streak going as they will continue to face stout competition this upcoming week.

The Nats continue their tour of the midwest as they are in St. Louis in the beginning of the week for the "Battle of the teams that are 5.5 back in the division" series as the Cardinals are also 5.5 games back in the NL Central.  The Marlins come to town to close out the week, and hopefully the Nats can gain some ground in the NL East come this time next week.  There is still time being only 5.5 games out of the division, but time is running out.

You Will Hate Bryce Harper By The End of The Season

That's right Nationals Fans.  It does not matter the level of your fandom.  At some point during this season your opinion of Bryce Harper will sour.  As the 2018 season begins, so begins the countdown to Bryce Harper's impending free agency and the countdown to the first reporter asking Bryce Harper about his future contract.  And that may not be pretty considering this was Harper's unsolicited statement about contract questions back in February:

“I just want to let you guys know that I will not be discussing anything not relevant to 2018 at all.  I’m focused on this year, focused on winning and playing hard. If you have any questions about anything past 2018, you can call Scott and he can answer you guys. If you guys do ask anything, then I’ll be walking right out the door.”
                                                                 -quote courtesy of Thom Loverro and the Washington Times

Notwithstanding the double negative in the first sentence, that is a bold statement coming from one of the faces of Major League Baseball because no matter how the Nationals perform this season the contract questions will come.  God forbid the Nationals struggle.  Then the question will be "Do the team's struggles have an impact on Harper possibly leaving?".  If the Nationals go on a heater the question will be "Does the team's recent success make Harper want to stay?".  Bryce Harper's contract will be the overarching theme to the team's performance, win or lose, and that will have a deleterious effect on your fandom.  How, you ask?  Because the situation will eventually be personalized to the point where Harper will not be able to avoid answering contract questions without losing face in the court of public opinion.

The questions will start with general questions about Harper's contract being related to team performance as stated above.  If the Nationals are losing that could be a problem, but Dave Martinez and the other players can easily side step those questions.  As the season goes on, though, Harper's performance then takes center stage.  Then the team needs to start answering for him because he said he won't answer contract questions.  Ryan Zimmerman will need to postulate about such things as "Bryce is in a slump, do you think that hurts or helps him staying in DC?" or "Do you think Bryce's hot streak will increase or decrease his chances of leaving?".   Then the questions will speculate about Bryce's relationship with other teams and players.  Those questions will be "Bryce was being very friendly with Kris Bryant, does that mean he wants to go to Chicago?" or "Bryce took some time for himself in LA against the Dodgers, should fans be concerned about that?".  All the while Bryce will be standing pat and allowing the team to answer those questions for him, or he will simply ignore any reporter who asks him those kinds of questions.  How long will you tolerate that as a fan before your opinion of Harper starts to wane, especially if he does not even intimate that he want to stay in DC? The longer Harper decides to avoid those questions the more fans he will begin to alienate, and it will all come to a head if Fall comes and no extension has been given.  The alienation will be doubled if the Nationals make the playoffs.  Now the team will have to answer things like "If you win the World Series do you think Bryce will stay or go?".  What will Bryce do then?  Continue to ignore those questions and let it overshadow the Nationals' championship run?  The longer Bryce sticks to his mute demeanor the more of the fan base will begin to turn on him. 

DC Fans assume the worst.  If Harper does not state that he wants to stay in DC while dodging questions about his contract all season, the conjecture that will encircle the fan base about Harper leaving DC will not help you like him.  It will create a sense within the fan base that Harper can do no right by Nationals fans no matter what decision he makes.  If Harper leaves then the fan base will automatically vilify him stating that he never wanted to be here in the first place.  If it is for more money then he will be painted as a money grabber.  If he signs for "less" then it will exacerbate the hatred from the fan base that Bryce just wanted out of DC.  Even if Harper is able to deliver a World Series this season and leaves there will be a significant portion of the fan base that will label him as disingenuous.  If Harper stays for the $400 million price tag some are speculating it could be, then the fan base will say he is crippling the team's financial future even if he wins a Championship this year.  If he stays for big money and cannot deliver in the post season, the notion that Harper is not worth the money will spread like a virus through the fan base.  The only way Bryce wins is if he stays for "less" money (which is still the GDP of some small countries) and brings a Championship to DC.  But do you really see that happening?  Any way you look at it, if you are a Nationals fan, you will hate Bryce Harper by the end of this season.