Last April on Georgetown Day, this column happily pointed out that despite the disappointing seasons of the other three major professional sports teams in Washington, the historically abysmal Nationals were not in last place.

Yet.

Last April on Georgetown Day, the indestructible, unbeatable Stephen Strasburg was breezing through his starts in Double-A with a very healthy, Major-League-ready right arm.

But that was then, and this is now. And oh, so much has changed in a little less than five months.

The Nats are back in last place, the same spot they finished in each of the past two seasons. With a record of 64-88 as of Sept. 22, they sit 10 games behind their closest divisional rival, the fourth-place New York Mets. Slightly further out of reach – 27.5 games to be exact – are the first-place Philadelphia Phillies.

The team’s game on Monday against the Houston Astros was attended by just 10,999 paying fans, marking the smallest home attendance in Nationals history. Not many more attended Tuesday’s game, and Wednesday’s number was still under 13,000. For perspective, capacity at Nationals Park – a brand-new venue that opened in 2008 – is more than 40,000.

Then, just yesterday, Washington’s team president, Stan Kasten, announced that he will resign at the end of the season. Not even he wants to watch the team play anymore.

Strasburg, the team’s first-round, first-overall selection in the 2009 MLB amateur entry draft, will likely never again be the same pitcher we all watched strike out a Nationals-record 14 batters in seven innings in his Major League debut on June 8 down by the Navy Yard. With one pitch on Aug. 21 in a game against the Phillies, Strasburg’s arm – the Holy Grail of D.C. baseball – shattered. With a torn ulnar collateral ligament, Strasburg is out 12 to 18 months while he recovers from required Tommy John surgery. In other words, as a sophomore, the first time I get to see him pitch – which I was hoping would be sometime late last month – will likely have to wait until the second semester of my junior year at Georgetown.

Talk about a buzz kill. The “most-hyped pick in draft history” according to ESPN, the “[most] closely watched pitching prospect in the history of baseball,” is now on the shelf. And with him are the Nationals’ chances of becoming relevant in Major League Baseball.

Admittedly, not all is lost for the club. Blessed with another first-overall pick in a draft with another freakish, cut-above-the-rest athlete, Washington selected 17-year-old Bryce Harper out of the College of Southern Nevada and signed him to a five-year, $9.9 million contract earlier this year. The Nationals have since converted the monstrous Harper from a catcher into a right fielder in order to – you guessed it – lower his risk of injury. General manager Mike Rizzo was also able to acquire one of the American League’s top catching prospects, Wilson Ramos, from the Minnesota Twins on July 29 in exchange for right-handed closer Matt Capps. So there’s no denying that there are talented prospects in the farm system.

But that’s all they are. They’re prospects. They’re not established Major Leaguers, and as Strasburg’s injury proves, even the greatest young player in the game can go from prospect to out-for-a-year in no time. As it is, Harper will likely take multiple years to mature and gain professional experience in the minor leagues before he’s ready for a call-up to the majors, and Ramos, while highly touted, certainly isn’t the same caliber of prospect as a Strasburg or a Harper.

Bad press has plagued the Nats in recent weeks as well as one of the team’s outfielders, Nyjer Morgan, was involved in a pair of incidents on Aug. 25 and Sept. 1. In the first instance, he was handed a seven-game suspension for allegedly throwing a baseball at a fan at Citizens Bank Park in Philadelphia. In the second, he was suspended for eight games and fined $15,000 for charging Florida Marlins pitcher Chris Volstad after the hurler threw behind Morgan in an apparent attempt to hit him. Morgan took a swing at Volstad’s head but missed and was promptly clotheslined by Florida first baseman Gaby Sanchez.

Signaling that they at least recognize their own plight, the Nationals announced yesterday that they are freezing season tickets prices for 2011 and reducing the three most expensive categories. Additionally, the club is offering a buy-two, get-two-free season tickets plan for next year. Yes, you read that correctly: A set of four Nationals season tickets is now available at half-price. Get ’em while they’re hot.

aybe one day the Nationals will become the Rays and make a World Series run with a roster full of homegrown, top-tier talent. But sadly, last Georgetown Day, “one day” felt a lot closer than it does now.