May 23, 2025; Washington, District of Columbia, USA; Washington Nationals right fielder Daylen Lyle (51) hits a single in his first Major League at-bat, against the San Francisco Giants, during the third inning at Nationals Park. Geoff Burke-Imagn Images

Nationals Loss To San Francisco Giants Reveals Importance On Key Offensive Ranking

Originally posted on Washington Nationals on SI
By Anders Pryor | Last updated May 24, 2025 4:00 PM ET

The Washington Nationals have been having one of the better offensive teams this week. They were able to take themselves out of a hopeless lull of maybe getting a couple of runs in a game to putting the squad's offensive ceiling on full display against the Baltimore Orioles and Atlanta Braves.

That streak came to a screeching halt yesterday as the Nationals put up a goose egg to the San Francisco Giants 4-0, putting an outstanding six-inning, one-run, nine-strikeout outing by MacKenzie Gore to waste.

The Giants' bullpen, like it's done all year, pitched effectively perfect baseball against Washington, allowing zero hits. It's a performance that reveals a key flaw in the Nationals' offense.

Geoff Burke-Imagn Images

Washington ranks 19th in runs scored in the first five innings at 2.18 per game, according to TeamRankings. That's ranked 19th in the MLB. They've bumped that number up to 3.67 over the last three games, but Dave Martinez and company may need even more than that.

While the Nationals' hitting has improved, the bullpen has now. According to FanGraphs, it still ranked 29th in ERA and 28th in WHIP. Even if this offensive explosion continued for another month, it's just not sustainable.

The offense may have to take another step, maybe even two. Because when confronted with a bullpen like San Francisco's, or even one close, things can get shaky. And if they don't have a massive lead going into the second half of games, the room for error for the bullpen becomes even more minuscule than it already was.

Otherwise, starts like Gore's will continue to go unnoticed, even if Washington doesn't quite get shut out like they did yesterday.

A buying trade might need to take place now while the Nationals still have a semi-competitive record for a bullpen arm to support Kyle Finnegan or a bat to double down on offense. Because if Washington has to win games early and aggressively, the infrastructure needs to be applied now before the one good arm in the bullpen is out the door.

This article first appeared on Washington Nationals on SI and was syndicated with permission.

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