Is the Wilson Ramos Injury the Straw that Broke the Nationals Back?

The termites have gotten at the Washington Nationals, a team that, depending on how you calculate it, is in either in year 47 or year 12 of an ongoing search for authenticity. Since joining the National League in 1969, the former Montreal Expos have won plenty o' nuthin' and their few postseason appearances have been painfully anticlimactic. This is the team whose best season was cancelled by Bud Selig. Their current season might be brought to a similarly premature end by injuries. Dusty Baker's squad has already won the National League East, so there's no danger of being overtaken by the Mets (try to say that three times without laughing), but their roster is so depleted they could struggle to go further.

On Monday, catcher Wilson Ramos collapsed clutching his knee after leaping for a throw and landing awkwardly. Tuesday came news that anyone who has watched his favorite fantasy football player do the same thing could have anticipated: Ramos's ACL is history, as is his 2016 season. He goes into the books having hit .307/.354/.496 in 131 games, one of the best offensive seasons by a catcher this year outside of Gary Sanchez's 49-game rampage.

The Nationals will carry on with journeyman Jose Lobaton, whose main skills on offense are having a name reminiscent of a background character from The Empire Strikes Back and doing an impression of a switch-hitter. His backup will be the rookie Pedro Severino, a 22-year-old with 26 career plate appearances in the majors. His minor league averages—.243/.294/.338 in 421 games—look more like progressive entries on a bariatric surgery center's patient weight spreadsheet than anything indicating a major league hitter. Hey, you never know: Confirmed non-hitters have muscled up and won postseason MVP awards before; Pat Borders will live in World Series immortality until the trophy is melted down for the copper. Having said that, it's also true that stars win those awards far more often than scrubs. The great players are great whether the calendar says April or October.

The Nationals might withstand the loss of Ramos to sail on through the postseason—the Yankees won the 1961 World Series with Mickey Mantle going 1-for-6—but this is merely the latest of a litany of troubling injuries: Stephen Strasburg is on the shelf with a strained flexor mass and is unlikely to pitch in the Division Series. Bryce Harper is sitting with a thumb injury that resulted when he slid awkwardly after Jung Ho Kang tried to deke him with a fake tag. X-Rays were negative, but a bent thumb is unlikely to do much to help Harper rebound from a .228/.337/.379 second half. Daniel Murphy, who will receive MVP votes for his .347/.391/.596 season, hasn't started a game since September 17 due to a strained glute. He's expected to play in the postseason, but it's unknown if the layoff or the bad butt will affect his hitting. It certainly won't help his defense at second base.

Washington needs these wounded players at their best because they count some of the worst hitters in baseball among their ostensibly healthy specimens. Nationals first basemen have hit an aggregate .230/.287/.387, by far the worst production in the NL at the position. Shortstop has been a little better relative to the competition because Trea Turner shows up there on occasion, but thanks to Danny Espinosa, the team's overall averages at the position are only .212/.307/.371. Center field has similarly been boosted by Turner, but still boasts, if that's the word, the second-worst overall production on the circuit at .255/.299/.395.

Turner, having a spectacular rookie campaign at .340/.362/.560 in 68 games, was the key that could unlock many doors but only one of them at a time. With Ramos's injury, they'll need him to do even more—however Baker decides to configure his lineups in the NLDS.