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Despite criticism, Nats' GM says Matt Williams 'did a masterful job' Tuesday

Chris Cwik
·Staff writer

It's been a rough couple of weeks for Washington Nationals manager Matt Williams. The New York Mets have surged into first place, while Williams' Nationals haven't been able to keep up.

As a result of the team's recent slide, Williams' moves in the dugout have come under more scrutiny. Things nearly boiled over Tuesday night against the St. Louis Cardinals.

There were a few moments during the contest when fans criticized Williams, but the biggest criticism came in the ninth inning. With the game tied, Williams opted to go with Casey Janssen over Jonathan Papelbon. Janssen had thrown 26 pitches the previous day, and didn't perform particularly well, giving up four runs. Papelbon, on the other hand, was fresh, and has been the better option all season.

Going with Janssen turned out to be the wrong decision. The reliever gave up a three-run walk-off homer to Brandon Moss in the bottom of the inning, giving the Cardinals an 8-5 win.

This, of course, did not go over well with the fans. If they were in charge, it's clear Williams would no longer be running this team.

The fans, however, can't make that call. And, much to their chagrin, the man who can is giving his full support to Williams. General manager Mike Rizzo told a D.C. radio program early Wednesday that he agreed with Williams' decisions during Tuesday's contest, according to Scott Allen of the Washington Post.

“We’re 55-5 when we have the lead after seven innings, we’re 43-2 when we have a two-run lead after seven innings, so Matt Williams did a masterful job last night, in my mind, putting people in a position to succeed,” Rizzo said. “The sixth and seventh inning that Matt managed was unbelievably well-crafted. He got us to the point where he pushed all the right buttons, put in the lefties for the lefties, got the matchup he wanted and in a real tough situation brought in Blake Treinen because he’s a ground-ball pitcher and you’re trying to induce the double-play ball.”

There's a lot to break down here, so let's start with Rizzo's comments. First off, it's no surprise that he would publicly back Williams. Even if there are doubts about Williams' ability to manage the club moving forward, Rizzo wouldn't come out and say that. He's not going to throw his manager under the bus, and that's probably a smart move.

(AP Photo)
(AP Photo)

However, it's also tough to look at some of Williams' missteps this season and think Rizzo is satisfied. It's not just this game, but there have been plenty of other times this season when Williams' bullpen management has been scrutinized. His refusal to use Drew Storen or Jonathan Papelbon in the team's most recent series with the Mets was heavily criticized among those watching the games. The Nationals lost all three of those contests, and it's part of the reason the club is in such a bad place right now.

During Tuesday's game, Williams was put in an unfortunate position after Storen had a melt down in the eighth inning. If Storen had performed well, this whole situation could have been avoided. His struggles set the stage for Williams' ninth-inning blunder.

It appears Williams didn't even consider Papelbon an option for the ninth inning during Tuesday's game. He doubled down on that sentiment while doing a radio hit in D.C. on Wednesday morning, according to Dan Steinberg of the Washington Post.

“All these people want to know why Papelbon isn’t in the game. Because we lost,” Williams continued. “He’s our closer. He’s the the one that closes the game. Now when you’re at home, it’s a different story. It’s a different story because you always have the hammer at home. You always have the last at-bat at home. But on the road it’s a different story. You know, 99 times out of 100, every single manager is not going to use their closer on the road in a tie game because they need somebody to close that game.”

Williams might be right about that. We rarely see managers turn to their closers in tied games, even though many have argued against traditional closer usage. We have, however, seen managers get away from conventional thinking during playoff games, or games with playoff implications. Every game the Nationals play at this point carries that type of intensity, and Williams doesn't seem to be willing to stray from the norm. Instead of giving his team the best chance to extend the game, Williams saved his best reliever for a situation that never materialized.

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The entire situation is a mess. Williams continues to make the same mistakes, and they are receiving even more attention now that the Nationals are collapsing. There's been so much scrutiny about Williams that his general manager had to come out and issue support for his manager.

These situations rarely end well. While Rizzo pretty much has to issue public support for Williams, you wonder whether he would express the same feelings behind closed doors.

Someone is going to have to take the fall for the Nationals late-season collapse. Given his very public failures, Williams seems like the most expendable candidate.

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Chris Cwik is a writer for Big League Stew on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at christophercwik@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter! Follow @Chris_Cwik