29-year old lefty swinging outfielder burst onto the scene for the Nationals last season after coming over from the Pirates in a trade. He played in 49 games for the Nationals last year and he was 67 of 191 (.351 avg, .831 OPS) with 35 runs scored, 1 homer and 24 RBIs. Morgan also stole 24 of 31 bases he attempted to steal last year. This year though he been pretty rough for Morgan so far. He has played in 66 games for the Nationals this year and he is 63 of 254 (.248 avg, .637 OPS) with 31 runs scored, 0 homers, 9 RBIs and he’s 15 of 25 stealing bases. The Nationals need Morgan to get his act together soon or he needs to start batting ahead of the pitcher and nowhere near the top of the lineup.

It’s getting close to the time where the Nationals should just get rid of Austin Kearns. He has played in 57 games this season for the Nationals and he is 29 for 148 (.196 avg, .655 OPS) with 17 runs scored, 3 homers and 15 RBIs. Since arriving in Washington 4 years ago, Kearns has played in 367 games in which he is 306 for 1,260 (.243 avg) with 174 runs scored, 34 homers and 157 RBIs. Kearns was one of Jim Bowden’s boys from there days together in Cincinnati and it’s time for the Nationals to cut ties with the injury prone outfielder.

If Felipe Lopez is going to continue hitting at the top of the lineup he has to start producing.  He has been a major disappointment with the bat in his hands this season.  Lopez is hitting .242 with 31 runs scored, 4 homers, 32 RBIs and 11 stolen bases this year.  Austin Kearns also has not played too well this season.  He is only hitting .250 with 35 runs scored, 5 homers and 30 RBIs.  The Nationals expected much more production out of his bat.  Starting catcher Brian Schneider also has been slumping most of the season.  He is hitting .235 with 20 runs scored, 4 homers and 31 RBIs so far this season.  Nook Logan has been a bust this season as he is only hitting .227 with 11 runs scored, 6 RBIs and 9 stolen bases in 110 atbats.  Tony Batista (.214) and Robert Fick (.206) have both been pretty awful and their jobs on the bench could be in jeopardy.  Ryan Langerhans has also gotten off to a rough start with the Nationals as he is only hitting .204 with 17 runs scored, 4 homers and 14 RBIs in 108 atbats.

The Nationals were depending on Austin Kearns to be a force in the middle of their lineup but he’s been terrible lately.  In his last 7 games, Kearns is only 2 for 23 (.087 avg, .352 OPS) with 2 runs scored and 2 RBIs.  Kearns has also whiffed 8 times in the last 7 games as he’s been a rally killer as of late.  The Nationals need Kearns to turn things around soon or they will have trouble scoring runs all season long.

The Nationals need Brian Schneider to hit the ball because he’s the only legit catcher on the roster for the team.  In 18 games so far this season, Schneider is 10 for 59 (.169 avg, .508 OPS) with 5 runs scored, 1 homer and 9 RBIs.  The Nationals are not a good offensive team as it is, so they need everyone to play as well as they can and so far Schneider has not done that.