Despite being optimistic prior to the 2008 baseball season, the Washington Nationals endured yet another disappointing season. The team struggled with injuries to many of their top players and were never able to recover. They opened the season in a new stadium, but that was probably the most exciting thing that happened to the team all season.
The Nationals endured their worst season in 2008, as they finished the season at 59-102 to finish fifth in the National League East. The team opened the season in their new stadium, Nationals Park, and were hoping that the excitement of the new park would carry over to the play on the field. Unfortunately this never happened, as 15 players went on the disabled list over the course of the season and the offense struggled as a result. The team was shut out a major league leading 21 times and struggled all season long with fill in players. The team did see promise from some of the players forced to play because of injury. Jesus Flores had a strong season coming up from Triple A, and Cristian Guzman and John Lannan also had strong seasons as well. Lastings Milledge also put up good offensive numbers despite missing a month of the season due to injury.
The team has already starting making changes to the team for the upcoming season as they informed all of manager Manny Acta's coaches, except for the pitching coach, that they would not be part of the team next season. With the top pick in the 09 draft, they are hoping it can be the start to an improved team. It looks like they need all the help they can get.
