The bullpen killed the Nats in April, but they were able to stay around .500 until the injuries stacked up.
For most of the current losing skid, the Nats have been playing without their 2,3,4,5 hitters on opening day. Then, some of the back-ups got hurt. The Nats have been batting Kurt Suzuki in the clean-up spot and been starting players who weren't on their 40 man roster when the season started. They are trying to win with a Grapefruit League B Squad. Players are starting to return. Rendon was activated Tuesday, Soto is expected to play on Saturday, and Trea Turner possibly by the end of next week.
The bullpen is better than they have shown; the lineup will produce runs when their core returns. All that said, the division was going to be tight if they stayed healthy. The Nats aren't good enough to spot everyone in the division a lead. All of these losses count, and don't see them being able to make up the ground lost, but they aren't as bad as the record indicates.
Davey Martinez will probably survive the season, but not the off-season, if they don't make the playoffs.
This stat is hard to believe: only the Marlins, Orioles and Royals have fewer wins the Nats right now, and the Nats play 4 against the Dodgers in LA (where they have won 10 straight) this weekend. Pretty good chance that the Marlins will be the only MLB team with fewer wins than the Nats by Sunday. Pretty amazing considering, in 2017, the Nats fired Dusty Baker after 95 and 97 win seasons thinking Davey Martinez was going to get them over the hump. They can't even get to the camel's arse right now.