Miguel Cairo Will Aim To Fix This Huge Nationals Issue in Second Half of Season

The Washington Nationals will enter the second half of the season with what is going to feel like a new slate.

Their record won't be erased and what happened in the first half is still on the ledger, but after a whirlwind couple of weeks before the All-Star break where ownership decided it was time to move on from both longtime executive Mike Rizzo and championship-winning manager Dave Martinez, this team should now be able to settle in under interim skipper Miguel Cairo.

More News: Nationals Reached New Level of Futility Right Before the All Star Break It will be interesting to see what comes of his stint.

Seen as someone who could become a full-time Major League manager at some point, it's unclear if he's auditioning for the job with the Nationals since it's unclear who is going to be running the franchise.

More News: Industry Was Shocked by Nationals' Selection of Eli Willits in MLB Draft Still, there's no doubt the former big league player is going to coach the best he can, and that means he has to start cleaning up the atrocious defense that's been on display by Washington.

"The Nationals reached the All-Star break 27th out of 30 teams with minus-26 Defensive Runs Saved.

They rank 29th with minus-23 Outs Above Average.

They're actually OK in the outfield, rating in the middle of the pack.

It's a different story around the infield (including pitchers and catchers).

The Nats sport a negative DRS rating at all six non-outfield positions, including an atrocious minus-20 at second base.

They convert only 69.1 percent of all ground balls into outs (tied with the Twins for worst in the majors)," Mark Zuckerman of MASN highlighted.

That's the first area that needs to be cleaned up.

More News: Nationals First Overall Pick Eli Willits Has Star Potential If This Aspect Develops While the pitching has also been dreadful this season, the defense hasn't done them any favors.

And based on how many young players are littered throughout the diamond, if they don't start improving how they perform in the field right now, then their ceiling is going to be much lower than it should be.

Cairo will have his work cut out for him, but it's clear this should be priority No.

1 when it comes to their focus in the second half of the season.

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