The offense for the Washington Nationals has gotten all the positive national headlines this season while the pitching staff has gotten all the negative ones.Much of that is deserved. The Nationals have scored the most runs in baseball (298) entering Tuesday's slate, while they have also given up the most (304). However, the staff has started to turn things around in the month of May, as they have posted a collective ERA of 4.29 compared to the ERA of 5.11 they had to start the season.What's even more positive is the fact that both the starting rotation and bullpen have improved, which bodes well for this recent stretch becoming sustainable. But what exactly is the cause of this turnaround? Two simple things.Increased Strikeout RateWashington Nationals pitcher Cade Cavalli | Brad Mills-Imagn ImagesMore strikeouts are better for any pitching staff, and that's especially been the case for the Nationals. At the start of the year, they owned a collective K rate of 19.2% that was tied for second to last across the MLB. That matched up with their ERA that ranked them No. 29, as well.But so far in May, their strikeout rate has gone up to 20.9%, which puts them tied for No. 19. And similar to how those two categories matched up to start the season, Washington's ERA in May puts them at No. 22 in the majors.The coaching staff has directed the pitching staff to live in the zone more often, and despite not having elite overall stuff, that has translated to greater success in both the strikeout and ERA metrics. Maintaining this K rate throughout the rest of the campaign will be a test for this group, especially as teams get more data on what every pitcher is doing. But right now, it's clear that their recent form of success is tied to their improved strikeout rate.Reduced Their Walk RateWashington Nationals pitcher Zack Littell | Geoff Burke-Imagn ImagesOne of the biggest issues for the Nationals to start the year was how many walks they allowed. With a BB rate of 9.8%, it wasn't the worst in baseball, but it created additional traffic on the basepaths that came back to bite them.Washington has cleaned things up in May with a walk rate of 7.8%. That is eighth best in the sport during this month and has helped them lower their WHIP from 1.46 to start the season to the 1.26 figure they have in May entering Tuesday's game.While factors beyond just increasing their strikeout rate and reducing their walk rate has played a role in the improvement of this pitching staff, sometimes it's the simplest things that bring success. And for the Nationals, as they continue to search for more consistent performances out of their rotation and bullpen, focusing on keeping their walk rate low and their strikeout rate high will help them improve their ERA even further.Add us as a preferred source on GoogleFollow