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Nationals finally playing as expected but it may be too late

It's not that unusual for bad teams to play well in September. Over the previous five years, of the 73 teams that entered September with a losing record, 22

Tom Verducci

Nationals finally playing as expected but it may be too late
Nationals finally playing as expected but it may be too late /
Jayson Werth and Washington's rejuvenated offense have kept the team's playoff hopes alive.
Jayson Werth and Washington's rejuvenated offense have kept the team's playoff hopes alive / AP

It's not that unusual for bad teams to play well in September. Over the previous five years, of the 73 teams that entered September with a losing record, 22 of them played winning baseball in that month. That's 30 percent of all bad teams suddenly becoming winning teams. It seems there may be something to the idea of playing September spoiler.

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Tom Verducci
TOM VERDUCCI

Tom Verducci is a senior writer for Sports Illustrated who has covered Major League Baseball since 1981. He also serves as an analyst for FOX Sports and the MLB Network; is a New York Times best-selling author; and cohosts The Book of Joe podcast with Joe Maddon. A five-time Emmy Award winner across three categories (studio analyst, reporter, short form writing) and nominated in a fourth (game analyst), he is a three-time National Sportswriter of the Year winner, two-time National Magazine Award finalist, and a Penn State Distinguished Alumnus Award recipient. Verducci is a member of the National Sports Media Hall of Fame, Baseball Writers Association of America (including past New York chapter chairman) and a Baseball Hall of Fame voter since 1993. He also is the only writer to be a game analyst for World Series telecasts. He lives in New Jersey with his wife, with whom he has two children.

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