After some blunt words from Adam LaRoche following their series loss to the Atlanta Braves, the Washington Nationals (28-29) have a challenge to meet going forward through the rest of the season, starting with this series against the New York Mets (22-32): don’t play like crap.

Yes, it sounds harsh, and certainly a team that is just under .500 and in second place in its division is not doing everything wrong. However, it is frustrating for fans and players alike to see a team that has potential for greatness underachieving. The Nationals have an opportunity to show their potential in this home stand, beginning with their faceoff against the Mets, after making a number of significant changes to their roster.

The Nationals have gone 1-2 against the Mets this year, but will be playing them immediately following their being swept by none other than the Miami Marlins, who are a distant 19.5 games out of first place in the NL East. It was Miami’s first sweep of the season.

The Nationals have an opportunity in the coming home stand to benefit from playing teams whose fortunes have been faring worse than their own, which perhaps could spark the catalyst toward victory that this team is so desperately in need of.

Sad Statistics

The Mets have the worst team batting average in Major League Baseball (.227). However, their fourth-lowest on-base percentage (.295) is actually higher than the Nationals’ MLB-worst .287, and the Mets’ fourth-lowest slugging percentage (.371) is tied with the Nationals.

That is a not great place for the Nationals to be. But, having offensive stats that low speaks to the strength of their pitching, considering they are in second place and seven games behind the Braves, and not 11.5 games behind as the Mets are.

The Nationals have the sixth-lowest ERA in baseball (3.58), while the Mets have the fifth-highest (4.45), though the Mets are looking to improve their pitching stats with some potential roster moves.

Jeremy Hefner and Dillon Gee, who will start on Tuesday and Wednesday, respectively, are each fighting to keep his spot in the rotation as the Mets anticipate calling up one of their top pitching prospects, Zack Wheeler. How each pitcher performs against the Nationals could have a noteworthy impact on his future.

Hefner had a 5.29 ERA and a 0-3 record against the Nationals last season, and allowed three runs in four innings during his only outing against the Nats this season. Nationals hitters had a .391 batting average against Gee last season, and he went 0-1 against them, though he gave up only three hits and zero runs in his start against them this year.

Shifting Shortstops

In addition to planning changes to their pitching staff, the Mets have recently made changes in hopes of boosting their offense as well.

The Mets placed shortstop Ruben Tejada on the disabled list last week with a right quad strain, and Omar Quintanilla has provided spark to their struggling offense in the short time he has been with the team after being called up from Triple-A.

There is a chance Quintanilla could replace Tejada, even after his six-week stint on the DL is over, as Tejada has a slash line of .209/.267/.262 this season, while Quintanilla, who has been splitting time between the majors and minors for eight years, was hitting .333/.419/.484 in 47 games at Triple-A Las Vegas.

Strasburg’s Next Start

Though Stephen Strasburg is officially scheduled to make his next start, which would come on Thursday against the Mets, it seems “unrealistic or risky” that he try to hasten his recovery to meet that deadline, according to the Washington Post. 

Strasburg has a Grade 1 lat strain, an injury from which it typically takes three to six weeks to recover. If Strasburg tries to rush back, he can risk damaging his arm by overcompensating, which is exactly what manager Davey Johnson was trying to avoid by pulling Strasburg from his last start after just two innings.

As much as Nationals fans would like to see their ace back on the mound as soon as possible, it seems wise for the people involved with his recovery to be cautious with such a valuable piece of their pitching staff.

Yesterday on the podcast, Craig and I called for some major changes with the Washington Nationals. This morning on this site, Will wrote about the bad dream that was the beginning of the 2012 Nats season. Well, GM Mike Rizzo, like the rest of us, has finally decided enough is enough. The Nationals announced several huge roster moves today prior to opening the series against the Mets at home. Here they are with the most up-to-date information we have:

Who's gone?

- Danny Espinosa: Espinosa has been terrible this season, and most thought it was because of his shoulder injury. Today, he was placed on the 15-day disabled list with what the team is calling a wrist injury. Espinosa did get his wrist hurt by a Paul Maholm pitch, but there is no mention of his shoulder playing into the decision. He was hitting .158 before his DL trip.

- Henry Rodriguez: The long Nationals nightmare is over as HRod was designated for assignment. That means he'll have to pass through waivers in order to be removed from the 40-man roster, and it's hard to imagine one of the other 29 teams in baseball not taking a flyer on the hard-throwing righty, but if they don't he'll likely head to Triple-A Syracuse.

- Zach Duke: Duke did a nice job in the Nats bullpen last September, but that in no way translated into the 2013 season, and he was DFA'd as well. His 8.72 ERA in 12 games pretty much says all you need to know.

Who's up?

