How The 2019 Washington Nationals Season Changed

Juan Soto (Hunter Martin, Getty Images)

The fact that the Washington Nationals are 2019 World Series champions could come as a surprise to many. Despite having two elite starting pitchers in Stephen Strasburg and Max Scherzer, the Nationals were not expected to be in the conversation as a World Series contender in 2019, especially after losing star outfielder Bryce Harper to free agency in June. The 2015 National League Most Valuable Player had signed a massive 13-year deal worth $300 million with the Philadelphia Phillies just a few weeks before the 2019 Major League Baseball regular season began.

The Nationals also struggled to start the season. By May 23, they were 12 games below .500 at 19 wins and 31 losses, and 10 games back of the Phillies in the National League East. They were also sitting in fourth place and only a game and a half up on the last-place Miami Marlins.

From May 23 onwards, the Nationals played much better baseball. After having a .380 winning percentage after their first 50 games, Washington had a record of 74 wins and 38 losses over the last 112 regular-season games to finish the year at 93-69 and strong enough to host the Milwaukee Brewers in the NL Wildcard. Then in the playoffs, Washington won 11 of 16 postseason games to win their first World Series of all-time.

A major reason for this improvement was the hitting of Juan Soto. As of May 16, he was only hitting .228 but saw his batting average improve to .282 by the end of the season.

Nationals General Manager Mike Rizzo could have made numerous changes. He made two moves to improve his bullpen in acquiring relievers Daniel Hudson from the Toronto Blue Jays and 42-year-old Fernando Rodney from the Oakland Athletics and signed infielder Asdrubal Cabrera after he was released by the Texas Rangers.

Hudson was 3-0 with six saves and a stingy 1.44 ERA with the Nationals in 24 games, while Rodney had 35 strikeouts in 33 1/3 innings. Cabrera batted .323 with six home runs and 40 runs batted in 38 games with Washington after only batting .235 in 93 games with the Rangers.

It will now be interesting to see if the Nationals will contend again in 2020. Key players who are unrestricted free agents at the moment are star third baseman Anthony Rendon and NLCS MVP Howie Kendrick.