The difference a day makes. Put 60 days together and you have two months. The Washington Nationals were a team trying to shock the baseball world two months ago on July 10. The Nats were 48-46 that morning, and the debate that day would center on whether the team would be buyers at the trade deadline. The clear need was to fix that horrific bullpen. That night, blown save №26 happened with a loss as Matt Krook melted down like a flame on ice.
Rewind back to nearly a year ago when President of Baseball Operations, Paul Toboni, was hired by the Lerner ownership group. Toboni likes successory quotes that you see on those motivational posters. So why not quote Morgan Wootten, the goat of Dematha basketball. Stay local, buy local.
❝Late DeMatha High School coach and Basketball Hall of Famer Morgan Wootten often talked about a winning effort being the precursor to actual wins. The same is true in baseball. What players and coaches do –or– don’t do, shows up every [game] in the box score in black and white. That’s the kind of visible scoreboard I embrace.
— Toboni said in the offseason
I talked about humility; I think you have to be open-minded and curious about learning new things. [Hall of Fame basketball coach] Gregg Popovich talks about ‘getting over yourself.’ We want people that have gotten over themselves and don’t take themselves too seriously.
I intend to take accountability… ❞
Now let’s get back to today. The Nats are spiraling into the abyss. From second place in the NL East on June 1 to last place today is a gut-wrenching reality. Go back nearly three months, and the Nats were 4.0 games over .500 on June 16.
This week has been a new low. After blown save №38 to set an MLB record of futility, the Nats have now lost 23 games as part of that blown save record. Yesterday morning, Toboni appeared on his weekly radio show on 106.7, and was asked about setting that ignominious record.
❝[The bullpen] hasn’t turned out exactly how we like — stating the obvious there. We’ve been pretty aggressive on flipping it over, to give more and more guys chances. … On the whole, we need to be better. We need to be better in a couple different ways — just acquiring talent and developing these guys and putting them in better positions to succeed.❞
— Paul Toboni on @JunksRadio
Instead of taking a clear stance of personal accountability and an apology to the fans for this product they created — Toboni placed much of it elsewhere. Yes, this team has more wins this year than last year. They have overachieved in so many areas. The one area of extreme distress is with the bullpen.
Sure, the players are guilty as charged and the coaching too. But what about the person responsible for player acquisition and the person who sets the budget? Yes, I am talking about Toboni and Mark Lerner.
Toboni named three areas of improvement for the bullpen:
- Acquiring talent
- Developing these guys
- Putting them in better positions to succeed
Let’s look at each of these in more detail.
Acquiring Talent
Toboni is pointing to the quality of the personnel. He has been the main acquirer of the players, and Lerner gives him the budget. Besides the acquisitions of Foster Griffin and Curtis Mead, the rest of the MLB trades and free agent signings have looked suspect.
Developing These Guys
Reading between the lines, it would seem that Toboni was referring to the minor league system improving at developing their players better and especially the pitchers.
Putting Them in Better Positions to Succeed
Was that a swipe at manager Blake Butera? Putting players in their best situation to succeed has a lot to do with use and usage, and much of that is managed by Butera and his coaching staff.
Last week, Butera said, ❝… My job is to do the best job I possibly can with the team we have — and the bullpen we currently have. … We can’t keep giving up these leads.❞
That seemed to have been a left jab at Toboni. Who knows. And then did Toboni counter-punch?
Was an Apology Needed?
Who should issue the apology? Should that come from Toboni or from Lerner? Toboni has talked about humility incessantly and apologies are a key component when warranted.
Humility is the realistic assessment of one’s own values, strengths, and limitations without arrogance or self-deprecation. It is not about thinking less of yourself, but thinking of yourself less. Here are the foundational basics of practicing humility:
- Accurate Self-Assessment and Acknowledge Flaws: Accept that you make mistakes and have blind spots.Recognize strengths: Understand your talents without boasting or feeling superior.Embrace learning: Admit when you do not know something and remain teachable.
- Low Self-Focus and Listen Actively: Focus entirely on others when they speak instead of planning your response.
- Share Credit: Highlight the contributions of everyone around you.
- Manage Ego: Do not demand constant validation, praise, or the last word in arguments.
- High Appreciation of Others and Value Your People: Treat all individuals with equal respect, regardless of their status or background.
- Celebrate Others: Feel genuine joy for the achievements of others without experiencing envy.
- Accept Feedback and Don’t Act like you Know Everything: View constructive criticism as a gift for growth rather than a personal attack. Hire the right people that have the knowledge that you lack.
- Apologize Sincerely: Take full responsibility for the mistakesa dn don’t shift blame on others in the areas you’re responsible for.
- Ask for help: Vulnerably request assistance, and recognize that you cannot do everything alone.
That №8 is a key component of humility. When you celebrated the successes and accepted the praise 60 days ago, it was time to show humility and apologize for the terrible product we are seeing now.
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