- Jayson Werth: Werth returns from his extended, 28-game stint on the disabled list with a hamstring issue that would not go away. Once he got things going, he lit up his reahab assignment, hitting .556 with a double and two homers in six-games at Single-A Potomac.

- Anthony Rendon: The Nats "next big thing" will get his second chance at the big league level, and Rizzo expects him to get most of his chances at second base. Rendon was just called up to Triple-A last week and played just three games there before being recalled.

- Ian Krol: Krol is the latest pitcher to make the jump from Double-A to the majors for the Nats this season. The lefty was acquired in the Michael Morse trade this past offseason, and he's put up great numbers in Harrisburg so far this season. In 26 innings, he has an 0.69 ERA, 2.51 FIP, and 10.04 K/9 there.

There will surely be much more to talk about about this shake up in the coming days.

It's the injuries episode of the podcast. We talk about Danny Espinosa, Bryce Harper, Stephen Strasburg, Jayson Werth, and all the other injured players. We also talk about the bullpen problems, Zach Duke and Henry Rodriguez, and courtesy of friend of the pod Allyn Gibson on Twitter, we found out that one of the former number 54s we discussed in honor of the episode number is a pitching coach in an independent league.

Also, we had to tack on the explicit tag to this one in iTunes due to a few-too-many obscenities. Sorry if that offends you, but there's your warning.

I graduated from college four years ago. It was a great time in my life. My whole family flew into town to celebrate, and they all got to meet my girlfriend for the first time, who just this year became my fiancé. The weather was beautiful, and it truly seemed like a fresh start of a new life with endless possibilities.

Every spring since however, without fail, I wake up in a cold sweat about the time when final exams would occur, dreaming that I was still in school and had completely forgot to attend class for the entire semester, meaning I was doomed to not graduate. It’s paralyzing, and terrifying. Despite the fact that I know I walked across the Ohio Wesleyan stage with diploma in hand in 2009, my subconscious is convinced that I am still in school and is petrified that I will let everybody down who has supported me through the years.

To me, this is exactly how this Washington Nationals season has felt. The 2013 campaign is like a bad dream that has hung over the club since its stunning departure from the postseason last October. Everything should be great, hell, everything is great. The Nats have a loaded team, and each player has, at times played well. But even since day one, there has been a feeling of impending doom hanging above that has been impossible to shake, and as that feeling grows, the Nats chances look bleaker and bleaker..

The Nationals know they have an amazing baseball team. Nationals fans know they root for an amazing baseball team. Opponents know they are facing an amazing baseball team. But somehow, inexplicably, they have found a way to lose. Players who don’t usually make errors are throwing balls away, at spectacularly bad times. Hitters are leaving droves of runners on base. Pitchers are finding ways to lose games, where in 2012 they would have found ways to escape tough innings.  

The entire month of May seemed as if things were on cruise control. Win a game, lose a game. Player gets hurt, player comes back. Win some more, lose some more. There has been no action, nothing has caught on, nothing has taken off, and the team has seemed as if they have just drifted in this depressing October 2012 haze.

As fans, we can only speculate what will happen next. It seems to me that something just needs to occur to clear the fog, one way or another. Whether it be an offensive explosion in a series sweep, or a run of great starts from our pitchers, there needs to be a catalyst that sets this team in motion, and reminds them that this is 2013.

Perhaps the solution could be Anthony Rendon coming up and providing a spark at second base. Maybe it’s as simple as having Bryce Harper, Ryan Zimmerman, Jayson Werth, and Adam LaRoche all healthy at the same time again. Whatever it be, it needs to happen, because the club can’t keep playing at this pace, or they will look up in September and realize that they never woke up in time for the season to start. 

The rookies pitched their hearts out for the Washington Nationals (29-28) on Sunday, but without much support from their veterans, the Nats were not able to secure a win over the Atlanta Braves (34-22).

The Nationals tallied only five hits in the 6-3 loss, which lost them the series and put them a season-high six and a half games behind the NL East leading Braves.

Nathan Karns made his second big-league start for the Nationals, and kept the game close for four and two-thirds innings. He gave up three earned runs on seven hits and one walk with six strikeouts, but was charged with the loss.

Karns started off the game in a rough place after a Ryan Zimmerman throwing error put the leadoff batter on base, and Ramiro Pena hit a home run on the first pitch after the debacle. Karns gave up a single to Justin Upton before settling in and striking out the next two batters he faced.

He ran into trouble again in the second inning when he gave up a home run to B.J. Upton, but pitched a scoreless third and a 1-2-3 fourth. Justin Upton singled again in the fifth, and a subsequent walk to Evan Gattis knocked Karns from the game.

Zach Duke came in to relieve Karns, and promptly made a close game out of reach for the Nationals, who have yet to overcome a three-run deficit in a game this year. Duke faced eight batters, but got only two outs and allowed two earned runs on two hits and four walks.

