Nationals, still seeking power, cruise past the Mets, 5-0
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NEW YORK — The crack was loud and clean, leaving little doubt that Keibert Ruiz had given the Washington Nationals two leads at Citi Field on Tuesday night: The first, and no doubt the most important, was an early lead over the New York Mets that held up in a 5-0 win. And the other was a lead in an odd statistical battle, one only made possible by how early it is in the season — and, yes, Washington’s roster construction.
After Ruiz’s second-inning solo shot, the Nationals’ home run total, the lowest in the majors, reached 11.
The individual total for the Mets’ Pete Alonso, the second highest in the majors, was 10.
Josiah Gray and Mason Thompson kept Alonso at that number through the series opener (and the Mets at their season total of 26). Gray, Washington’s right-handed starter, blanked them for six innings, striking out nine and yielding four hits on 91 pitches. Ruiz’s homer accounted for the first run scored with Gray in the game in 2023, ending a 22-inning drought. The Nationals (8-14) taxed New York starter José Butto and kept pressing. Then Thompson set the Mets down quietly, facing the minimum over the final three innings.
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But that it takes all of the Nationals to barely exceed Alonso, who is slugging as well as anyone in the sport, shows a gaping chasm in their lineup. Joey Meneses, though finding a serious stride, smacked his first and only homer in Minneapolis over the weekend. Corey Dickerson, brought in to beat right-handed pitchers, has been sidelined since April 1 with a left calf strain. Lane Thomas, last year’s team home run leader — if you don’t pit his 17 against Juan Soto’s 21 before he was traded to San Diego — hasn’t hit one out. Dominic Smith, a former Met signed for $2 million in the offseason, has zero extra-base hits. His most recent homer in the majors came July 21, 2021 — nearly two years ago.
Heading into Tuesday, the Nationals had made more contact than any other team, connecting on 78.8 percent of their swings. Power has just been very, very scarce.
“We put the ball in play. We took our walks,” Manager Dave Martinez said after his team had six in Tuesday’s win. “That’s who we are.”
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“I think that’s important in any lineup, to have flashes of power,” Smith said when asked how much a contact-focused club needs one or two (or three) sources of pop. “But I think the main thing is we get guys on base, and if we just get that big hit, then we’ll obviously accumulate more W’s. So that’s what we’re focused on now: putting together good at-bats, hitting the ball hard.”
When it comes to production, clubs generally get some combination of what they pay for and develop. Last spring, the Nationals’ offense was headed by Soto, Josh Bell and Nelson Cruz, who arrived on a one-year, $15 million deal and flopped. This spring, by contrast, General Manager Mike Rizzo filled out a young lineup with Smith, Dickerson (one year, $2.25 million) and third baseman Jeimer Candelario (one year, $5 million).
About a week before the season, Smith explained how the Mets (14-10) could be a template of sorts for the rebuilding Nationals, a team more concerned with incremental growth than the standings. He had seen firsthand how Alonso anchored an offense that ranked fourth in contact rate, 16th in home run percentage and fifth in runs last year. Aside from Alonso’s 40 homers, Francisco Lindor hit 26, Eduardo Escobar hit 20, and no one else hit more than 16. Those Mets reached base a lot, hardly struck out and rode Alonso’s power in the middle of the order. Smith saw that as a lesson in stacking hit after hit, homers or otherwise, to produce wins.
The big problem with that equation for the Nationals: Alonso isn’t walking through the clubhouse door. Nor is another power hitter even remotely close to his caliber. And beyond that, Washington is making a ton of contact but not hitting the ball particularly hard. The Nationals entered this series ranked first in strikeout rate (18.3) but 28th in hard-hit percentage (33.2).
Within that approach, something may give as the calendar rolls on. Just not much had given, at least consistently, before the offense clicked in Queens on Tuesday. The Nationals’ 11 hits: Ruiz’s homer, nine singles (including two RBI knocks for Meneses) and Luis García’s two-run double in the sixth. That was more than enough for Gray, who escaped a two-out, bases-loaded jam in the fifth by striking out Starling Marte with a cutter below the zone. He also twice struck out Alonso with his biting slider. Gray’s ERA slimmed to 2.93.
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So in the end, Ruiz’s homer wasn’t followed by more of the same. Yet in the Nationals’ third win in four games, that wasn’t needed.
“I’ve really tried to not strike out as much, which has been somewhat effective, so maybe that’s why the power hasn’t been there so far,” Thomas said Tuesday afternoon, offering an evaluation that felt applicable to the entire team. “I’m personally trying to be shorter and barrel the ball more. But I trust if I chase barrels, the homers will be there. I have to trust that.”
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Source: The Washington Post
