Washington Nationals Have to Clean Up This One Area Going Forward

For the Washington Nationals to get into that contending tier in the future, they'll need to win some games when in this situation.

Sep 5, 2024; Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA; Washington Nationals relief pitcher Eduardo Salazar (62) reacts after issuing consecutive bases loaded walks to force in two Pittsburgh Pirates runs during the seventh inning at PNC Park / Charles LeClaire-Imagn Images

It's not about wins and losses for the Washington Nationals right now, but it sure feels a lot better whenever the team gets a victory.

The absolute best-case scenario coming down the final month of the season is the young players on this roster start gaining experience at this level while the team is able to find some success on the field by putting up runs and pitching well as a staff.

The Nationals need to be building towards the future with their eye on leaving their current rebuilding phase.

When that happens, they certainly will want to clean up this one statistical category.

Washington has 10 extra-innings losses, something The Athletic highlighted as being their worst stat this season.

"It's helpful to add that the Nationals are also tied for the most extra-inning homers allowed, too. Those stats are kind of tied together ... Anyway, part of a rebuild is learning to win, and as the Nationals roster rounds into form, they'll make it a point of putting away close games," writes Stephen J. Nesbitt.

Again, this year has turned into one where the win and loss column isn't something the organization should be concerning themselves with, but this statistic should also be telling the front office an area that needs improving this offseason.

What this signals is the Nationals are short on reliable bullpen arms.

Whenever a game gets into extra-innings, teams are scraping at the bottom of their reliever sheet and hoping someone can come into the contest and get high-leverage outs.

10 losses in these types of games would suggest that Washington doesn't have many they can turn to and reliably get the team out of jams.

They brought in Michael Rucker by claiming him off waivers, a right-handed bullpen piece who has three years of Major League experience, so if he can work his way into the mix for the final stretch of the season, then they could have found at least one option entering 2025.

The Nationals also have some young prospects in their farm system who they are waiting on to reach the Majors, so hopefully a group of those arms can turn into some impact guys for this team during clutch situations, as well.