He started his outing by giving up a single to Brian McCann for one run, then walked Dan Uggla but didn’t do any more damage that inning. In the sixth inning, Duke walked the first two hitters, got Pena out on a sacrifice bunt, and then intentionally walked Justin Upton to load the bases.

He then gave up a two-run double to Freddie Freeman, which was close to being a grand slam, before manager Davey Johnson called on Erik Davis to clean up Duke’s mess in his Major-League debut. Davis got an out for all five batters he faced, and exited his debut with a final pitching line filled with zeros, plus two strikeouts.

Fernando Abad pitched a scoreless eighth to keep the Braves from tacking on any more runs, but without support from the offense, the game was already lost.

The Nats’ offense struck early, scoring two runs in the second inning on a Tyler Moore single and a throwing error after Adam LaRoche and Ian Desmond doubled and singled, respectively.

Desmond was the big contributor of the day, going 2-for-4 with a home run in the sixth inning, but the Nats did not score again after that inning as they continued their streak of failing to score against the Braves’ bullpen this season.

The Braves’ offense, which tallied nine hits in their victory, was led by Freeman and the Upton brothers. Freeman went 2-for-4 with two RBIs, and Justin Upton went 3-for-4 with a walk and a run.

Most surprising though, was B.J. Upton’s home run in the bottom of the second. Though he entered this series with a .146 batting average, he batted .333 during it (3-for-9), including Sunday’s homer and the game-winning hit in the 10^th inning on Saturday night.

If B.J. Upton, who is a .251 career hitter, is breaking out of his season-long slump, that could spell bad news for the Nationals, as it would add another force to the Braves’ already solid offense.

Following Sunday’s game, LaRoche said the Nationals deserved to again have a sub-.500 record because his team had “played like crap” recently. He acknowledged that the Nats still have time to make a move in the standings, but said they needed to do it soon as they are over one-third of the way into the season.

The Nationals will have the chance to make that move in their coming home stand, when they will play the New York Mets and the Minnesota Twins. Though they are not the toughest opponents in the majors, a series win over both teams is an opportunity for the Nats to show that they are still the postseason contenders they were touted to be, and not a team worthy of LaRoche’s frank description.

When the ace of the pitching staff exits a game with an injury, the result of the game can feel secondary. However, the Washington Nationals (28-27) put together a rollercoaster of a 3-2 win over the Atlanta Braves (32-22) to make sure their fans were paying attention.

Craig Stammen was the big star of the night, filling in for Stephen Strasburg when he left the game after the second inning with a strained right oblique. Strasburg struck out two and gave up only two hits and one earned run – a home run to Freddie Freeman – and Stammen did a great job of finishing what Strasburg started.

He pitched four perfect innings of relief, allowing no hits, runs or walks with three strikeouts. He threw 49 pitches, and was charged with the win in the longest relief appearance of his career.

Stammen’s outing was especially encouraging in light of Strasburg’s injury. If the Nationals find themselves needing yet another spot starter as Ross Detwiler continues to deal with his own strained oblique, on Friday Stammen showed that he would be a more than capable candidate.

On the offensive side, the Nationals’ hitters came to Atlanta ready to play, continuing their recent positive production right from the first inning. Center fielder Denard Span led off the first with a triple, and left fielder Steve Lombardozzi followed up with a sacrifice fly to bring Span home for an early 1-0 lead.

The duo repeated their first inning performance in the top of the sixth when Span again tripled to lead off the inning – making him tied for most triples in the National League with five – and Lombardozzi sacrificed him home.

Their teamwork twice showed why manager Davey Johnson chose to bat Lombardozzi second in the order instead of second baseman Danny Espinosa, who has a .164 batting average and 45 strikeouts. Lombardozzi’s ability to put the ball in play ensured that Span’s efforts were not squandered, as the Nationals work on breaking their frustrating habit of leaving runners on base.

Espinosa did his part in the second inning, though, when he and Roger Bernadina hit back-to-back singles, and he then slid into second baseman Dan Uggla to break up a double play and allow Bernadina to score on a Kurt Suzuki force out.

However, in an unfortunate characterization of the way his luck has been going lately with his multitude of injuries and diminished confidence at the plate, during the fifth inning he ran into his own bunted ball and was called out.

Overall, the Nats’ offense did well against Julio Teheran, hitting him up for seven hits and three earned runs, which was ultimately just enough, during the six and two-thirds innings he pitched, though Teheran struck Nats out nine times.

After the Braves’ offense was shut down for most of the game by Strasburg and Stammen, things started to get interesting for them with a seventh-inning heart attack courtesy of Tyler Clippard.

