- Thursday, April 19, 2018

The Washington Nationals (9-10 overall) are not the only playoff team from last season that has gotten off to a slow start in 2018.

That list also includes the Los Angeles Dodgers (8-9), the New York Yankees (8-8) and Chicago Cubs (7-8).

The Nationals are nowhere to be seen in the latest Yahoo Sports power rankings for big league teams. The top 10 are the Red Sox, Angels, Diamondbacks, Mets, Astros, Indians, Blue Jays, Yankees, Cubs and Rockies.

The Red Sox are also first in the latest Bleacher Report power rankings while the Nationals are 12th. The Mets (13-4), who lead the National League East, are also fourth in the Bleacher Report rankings.

Washington has won the past two division titles and was the favorite prior to this season.

The Nationals lost to the Mets 11-5 on Wednesday in New York, but Washington took two of three games in the series. The Nationals begin a series Friday night in Los Angeles with ace Max Scherzer opposing Dodgers star Clayton Kershaw.

The Mets are 4-2 this season against Washington. The Nationals lost three of four last weekend at home to the Rockies and manager Bud Black, a former candidate for the skipper post in Washington.

In other managerial news, the Reds (3-15) fired manager Bryan Price on Thursday. He will be replaced on an interim basis by Jim Riggleman, 65, who grew up in Rockville, Maryland, and played in college at what is now Frostburg State in western Maryland.

Riggleman was the manager of the Nationals from 2009 until his abrupt resignation in June, 2011, when he was upset he did not have a contract for the next season. He became a coach for the Reds in 2015 after managing in the Cincinnati minor league system.

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