After winning 192 games and consecutive division titles from 2016-17, the Nationals subjected themselves to heightened expectations when they opted against bringing back manager Dusty Baker -- the man who guided them to those aforementioned successes. Baker's shortfall came in the postseason, where the Nats failed to advance past the first round in each of those campaigns. The tacit message was that making the playoffs was assumed but that merely doing that much wasn't enough. 

Well, the Nats at this writing are almost halfway through Dave Martinez's first season as manager, and things aren't going as planned. As CBS Sports HQ MLB analyst Jim Bowden, while noting that he still expects the Nats to prevail in the NL East, points out that the rotation outside of ace Max Scherzer has been struggling of late (video above). That's certainly true. For the month of June, the Nationals have a rotation ERA of 5.59. Over that same span, Scherzer has an ERA of 2.31, so that should give you an idea of how bad the non-Scherzer rotation pieces have been lately. 

Particularly troubling has been Gio Gonzalez's performance of late. The veteran lefty thrived in 2017, and this season he entered June with an ERA of 2.10. Since then, though, he's pitched to an ERA of 8.44 over his last five starts with 19 strikeouts against 11 walks. Save for his June 2 start against the Braves, those outings have come against some subpar offenses. "The shoulder doesn't look right to me," Bowden says of Gonzalez. 

In matters related, Washington enters Wednesday's slate with an 8-14 record for the month and a run differential of minus-27. Let's also not let the offense off the hook. On the season, the Nationals rank a disappointing 12th int he NL in runs scored, and in June they've been shut out seven times (!). The first base situation should improve once Matt Adams and Ryan Zimmerman get healthy, and Adam Eaton and Daniel Murphy may still be rounding into form after lengthy absences. At some point, Bryce Harper figures to emerge from his funk. Survey the lineup, and the only glaring weak spot is catcher. That may be something the Nationals just have to deal with, as they may not have the expendable parts to land, say, J.T. Realmuto leading up to the deadline. 

Speaking of the deadline, Bowden prescribes a starting pitcher for GM Mike Rizzo and the Nationals. Things will get better once Jeremy Hellickson and Stephen Strasburg come off the DL, but considering Strasburg's somewhat grim health history and Gonzalez's declining performance perhaps an additional rotation piece is needed. Conveniently enough, Bowden recently had some recommendations along those lines. 

Taking the longer view, the SportsLine Projection Model still sees the Nats as the narrow favorites in the tough NL East, but the margin is narrowing in a hurry. Indeed, there should be some urgency in the D.C. front office leading up to the July 31 non-waiver trade deadline.