Every team has already breached the halfway point of the 162-game season or will within the next few days, which feels like an appropriate mark to pass around July 4. Even if the fireworks have subsided in your neighborhood—at least I hope they have, for your sake—there are still plenty set to go off in the second half that could upend the playoff picture. Let’s have a look at where things stand with roughly 50% of the season in the books.
30. Washington Nationals (LW: 30)
Last week, the Nationals exercised the contract options of GM Mike Rizzo and manager Dave Martinez for the 2023 season. That came as a bit of a surprise to me, even though a decision had to be made on their statuses for next year by the All-Star break, given Washington has a winning percentage of .395 (the equivalent of a 64-win pace) since its 2019 World Series win. You have to wonder if Juan Soto’s relationship with Martinez—and Rizzo’s relationship with Soto’s agent, Scott Boras, with whom he’s long had a productive relationship—played into that decision. Locking up Soto should be priorities No. 1, 2 and 3 for the Nats at the moment since the immediate future looks bleak. Washington’s loss to Miami on Monday dropped the club to 1–12 against the team directly above it in the NL East, where a third consecutive last-place finish seems likely.
