Here’s a look at the ugly within reach for Washington — and a few other things to watch — over the final 33 games of a truly dismal season:
Worst three-year stretch after winning a World Series
The Nationals are well on their way to joining the 1918 Boston Red Sox, 1993 Toronto Blue Jays and 1997 Florida Marlins as the fourth World Series champion to finish below .500 in each of its next three seasons. They’re also on pace to finish with the worst three-year winning percentage after winning a title in major league history.
The record belongs to Connie Mack’s 1914-16 Philadelphia Athletics, who had a three-year winning percentage of .389 after capturing the 1913 World Series. The A’s were swept in the World Series one year after their title and then, beset by defectors to the Federal League, won one-fourth of their games over the next two seasons. The Marlins’ .406 winning percentage from 1998 to 2000 ranks second worst.
The Nationals’ three-year winning percentage through Tuesday is .382. If Washington, which is 43-86 and on pace for 108 losses, loses at least 104 games, it will surpass the 1914-16 A’s mark for futility.
Most losses in franchise history
The Nationals lost a team record 103 games in 2009, Mike Rizzo’s first year as general manager, and earned the right to draft Bryce Harper with the No. 1 pick in the 2010 MLB draft. Washington’s 97 losses last year are their most in a season since.
The franchise record for losses is 110, set in the Montreal Expos’ inaugural season of 1969. With only eight games remaining against teams with losing records, that mark is very much in play. There’s an outside chance Washington could eclipse the original Senators’ 113 losses of 1904.
Washington has a healthy lead over the Oakland Athletics and Pittsburgh Pirates for the most losses in the majors, but unlike previous years, when the team with the worst record received the highest pick in the draft, the first six picks will be determined by a lottery system going forward.
Worst run differential in franchise history
Washington has allowed 220 more runs than it has scored this year, the worst mark in the league. The worst single-season run differential in Nationals history was -184 in 2008. The 1969 Expos hold the franchise mark of -209.
Patrick Corbin’s pursuit of 20 losses
Corbin already owns the Nationals’ record for losses in a season with 17 and has a chance to become the majors’ first 20-game loser since Detroit Tigers left-hander Mike Maroth in 2003. Maroth finished 9-21 with a 5.73 ERA and an MLB-worst 34 home runs. Corbin is 5-17 with a 6.56 ERA and has allowed the most hits (180) in the league. Washington’s starters have a collective ERA of 5.96, which is the worst in team history by more than half a run.
César Hernández’s pursuit of a home run
Hernández, who hit 21 home runs last year for Cleveland and the Chicago White Sox, is still looking for his first round-tripper for the Nationals. Hernández has more plate appearances (535) than any hitter without a home run in 2022; Cleveland’s Myles Straw (476) and Kansas City’s Nicky Lopez (420) are the only other homerless players with at least 300 plate appearances.
According to Stathead, Hernández is 42 plate appearances shy of matching Nyjer Morgan’s Nationals record for the most plate appearances in a season without a home run, set in 2010. The only other Nationals player hit with as many as 300 plate appearances in a season without a home run were Jamey Carroll (358 in 2005), Nook Logan (350 in 2007) and Royce Clayton (338 in 2006). Exposes second baseman Dave Cash’s franchise record of 709 plate appearances without a home run in 1977 is probably safe.
MacKenzie Gore’s Nationals debut
One of the major-league-ready pieces the Nationals received from the San Diego Padres in the Juan Soto trade, Gore has been sidelined since his arrival with left elbow inflammation. He’s on track to return before the end of the season, which would give Nationals fans a look at the team’s potential 2023 Opening Day starter. Gore made his big league debut in April and had a 1.50 ERA in his first nine appearances, including eight starts, but posted an 11.05 ERA in seven appearances before his injury.
The Joey Meneses experience
Meneses hasn’t stopped hitting — with borrowed bats — since getting the call after Josh Bell was traded along with Soto to the Padres. The 30-year-old first baseman has 31 hits in his first 23 games, the most by a rookie in Nationals history. With three doubles in Tuesday’s loss to the A’s, he’s hitting .348 with six home runs, 11 RBI and an on-base-plus-slugging percentage of 1.001.
Spoiler and NL East title-decider
With six games remaining against both the New York Mets and Atlanta Braves, the Nationals will have a major say in which of those two teams captures the division. Washington also has seven games remaining against the Phillies, who occupy the NL’s second wild-card spot and are seeking their first playoff berth since 2011. Perhaps a Corbin gem or clutch home run by Hernández will contribute to Bryce Harper and Philadelphia missing the postseason yet again.
The Nationals are an astounding 9-42 against division foes this season and a more respectable 34-44 against everyone else. Washington’s division record includes 12 losses in 13 games against the Marlins, who it’ll see six more times in September.