The Washington Nationals are 14-15 as the calendar turns to May, and GM Mike Rizzo says their success in the first month of the season is all about playing to their strengths.
“I thought we ended April on a strong note. We went on that long 10-day road trip and we fared pretty well, 5-4, then take two out of three from Houston before you run into that Dodgers club that was hot at the time,” Rizzo said during his weekly appearance on Wednesday with 106.7 The Fan's The Sports Junkies, which is presented exclusively by our partners at MainStreet Bank — Cheer Local. Bank Local. Put Our Team in Your Office. Member FDIC. Equal Housing Lender. “So I like the way we ended April. We take that momentum into May, and I think we're playing pretty good baseball. Playing fast, making our share of young mistakes, but I think that all in all, I like the trajectory of where we're going.”
Playing to the strengths includes continuing to steal more bases, something they started to have success with in the second half last year – and after swiping 127 bags in all of 2023, the Nats have 53 in just 29 games in 2024, which extrapolates out to hitting that 127 by mid-June.
“Davey's got them in an aggressive mindset, some kudos go to him and Gerardo Parra, he’s our base running coach and kind of instilling that aggressive nature,” Rizzo said. “At times we still run ourselves out of innings and attempt things that I don't think are smart at times, but I like the mindset. They're being really aggressive, and let's give Darnell Coles some credit too; you can't steal first base, so they're getting on base at a rate where they can steal bases. It's a pretty speed-packed lineup with four or five guys that can steal bases, and I think that Davey's utilizing that aspect of our strength to our advantage.”
And, the Nats are also making hay when they need to, as evidenced by last Sunday’s 12-9 win in Miami, when they fell behind 7-0 after two innings but came back on a depleted Marlins squad.
“I think the impact of coming back from down 7-0, that was kind of the pinnacle of that trip for me; you're taking care of business on a team that's really struggling,” Rizzo said. “They have a lot of injuries, they've got a bunch of really good pitchers that are hurt right now, so they're going through it and you have to take advantage of them when you can, because when they're healthy, they're solid. We got to those guys, and I liked our attack against their left-handed pitching, and we just stayed aggressive against the bullpen. Those tack-on runs throughout that series were so important, because in the ebb and flow of the game, they score a bunch against you, you come back, you fight to get even and then if that team scores two or three, the momentum swings to them. So the way we attacked their pitchers was extremely good, and Darnell's got them going in the right direction offensively; we play to our strengths, hit a lot of doubles and steal a lot of bases. We’re doing the best that we can with what we've got, and I think Davey's got the guys knowing who they are and playing within themselves, which I think is really important for those young players.”
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