He has the right to assess it because other than General Manager Mike Rizzo — the man who built it up, won it all, then tore it down — he’s the only one who had the front-row seat for the transformation from scrapheap to contender. The Nats’ first-ever draft choice made two salient points in a pregame discussion Wednesday: Then is not now, because this team has Juan Soto as an established superstar, not to mention the potential of Strasburg to return to health and Patrick Corbin to rediscover himself. But then is also not now because the fan base isn’t nascent, still learning the game. It’s established, with expectations.

Source: Washington Post August 19, 2021 04:36 UTC