Sure it hurts, but don't give up on the Nats just yet

Let me start by saying this isn't intended to be sour grapes at all.

I was hoping the Washington Nationals would beat the Cubs, advance to the NLCS and get the monkey of never escaping the first round of the playoffs off their back.

They didn't, and I'm pretty well devastated.

That said, 97 wins and a knockdown, drag-out battle with the defending World Series champion is nothing of which to be ashamed.

This is the end.

After all, it was obvious from early in the season that it was going to be tough. After only 23 games, in which he had hit .297 and scored 24 runs (a phenomenal total), center fielder Adam Eaton was lost for the season with an injury.

Less than halfway into the season, promising young pitcher Joe Ross was injured and lost for the year.

Starting left fielder Jayson Werth suffered a foot injury and played in just 70 games.


Emerging star shortstop Trea Turner was hit by a pitch, broke his wrist and missed a third of the season.

Superstar Bryce Harper hyperextended his knee running to first base on a wet field and missed 40 games in August and September.

Leaving pitching out of it for a moment, that means that half of the Nats' eight-man starting lineup missed at least a quarter of the season, and none of the ones who came back had enough time to regain their pre-injury form.

Zim's greatest year ends badly.

Think about this: Who would have rather have had leading off the bottom of the ninth, trailing by one run?

Trea Turner, who didn't get on base.

Who would you have rather had up with two outs and nobody on to take one last shot at the fences?

Bryce Harper, who struck out.

I think Turner and Harper are amazing young players, but their injuries pretty well killed their seasons.

And make no mistake about it. NOW is the time to sign Harper. You go right to the end and you won't keep him. You let him know now -- at a low point -- that he is your guy.

Aside from that, what do you need?

Maybe one more good starting pitcher -- a mid-rotation guy who can bump Gio Gonzalez to the fourth spot.

There are people -- lots of them -- comparing the Nationals to the Washington Capitals, who might just be the most heartbreaking team since the pre-1955 Brooklyn Dodgers.

I disagree. The Capitals were a disaster from the start, posting a record of 8-67-5 in their first year. And once they got good, they were never good enough. They reached the Stanley Cup finals once and were swept in four games. A few years back they won the Presidents Trophy for the best record in the NHL. They were the top seed in the playoffs and lost in the first round.

The Nats are nothing like that.

I believe they will be in the World Series within two years, and when they get there, I believe they will win it.

I'm sure a lot of fans feel heartbroken today, but they ought to remember one thing.

Hearts are pretty resilient.

A lot of teams when we think they're broken, they heal up just fine.

As they used to say in Brooklyn,

"WAIT TILL NEXT YEAR!"