Elite Year From MacKenzie Gore Can't Lift Nationals in Latest Pitching Power Rankings

The Washington Nationals beat the Colorado Rockies on Thursday, 4-3, but the victory won't do much to ease the minds of their fan base.

The Nationals entered the game on an 11-game losing streak, including three losses to the Rockies, who have the worst record in baseball (now 17-58).

More News: Nationals Star James Wood Joins Elite Group of Sluggers With Walk-Off Blast

Many people were optimistic that a young offensive core centered around CJ Abrams and James Wood could carry the team to some success if complemented by competent, average pitching. But despite MacKenzie Gore's outstanding season as one of the best strikeout artists in baseball, the team can't even manage average.

Bleacher Report's Kerry Miller released his "MLB Pitching Staff Power Rankings for All 30 Teams" on Thursday morning. Washington was towards the bottom of the list at No. 26, clumped with teams like the Rockies, Athletics, Los Angeles Angels and Miami Marlins.

A lot of it has to do with the Nationals' bullpen.

More News: Nationals Will Face Dodgers' Megastar Shohei Ohtani on the Mound this Weekend

That unit ranks 29th in ERA, WHIP, walks per nine innings and hits per nine innings.

"Gore has quietly remained one of the best pitchers in all of baseball with 10 quality starts, a 2.89 ERA and an MLB-best 119 strikeouts," Miller wrote. "But the rest of this staff has been gory, with even Kyle Finnegan starting to fall apart with his fifth blown save of the season on Monday against the Rockies."

Kyle Finnegan has been the center of Washington's fire sale conversations, largely because he might be the only bullpen arm performing well enough to attract interest from contenders.

More News: Nationals Fall in Farm System Rankings After Several Graduations

The entire staff has an ERA of 4.99 and a WHIP of 1.39.

Jake Irvin is the only other starter with an ERA below 4.50, owning a 4.23 in 89.1 innings pitched. Mitchell Parker had an underrated start to the season, but then blew up with a 7.94 ERA in May and has been up and down ever since.

For more Nationals news, head over to Nationals On SI.