The Washington Nationals were expected to be a World Series contender in 2015, but they didn’t even make the playoffs and embarrassed themselves down the stretch.
Not surprisingly, those failures cost manager Matt Williams his job, the team announce Monday.
The move comes just one season after Williams won the 2014 NL Manager of the Year award and led the Nationals to a 96-66 record in his first season in the dugout. Washington lost to the eventual World Series champion San Francisco Giants 3-1 in the NLDS.
This season was much worse. Despite a 10-13 start in April, the Nats had a chance to earn a playoff spot entering August, but a 12-17 record in the month pretty much sealed their fate and allowed the New York Mets to claim the NL East. It all came to a head in a dugout confrontation between star slugger Bryce Harper and closer Jonathan Papelbon.
Washington finished 83-79, good for second place in the division. Williams’ managerial record through two seasons with the club was 178-144, with a 1-3 postseason mark.
Thumbnail photo via Brad Mills/USA TODAY Sports Images
