The 2015 Washington Nationals season was the Nationals' 11th season as the baseball franchise of Major League Baseball in the District of Columbia, the eighth season at Nationals Park, and the 47th since the original team was started in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. The team finished second in the National League East with a record of 83–79. Manager Matt Williams and the entire coaching staff were dismissed after the season.
Offseason
Transactions On December 12, 2014, the Nationals traded Ross Detwiler to the Texas Rangers for Abel De Los Santos and minor-leaguer Chris Bostick.baseball-reference.com Trades between Washington Nationals & Texas Rangers
On December 19, 2014, the Nationals took part in a three-team trade. Washington sent Travis Ott and Steven Souza Jr., to the Tampa Bay Rays, the Rays sent Ryan Hanigan, Wil Myers, and minor-leaguers Jose Castillo and Gerardo Reyes to the San Diego Padres, and the Padres sent René Rivera, Burch Smith, and minor-leaguer Jake Bauers to the Rays. The Padres sent Joe Ross and a player to be named later to the Nationals, and completed the trade on June 14, 2015, by sending Trea Turner to the Nationals.baseball-reference.com Trades between Washington Nationals & San Diego Padres
On January 14, 2015, the Nationals traded Tyler Clippard to the Oakland Athletics for Yunel Escobarbaseball-reference.com Trades between Washington Nationals & Oakland Athletics and traded minor-leaguer Daniel Rosenbaum to the Boston Red Sox for Dan Butler.baseball-reference.com Trades between Washington Nationals & Boston Red Sox
On January 22, 2015, the Nationals signed right-handed reliever Evan Meek and utility man Kila Ka'aihue to minor-league deals with invitations to spring training.
On March 30, 2015, they traded Jerry Blevins to the New York Mets for Matt den Dekkerbaseball-reference.com Trades between Washington Nationals & New York Mets and traded Sandy León to the Boston Red Sox for cash considerations.
Spring training
The Nationals held their 2015 spring training in Viera, Florida, with home games played at Space Coast Stadium. A number of players went down with injuries during spring workouts and play, including starting pitcher Stephen Strasburg, infielders Yunel Escobar and Anthony Rendon, left fielder Jayson Werth, center fielder Denard Span, and closer Drew Storen.
Team news The Nationals lost first baseman Adam LaRoche, second baseman Asdrúbal Cabrera, relievers Ryan Mattheus, Ross Ohlendorf, and Rafael Soriano, infielder Greg Dobbs, outfielder Nate Schierholtz, and utility man Scott Hairston to free agency after the 2014 season. The Washington Post noted that despite some high-profile departures, particularly the loss of LaRoche, the team's core remained largely intact through 2015.
The Nationals made several key roster decisions with its returning players during the off-season. Most notably, Ryan Zimmerman was moved from third to first base, Jayson Werth and Bryce Harper swapped positions in the outfield to put Werth in left and Harper in right field, and Tanner Roark was moved out of the rotation to the bullpen.
Catcher Wilson Ramos did not participate in the Venezuelan Professional Baseball League over the winter, as he had done in the past. He said he wanted to rest his body after a grueling 2014 season.
Infielder Kevin Frandsen was released on April 1, days before the start of the regular season.
Regular season
Opening Day The Nationals opened their season on April 6 at Nationals Park against the New York Mets. As multiple starters were still recovering from offseason surgeries or injuries sustained during Spring training, the Nationals were forced to get creative with their lineup in order to fill the holes: Michael A. Taylor stood in for the recovering Denard Span in center field, and Tyler Moore was placed in left field while Jayson Werth was still rehabilitating an injured shoulder. Yunel Escobar, originally slated to play at second base, was bumped to third as Anthony Rendon continued nursing an MCL sprain. The sudden vacancy at second was filled by the veteran Dan Uggla, who had impressed the coaching staff during Spring training.
The Nationals were mostly quiet on offense throughout the game except for Harper, who went 2-for-4 on the day. Harper opened up the score by smashing a solo home run over the right-field wall in the fourth inning, giving his team a 1–0 lead. but a pair of errors by the shortstop Ian Desmond in the sixth and seventh innings allowed the Mets to score three runs, causing the Nationals to lose the game 3–1. The Mets' starting pitcher Bartolo Colón was credited with the win, and reliever Buddy Carlyle notched the first save in his career. Nationals starting pitcher Max Scherzer was credited with the loss, despite having an ERA of 0.00 as all three Mets runs came indirectly from Desmond's two errors.
Opening Day lineup +Opening Day StartersName Position Michael A. Taylor Center fielder Yunel Escobar Third basemanBryce Harper Right fielderRyan Zimmerman First basemanWilson Ramos CatcherIan Desmond ShortstopDan Uggla Second basemanTyler Moore Left fielderMax Scherzer Starting pitcher
Season standings
National League East
National League Wild Card
Record vs. opponents
April The Nationals struggled to stay afloat in their first month of the season. The team lost on Opening Day to the New York Mets, with Max Scherzer getting his first regular-season start as a Washington National and taking the loss despite pitching well, with shortstop Ian Desmond and second baseman Dan Uggla contributing to the defeat with defensive miscues in the middle infield. The Nationals managed to bounce back from the poor result with a win over the Mets in the second game of the series, earning Jordan Zimmermann his first win and Drew Storen his first save of the year. However, with its normal top three men in the lineup still not ready due to a spate of injuries, the offense struggled to score runs as the team lost the opening series at home to the Mets, with New York ace Matt Harvey outdueling Stephen Strasburg in Harvey's return after Tommy John surgery. The Nationals had similar results in the following series against the Philadelphia Phillies and the Boston Red Sox. Even when they scored multiple runs, poor fielding would often sabotage the team's chances of victory. The Nationals ended the month with a league-worst 24 recorded errors, nine of them attributed solely to Desmond.
