Nationals dismisses Dave Martínez and Mike Rizzo

Washington Nationals dismisses Manager Dave Martínez and the president of baseball operations, Mike Rizzo, after being swept by Red Sox

The Washington Nationals They fired to the Manager Dave Martínez and al President of baseball operations, Mike Rizzo, Sunday night, The team reportedhours after a 6-4 defeat at home completed the sweep of his team at the hands of the Boston Red Sox.

The Nationals, who begin a series against the St. Louis Cardinals in San Luis on Tuesday, have a 37-53 record and remain in the fifth place of the East Division of the National League. And while Sunday’s defeat against Boston was at odds, the first two defeats of the series, against a total of 71,674 fans in the Nationals Park, were not. The Red Sox rose with victories by margins of 11-2 and 10-3 during the holiday weekend.

Washington has a young and talented nucleus that was expected to have difficulties, sometimes, in the congested east division of the National League, but perhaps not so much. And as the defeats continued this season, they seemed to take its toll. Last month, in fact, after a defeat against the Miami Marlins that extended the streak of defeats to seven games, Martínez was irritated when asked about the offensive problems of the team.

“It’s never Coach’s fault,” Martínez said. “It is never the Coach’s fault. The coaches strive daily. We are not going to point out with the finger and say it is the guilt of the coaches. It is never the fault of the coaches. They work hard. The message is clear: all the work is already done. So, sometimes, they have to go out to play. It has always tried the players. Always.”

During a streak of 2-10 in June, Washington averaged only 2.5 races. And since June 1, the Nationals have scored a race or less seven times. And in Sunday’s defeat against Boston, they left 15 runners based.

“We had some opportunities and we didn’t take advantage of them,” Martínez said after Sunday’s defeat. “Some of our bats to bat were impeccable. We simply have to move on.”

Martínez, 60, guided Washington to his first World Series title in 2019, but the Nationals had difficulties in achieving a 26-34 record in the 2020 season, shortened by the pandemic. The club began a reconstruction on the deadline of 2021 exchanges and has not ended beyond fourth place in the division in the last five years.

“I have played this game for a long time,” Martínez said in June. “I have never blamed a coach for anything. We strive to the fullest to improve. They gave us information and we used it. These boys understand what the game is, man. I never met a group of coaches that would work as hard as they do.”