Fans of the Washington Nationals don’t care that Game 5 of the National League Division Series was a contest for the ages. Their team lost, failing to advance to the National League Championship Series for the third time since 2012.
“That’s probably one of the craziest, if not the craziest, games I’ve ever been a part of in my career,” Nationals ace Max Scherzer said after the game, per MLB.com’s Jamal Collier and Ken Gurnick. “Man, this is a tough one to be on the wrong side of.”
Even tougher will be the months ahead, one that will find Washington’s front office tasked with trying to improve upon a team that won 95 games and its third NL East title in five years. Will there be wholesale changes to the roster, or mere tweaks here and there? Let’s take a look at how things might shake out.