Outfielders Jayson Werth and Denard Span eventually finished their minor-league injury rehab assignments and rejoined the team, with Werth coming up on April 13 and Span returning on April 19. However, more players would go on the disabled list over the course of the month. Right-handed relief pitcher Craig Stammen tore a flexor tendon in his pitching arm and needed surgery to repair it, abruptly ending his 2015 campaign just a couple weeks into the season. Left-hander Felipe Rivero, called up to add depth to the bullpen, only made one appearance in a loss to the Phillies before going on the disabled list with gastrointestinal bleeding. Reed Johnson, signed late in spring training to provide bench depth, was hurt late in the month, straining his calf while avoiding a pickoff throw to first base. Meanwhile, Casey Janssen, Nate McLouth, and Anthony Rendon all stayed on the disabled list throughout the month, with changing timetables for their return. The Nationals also traded away left-handed reliever Xavier Cedeño after a string of poor performances out of the bullpen.
The Nationals appeared to hit their lowest point as they suffered a six-game losing streak, starting from an April 22 loss to the St. Louis Cardinals and slumping into last place in the National League East division. On April 28, pitching prospect A. J. Cole made an unexpected major-league debut against the Atlanta Braves after Scherzer injured his thumb. Cole was chased off the mound after two innings, allowing nine runs off nine hits and one walk, with one strikeout. Despite being down 9–1 after two innings, the team fought back and won the game 13–12, capped by a go-ahead three-run homer by Uggla, a former Brave, in the ninth inning. The effort broke the Nationals' previous record comeback from June 17, 2006, when the team came back from a 9–2 deficit to beat the Yankees 11–9.
The Nationals also set another record the very next game, posting back-to-back 13-run games after repeating their offensive performance and demolishing the Braves 13–4 in the rubber match of the series. However, Johnson suffered a leg injury during the game and ended up being placed on the disabled list for most of the season.
May The Nationals rebounded from a discouraging April to win eight of the nine series they played in May. Many of these games would be won by small run margins, which led Drew Storen to a league-leading 16 saves by the end of the month. At one point, the team had so many consecutive save opportunities that manager Matt Williams opted to rest Storen and gave starter-turned-reliever Tanner Roark his first career save on May 4 against the Miami Marlins. Rookie A. J. Cole later notched his own first save during a 10–0 blowout of the San Diego Padres on May 15, having pitched three straight innings in relief, during a brief call-up due to a forearm injury to starting pitcher Doug Fister that placed Fister on the disabled list.
Other rookies notched their own notable firsts throughout this month: left-handed pitchers Matt Grace and Sammy Solis acquired their first major-league wins on May 4 and May 10, respectively. Utility player Clint Robinson, a 30-year-old rookie, became the first Nationals position player ever to pitch in a regular-season game, making his Major League Baseball pitching debut in a May 12 loss to the Arizona Diamondbacks and tossing a scoreless inning in relief, including a three-pitch strikeout of veteran infielder Aaron Hill. Rookie outfielder Michael Taylor, who subbed in for an ejected Bryce Harper in a May 13 matchup against the Diamondbacks, hit his first career grand slam off Addison Reed in the top of the ninth inning to win the game for his team. Wilmer Difo, an infielder who started the year at the team's High-A affiliate Potomac Nationals, was called up on May 19 and hit a single up the middle against the New York Yankees on his first-ever major-league at-bat.
For a large part of the month, Harper led the National League in nearly every offensive category, including batting average, home runs, runs batted in, and wins above replacement. Harper was awarded as "NL Player of the Week" two weeks in a row. However, he was also ejected twice during the month for arguing with the home plate umpire, once on May 13 in Arizona and again on May 20 as Nationals Park hosted the Yankees. The second ejection, by veteran umpire Marvin Hudson, faced criticism from The Washington Post and the Nationals, with Williams saying after the game, "I can't explain it. I don't believe there's anything that warrants throwing him out of the game right there."
Unfortunately for the team, the injury bug kept eating its way through the starting lineup: Fister was diagnosed with a flexor strain after a losing performance against the San Diego Padres on May 14, forcing Roark to start in his place while he recovered and prompting the Nationals to call up Cole. After being hit by a pitch by Padres starter Odrisamer Despaigne on May 15, veteran outfielder Jayson Werth was discovered to have two fractures in his wrist, keeping him sidelined until August at the earliest. Stephen Strasburg pitched poorly in several games and was often pulled out early, until the team finally placed him on the disabled list following a short start against the Cincinnati Reds on May 29 due to neck tightness. Meanwhile, infielder Anthony Rendon's rehab hit a snag after he strained an oblique while rehabbing from an earlier MCL sprain, pushing his own return to June.