Washington Nationals' Second-Half Hope Already Fading Fast

(Photo by Ezra Shaw/Getty Images)

The 82nd game of the MLB season is very special. It's the beginning of the second half of the season. Theoretically, teams can a set aside a dismal start and say, "From here on in, boys, it's a whole new ball game."

The Nationals lost in their 82nd game Wednesday afternoon, 10-4 to the Colorado Rockies, through another assortment of rumbling, bumbling, stumbling, and tumbling.

The Nationals didn't start a new chapter. They didn't even turn a new page. They're just fleshing out the worst story ever written.

What's that you say? The '62 Mets was a worse team? Well, perhaps. But they were lovable. In fact, their unofficial nickname was the "Lovable Losers." Mets fans smiled as they got hammered night in and night out.

I'm not smiling, and I don't think you are either.

Look, I've been writing about the Nationals since their first winter in Washington, long before the players donned their "Curly W" caps. I have been so optimistic about the team's future that some readers have taken exception to my rose-colored analysis. One commenter said I reminded him of that always smiling guy on those Encite commercials.

But I've got to tell you, I'm beginning to wonder just exactly what's happening in Nats Town these days.

Manny Acta continues to trot out raw rookie Ross Detwiler every five days. And every five days, he gets squished like a bug on my windshield. Yes, I see the talent. Yes, I think that once Detwiler figures out his delivery release point, he's going to be a solid major league pitcher.

But he hasn't yet, and I've seen nothing that shows me he's beginning to figure it out.

In Syracuse, former first-round pick J. D. Martin is 8-2 with a 2.14 ERA and a 0.92 WHIP (base runners allowed per inning). Garrett Mock is 4-2 with a 3.14 ERA, but he has been near-perfect since he returned to the starting rotation.

Detwiler gives the Nationals no chance to win. Martin and Mock, while not as talented, are a better answer right now.

And boy, do I get a strong case of the shakes when I see Adam Dunn penciled in at first. Dunn is a tremendous power hitter who is terrible at first and almost adequate in left. He has shown time and time again that he doesn't have soft hands or quick feet, which means he isn't a first baseman by trade.

Managers seem to think that slow-footed, power-hitting left fielders can be hidden at first. Ted Williams tried it too. In 1968 and '69, Hondo played the equivalent of a full season at first base and committed an outrageous 21 errors. Dunn has played 136 games at first during his career and has made 19 errors.

Dunn belongs in left or in the dugout. Nowhere else.

I could go on forever.

But let's not look backward. There is nothing we can do about the Nationals' 24-58 start. Let's look forward.

What can be done to keep the team from being forever named in the same breath with the aforementioned New York Mets?

Not much.

Former general manager Jim Bowden had a vision. It wasn't a particularly good one, but at least he had an end game. He collected a bunch of outfielders that he was going to trade in spring, bolstering the relief corps and solidifying the middle infield. But he lost his job and Mike Rizzo took over before Bowden could finish what he started.

Rizzo is going to be a great general manager, but he has a tota

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