Blake Butera didn’t sugarcoat what he saw from the Nationals on Wednesday night.
After Washington was thumped 13-1 by the Colorado Rockies, the manager made it clear he was unhappy with the way his team showed up at home. The Nationals jumped in front 1-0 early, then watched Colorado stack 13 straight runs while the pitching staff struggled to find steady outs and the offense never found a response.
“Bad. Really bad,” he said at the postgame press conference.
“I thought we were pretty flat. I thought we didn't play as hard as we normally do.
I know the score got to where it got to. I'm not sure that if we played a little harder that would have changed anything.
But at the end of the day, we gotta come out expecting and playing our butts off every single night, and I felt like we were short tonight.”
It was a blunt message, but it fit the way August has gone for Washington. The Nationals are 7-17 this month, have allowed 112 runs, and have been held to one run or fewer six times. Outside of ace Cade Cavalli, the pitching has been inconsistent, and the lineup has slipped badly from the version that once stood out as the league’s best offense.
That’s part of why the current stretch feels so familiar for a roster many expected to struggle from the start. The talent level across the group simply isn’t deep, and the absence of James Wood has left a major hole in the middle of the lineup. Still, Butera made it clear that effort is one area his club can control, and in his view, that standard wasn’t met against Colorado.
For most of the season, Butera has managed to squeeze more out of this team than many expected. Wednesday’s loss, and the public critique that followed, will now be a test of how the Nationals respond.
In Other News...
Nationals First Rounder Is Giving Fans A Reason To Dream Early
Chris Hacopian is off to a promising start in High-A Wilmington, and the early returns are exactly the sort of thing that can get a fan base thinking ahead. The Nationals 2026 first-round pick has already shown a mature approach at the plate, posting a .263/.391/.342 line through 12 games with eight walks, eight strikeouts and a pair of stolen bases, while also showing some pop with his first professional home run.
For Washington, the intrigue goes beyond a hot first month in the minors. Hacopian is still years from the majors, but his status matters in a broader roster picture because a possible 2027 MLB lockout has already become part of the conversation around player development and flexibility. Players outside the 40-man roster would remain in the minors, which is one reason young prospects like Hacopian are being watched so closely as the organization builds for the future. [Read more 🡒]
Nationals Collapse Now Has CJ Abrams At The Center Of It
Since the trade deadline, the Nationals have drifted from competitive to ragged, with the rotation and the mood around the club both taking a hit. Outside of Cade Cavalli starts, the team has had a hard time finding much of anything to hang onto, and the slide has put a spotlight on the everyday core to set a better tone for a club that suddenly looks short on answers.
CJ Abrams has become one of the players at the center of that conversation, not because of one isolated issue but because the shortstop has been asked to adjust while the losses keep piling up. The larger concern in Washington is no longer just results on the field. It is whether the group can restore some edge and accountability before the season slips any further out of reach. [Read more 🡒]
Nationals Top Infield Prospect Suddenly Faces A Real Red Flag
Devin Fitz-Geralds first full pro season still has plenty of believers inside the Nationals system, but the early returns at Double-A Harrisburg have made the climb look a lot steeper than it did a few months ago. The 2024 fifth-round pick opened the year well at High-A Wilmington, showing the kind of bat that helped establish him as one of Washingtons more intriguing infield prospects, and the organization has continued to view him as a player with real long-term value.
The issue now is less about pedigree than adjustment. His performance has dipped since the promotion, with the contact quality and power not carrying over the way they did before, and some evaluators have already started to wonder whether his swing path and overall approach need to be reworked. Fitz-Gerald is still highly regarded, which is why this development matters, but the next stretch in Harrisburg will say a lot about how quickly he can answer the red flag now hanging over his season. [Read more 🡒]