Notes and quotes on the Nationals’ wrapping up the road schedule for 2024, and hopefully finishing strong at home this week…
Davey Martinez’s club was 0 for 7 with runners in scoring position and seven left on base in their 5-0 loss to the Cubs in Chicago’s Wrigley Field on Sunday afternoon, their third loss in four games on the final road stop of the season. Washington’s Nationals wrapped up the ‘24 road schedule 33-48, and now they head home for six more games, three with Kansas City’s Royals (who were tied for the second AL Wild Card spot as of Sunday night) and the NL East leaders, the Philadelphia Phillies, (who are 5.0 games up in the division, having clinched the right to go to the postseason already).
“I want these guys to go out there and play for something too,” Martinez said of finishing up the schedule against two teams in the playoff mix.
Photo by Quinn Harris/Getty Images
“I mean, hey, believe it or not there [are] a lot of decisions to be made over the winter time,” the skipper continued.
“I want these guys to make it hard for myself, [GM Mike Rizzo], the front office, and see what we’ve got. I want these guys to finish strong.”
They’re 8-12 coming this month off a 1-6 road trip, with shutout losses in 4 of 7 games, and three games with just one run scored over that stretch.
The focus now, Martinez said, is evaluating what they have while trying to finish strong at the end of a long season.
“This time of year, it’s the mental game. A lot of things going on. Guys are getting close to going home,” he said, “… and guys are getting close to playing winter ball, but we still got games here, so I want them to finish up strong.”
Asked what his hitters need to do to turn the current trend around, and finish strong in their final six games, Martinez said they have to stop chasing, a message he and his coaches like to stress on a daily basis with the young ballclub.
“We had some innings going where we could’ve got some runs,” he explained.
“We just couldn’t drive in any runs. The biggest thing is we got to get better at driving in runs, attacking the strike zone, staying in the strike zone. We just start chasing, we really do. We start chasing a lot of pitches. We get the ball in the zone, as I always say, we hit the ball fairly well, but we got to stop chasing in those moments and let the pitcher be the guy that feels like he’s got to struggle. We’re young. We’re going to get better.
The Nationals closed out their series in Chicago tonight.
Davey Martinez after the shutout loss from the @PNCBank Digital Desk. pic.twitter.com/UxhaVw3jlE
— Nationals on MASN (@masnNationals) September 23, 2024
“This is part of a teaching moment where we have to tell them, ‘Hey, we have to get the ball in the zone with guys on base.
“Don’t put the pressure on yourself, don’t try to get up there and swing at the first pitch, look for a strike.”
How does his team put the advice they’ve been given into practice more effectively?
“I can’t swing for them,” Martinez said. “We just got to relay the message, we got to tell them. We show them the zones, we show them the zones where they’re really good. They got to stay in the zone, they’ve got to understand who they are, and a lot of times because they’re young, they always want to be the guy. Sometimes they press up there, we just got to get them back in the zone and tell them, ‘Hey, when you guys look for the ball here and the ball’s here you hit the ball really well.’”