Williams got hired prior to 2014 with no managing experience whatsoever. He did get off to a good start, leading Washington to their second NL East title and winning manager of the year. When the playoffs hit, he made some moves that were very questionable. In game two against San Francisco, the Nats were one out away with a 1-0 lead. Jordan Zimmermann was on the hill, coming off of a no-hitter in his previous start. Zimmermann was pitching a gem and needed just one more out. Then he walked the next batter and Matt WIlliams took him out of the game. The bullpen couldn't protect the 1-0 lead and 9 innings later, yes nine innings, the Nats lost a crucial game that they were so close to having. If only Jordan was still on the mound, if only…
Then in game four, he went to the bullpen once again. Even though there were many veterans in the pen that he could have used, he went with a guy with no playoff experience and he threw two wild pitches in a row as the Giants scored the potential game winning runs. It was after those two games that I wanted this guy out of here. Just saying.
That offseason, the Nats signed Max Scherzer which was a move that was supposed to finally get them to play deep in October. Bryce Harper even said "where's my ring?" Once again Williams made mistakes. The biggest were the way he used certain guys in the bullpen in certain games. The fact that he took a late July series with the Mets as if it was just another series, while the skipper in the other dugout managed like he would sell everything he owned to beat the Nats.
The big blow in the season came the very day the Nats signed Jonathan Papelbon. Having a guy in him in the clubhouse is like a cancer to the team. A lot of smart baseball fans knew it was a bad move and the rest of the world knew it on the second to last weekend of the season. It wasn't Williams fault that they signed Papelbon at all but he would be in this story in the very next sentence. After Papelbon and team MVP Bryce Harper got in a fight, one in which Papelbon started, Williams still left Papelbon in the game. It was a move that was very baffling and disturbing. It was like he was stoned or something. In the press conference afterwards the reason he still left him in was because… "he's our closer." It was like he didn't even care what went down. And when you don't care about your star player, and by star player I mean someone who has done nothing but work his ass off day in and day out for this ballclub, that guy could always leave.
Now thankfully the Nats did the right thing in that regard. Hopefully Papelbon is out the door too. With all the drama surrounding the Washington Nationals, this goes all the way back to General Manager Mike Rizzo. He gambled, he went all in and like some of those unlucky in Vegas, he lost it all: the playoffs, the World Series, and a tight-knit clubhouse. He said back when he rested Stephen Strasburg in the 2012 postseason after returning from Tommy John surgery that they would be in the playoffs every year fighting. Right now his reputation with the team is hurting bringing all those guys in. And another team in that division has another star pitcher coming off Tommy John surgery and he's pitching in the playoffs. If that team wins it all this year, that has to be a slap in the face to Rizzo because that could have been them three years ago.
I think the Nats can recover from this mess. I really do. Despite what I said earlier and the fact I am also a fan of that particular team in the division (and was for much longer, before the Nats even existed), the Nationals will be fine next year. They just need a manager with experience in the postseason, or Cal Ripken Jr. And they need to get rid of those guys who cause nothing but trouble. Only then and good chemistry can you get back in the running for a title and maybe Bryce could get that ring.
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