The Washington Nationals are not who we thought they were.

Coming into the season, they were widely projected to go all Fred Astaire and waltz their way to a third straight division title. After all, the club that won 97 games last year was returning almost entirely intact. Cy Young finalists Max Scherzer and Stephen Strasburg were back to anchor the rotation. Sean Doolittle, Ryan Madson and Brandon Kintzler -- all of whom helped stabilize the bullpen after coming over in midseason trades -- were ready for a full season in D.C. An already good offense led by Bryce Harper and Daniel Murphy was supposed to get even better with a healthy Adam Eaton atop the lineup. Editor's Picks The state of MLB's pennant races: Get ready for some fun

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Tuesday's 11-4 drubbing at the hands of the Boston Red Sox was Washington's 20th loss in their past 29 games. With the coyote-ugly defeat, the Nationals dropped to .500 on the season and are now seven games out of first place. Clearly, more than halfway through the schedule, they're an impostor version of the team that everyone expected to see. Instead of the Nats, they're the Nots.

They're not leading the National League East. They're not entirely healthy. And, at least for right now, they're not a very good baseball team.

So what in the name of Lil Dicky has gotten into the two-time defending NL East champs? Here's a short list of what's ailing the Nots, er, Nats:

The Nationals may not have the answer for what's ailing their ambitions. Alex Brandon/AP Photo 1. They can't score. After Tuesday's game in the District, there were fireworks, which is a good thing because Nats fans didn't see much in the way of fireworks during the game (at least not from the home team). That's been a disturbing pattern over the past week or four. Since June 10, manager Davey Martinez's squad has averaged 3.6 runs per game, which ranks 14th in the NL. Just how bad have things gotten? Last month alone, the Nats were shut out seven times, which equals their total from all of last season. They've become so impotent that they can't even win when Scherzer is on the hill: Even though the two-time defending Cy Young winner has allowed a total of 10 earned runs in his past five starts, Washington has dropped four of those games.

2. They can't stay healthy. First it was Murphy. Then came Matt Wieters. Then came Eaton and Anthony Rendon and Wieters again and Ryan Zimmerman and Howie Kendrick and ... well, you get the point. Add it all up, and Washington has lost 887 player days to the disabled list so far, most of any MLB team, according to Spotrac.com. Earlier in the season, the narrative was that once the Nationals got whole, they'd start looking more like themselves. But even though Rendon, Eaton and Murphy are all back, the offense is still sputtering. Which brings us to ...

3. They can't survive with Bryce being Bryce. Scott Boras spent a half-hour on Tuesday talking with Washington media and trying to convince everyone that Bryce Harper is as good as ever. He focused on how the shift is killing Harper's average and how it's discriminatory to left-handed hitters (mind you, the NL's leading hitter is lefty, as are five of the top 10). He focused on how opposing pitchers are pitching around Harper and how his walk rate is unprecedented when compared to other premier hitters around the league (mind you, Mike Trout's walk rate is a full percentage point higher than Harper's). But the reality is that after a strong start to the season, Harper has been a shadow of his normal self at the plate. Since the end of April, he's whiffed 66 times against 30 walks. Good news is, Harper's had a bit of an uptick lately: Over his past 11 games, he's slashing .257/.458/.600 and has eight extra-base hits. For the Nats to stand any chance of making the playoffs, they'll need more of that.

4. They can't compete. OK, so maybe that's an exaggeration. Point is, the NL East is significantly better than it was last year, when Washington went a combined 47-29 against divisional foes. So far this season, the Nats are just 13-16 against the Atladelphia Metlins. Granted, there's a bit of circular logic at work here, as part of Washington's lack of divisional success this year has to do with them not playing as well. But part of it -- and likely the bigger part -- has to do with the Nationals' rivals pushing back more than they have in the recent past. Much more.

5. They (suddenly) can't pitch. It's been a brutal stretch for a Washington rotation that's spent the past few years being one of the best in the game. Since June 1, Nats starters rank dead last in the majors with a 5.79 ERA. That stretch happens to coincide with the loss of Strasburg, who has spent the past few weeks on the DL with shoulder inflammation. On top of that, No. 5 guy Jeremy Hellickson missed most of June with a strained hammy. And on top of that, Gio Gonzalez and Tanner Roark -- both of whom had a solid first couple of months -- have both turned into pumpkins at exactly the wrong time, posting a combined 8.49 ERA over the past four weeks. All of which makes Scherzer's aforementioned hard luck that much harder to swallow. Put it all in a giant mixing bowl, and you get this crazy stat: Since June 7, a span of 23 games, the entire Nationals rotation has a grand total of one win. Yikes.

Then again, the Nats as a team have only six wins over that stretch -- because, apparently, they're not who we thought they were.