Posted by Bill Baer on Saturday, June 13, 2009 at 4:52 pm

According to Ken Rosenthal’s sources, Manny Acta will be relieved of his duties with the 16-43 Washington Nationals. If true, Nats bench coach Jim Riggleman would take Acta’s job for the rest of the season.

Despite having a league average offense, the Nationals have by far the worst pitching staff in baseball. Averaging nearly 5.8 runs per game, both the starting rotation and bullpen have ERA’s over 5.

John Lannan is the only starter with an ERA under 5; Ron Villone and Jay Bergmann are the only relievers with an ERA under 4. Joel Hanrahan has lost his job as closer twice in one-third of a season, which should indicate how ugly it’s been in Washington.