Clippard faced seven batters, giving up singles to Ramiro Pena and Freeman, who batted Pena in to tie the game. He then hit both Evan Gattis and Brian McCann with pitches to load the bases, but struck out Dan Uggla and Chris Johnson to escape a jam that could have quickly changed the course of the game.

Drew Storen pitched the eighth, allowing no hits with a strikeout and a walk, before Rafael Soriano came in to pitch a 1-2-3 ninth inning for his 15^th save of the year.

The Nats had yet another injury scare during the bottom of the ninth when Suzuki was hit with a foul tip that caught him on an area of his shoulder not covered by his chest protector. Suzuki crumpled on the ground when the ball made contact, worrying everyone associated with an organization that already has one of its starting catchers out with a long-term injury, but Suzuki stayed in the game to catch for the final two outs.

With the win, the Nationals move one game closer to the Braves in the standings, and now trail them by four and a half games. Gio Gonzalez will take the bump next as he tries to lead the Nats to a series win over their rivals against Tim Hudson on Saturday night.

Nationals pitcher Stephen Strasburg was removed from the game against the Atlanta Braves after the second inning with an apparent injury, though no official statement on his condition has yet been made.

Manager Davey Johnson and Strasburg had an emphatic exchange in the dugout during the top of the third inning, but despite Strasburg’s evident frustration at the situation, Craig Stammen was called on to replace him in the third inning.

Strasburg threw 37 pitches, and started out the game with a 1-2-3 first inning. He gave up two hits, one a solo home run to Freddie Freeman, and struck out two batters.

The Nats Blog will update this story as more information becomes available. 

Update #1: Update #1: Strasburg left the game due to muscular discomfort in his back, not his arm, as reported by Adam Kilgore of the Washington Post. An arm injury has the potential to be more serious than a back injury, so all things considered, this is an encouraging development to the story for the Nationals. 

Update #2: In the postgame press conference, Johnson said that Strasburg had been having pain in his right oblique, a situation similar to Ross Detwiler’s injury that landed him on the 15-day DL.

Strasburg had noticed the discomfort before the game, but was hoping as he progressed through his start his muscles would loosen up and the pain would disperse. However, when Johnson saw how much Strasburg was wincing during the second inning, he made the decision to pull him from the game to eliminate the possibility of his injuring himself further by putting extra stress on his arm from compensating for the pain in his side.  

Johnson said Strasburg would fly back to D.C. to be evaluated by team doctors. Though he will wait for their assessment, Johnson did not anticipate having to make a roster move because the Nationals have an off day on Monday. 

The Washington Nationals (27-27) opened May with two wins over the Atlanta Braves (32-21), and will look to close out the month in a similar fashion.

The Braves have taken the upper hand in the season series between the division rivals so far, winning five of seven games, and the Nationals currently sit five and a half games behind them in the NL East, which is the farthest they have trailed all season.

Though there are still plenty of games left to influence the standings, a strong series win by either team would make a statement about the state of the rivalry as we enter the heart of the season.

Rejuvenating The Offense

In order to make that statement that they are the reigning NL East champions, the Nationals will need to persist in their attempt to amp up their offensive production.

The Nationals’ offense continued its struggle through May, putting up a slash line of .228/.286/.361, but it showed signs of life recently. In their last seven games, Nats hitters put together a team batting average of .268  (which is significantly higher than their season batting average of .231) with nine home runs, and they are averaging 4.43 runs per game in that span, almost a full run higher than their season average of 3.52 per game.

With any luck, they will continue to build on that recent success to overcome their rival Braves and to allow Davey Johnson, who vowed to keep growing his beard until the offense picked up, to shave.

Producing at the plate will be a must in order for the Nationals to beat the Braves, who have outscored them 30-13 so far this season and who have a .249/.319/.416 slash line for May with the fifth-most home runs of the month (34).

Homer Power

After finishing a series against the Baltimore Orioles, the Braves will be the second team in a row the Nationals will face that treats every game like it’s the Home Run Derby. While the Orioles set the bar for most home runs in baseball at 75, the Braves are not far behind in second place with 72. The Nationals are creeping up in the ranks as power hitters though, as their seven home runs in the Orioles series alone put their total for the year at 51.

Home runs certainly seem to have had their impact on the outcome of Braves games -- for as much as you want to read into that – as Atlanta has gone 30-6 in games with a home run this season and 2-15 in games without one.

However, neither team’s pitching staff gives up many home runs. The Nationals have given up only 47 this season, and the Braves have allowed only 48.

With five Braves pitchers on currently on the 15-day DL, including reliever Eric O’Flaherty (2.50 ERA), the Nationals are in a position to test the short-handed pitching staff at Turner Field with their potentially revitalized offense as they look to show the Braves that winning the NL East won’t be an easy task.