The Washington Nationals haven’t been very good after winning the 2019 World Series.
That was a special year in the history of the franchise, but it marked the beginning of a rebuilding period, even if the franchise probably didn’t truly realize it until last year.
After 2019, many stars began leaving the organization, via free agency or trade.
Max Scherzer, Trea Turner, Howie Kendrick, Anthony Rendon, and other key components of that championship-winning team are gone.
The Nats have struggled ever since.
They got a moment of joy this week, though: they won a series against the reigning World Series champs, the Atlanta Braves.
The series win was good enough to break a bad streak.
“The Nationals just won a series against the Braves for the first time since May 28-29, 2019. They had been 0-10-4 in series with Atlanta since,” Matt Weyrich of NBC Washington tweeted on Wednesday.
The Nationals just won a series against the Braves for the first time since May 28-29, 2019. They had been 0-10-4 in series with Atlanta since.
— Matt Weyrich (@ByMattWeyrich) April 13, 2022
You may read “2019” and think that it’s not that much time.
They Couldn’t Beat Atlanta In The Last 14 Series
However, consider that teams of the same division play against them a lot; which means the Nationals play the Braves about 19 times per year.
That’s five or six series against them, per season: the streak was actually pretty rough.
They played 14 series against Atlanta after that one in late May of 2019, and lost 10.
The other four resulted in a tie (sometimes, the series are four games long).
It was a small moment of joy for the Nationals in what is looking like a long season for them.
They have star outfielder Juan Soto, but not much else going on for them.
Stephen Strasburg is expensive and injured, and some of their prospects have failed to correctly develop.
Right now, Washington is 3-4, fourth in the NL East in front of the 1-4 Miami Marlins.
They will have a hard time topping the Braves, the New York Mets, and the Philadelphia Phillies in the standings.
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