Erick Fedde; Photo by Marlene Koenig for TalkNats
And Erick Fedde is finally returning from the COVID-IL list even though he was vaccinated and never had symptoms. He has not been seen since he tossed a 7-inning gem on May 16 in Arizona. The right-hander will start the first game of this Manfredian 7-inning doubleheader for the Washington Nationals. The situation is dire for this Nats team.
Unfortunately for Fedde and the Nats, they will face the Giants best pitcher today, Kevin Gausman (1.27 ERA), after they were just blanked in a complete game shutout by the Giants’ third best pitcher, Anthony DeSclafani.
Already in a eight-game hole and needing to leapfrog all four teams in the division, the Nats are staring down long +2825 odds to win the NL East as covered on SportsBettingDime.com. Their odds to win the World Series are, in turn, approaching quintuple digits, currently at +9367. By comparison, on Opening Day, the Nats were around +6000 to win the Fall Classic and +500 to win the NL East. It’s not just the fact that Washington is eight games under .500 that has oddsmakers pessimistic. Their -32 run differential is 30 runs worse than any other team in the division.
So here we are at a crossroads of spiraling into the abyss in this baseball season unless something spectacular happens. This Nats team lacks balance. They got 8 2/3 of near-perfect innings from the bullpen if not for a wind-blown home run from Buster Posey and three other hits over the rest of the game. Posey,who hit one down Half Street, just cleared the bullpen wall with that home run. The Nats managed two hits all game, but it would have been more if not for the Giants defense. They were flawless with three cases of robbery in the game including a Mike Tauchman catch above that same wall that Posey victimized for his home run. The former Yankee outfielder robbed Juan Soto of a ball that cleared the wall of the visitor’s bullpen.
There were several roster moves including a shocking move to the IL of Daniel Hudson. Here are the moves:
· Returned from rehabilitation assignment and reinstated right-handed pitcher Erick Fedde from the Injured List
· Selected the contract of right-handed pitcher Jefry Rodriguez
· Selected the contract of right-handed pitcher Andres Machado, optioned him and selected him as the 27th man for Saturday’s doubleheader
· Optioned outfielder Yadiel Hernandez to Triple-A Rochester
· Placed right-handed pitcher Daniel Hudson on the 10-day Injured List (retroactive to June 10) with right elbow inflammation
· Transferred right-handed pitcher Will Harris to the 60-day Injured List with right hand inflammation
San Francisco Giants vs. Washington Nationals
Stadium: Nationals Park, Washington, D.C.
1st Pitch: 2:05 pm EDT
TV: MASN2, NBCSports Bay Area, MLB Network (out-of-market), MLB.TV
Nats Radio: 106.7 FM The Fan; SiriusXM® ( Streaming Internet 869)
Line-ups subject to change without notice:
1. Kyle Schwarber LF
2. Trea Turner SS
3. Juan Soto RF
4. Josh Bell 1B
5. Josh Harrison 2B
6. Starlin Castro 3B
7. Alex Avila C
8. Erick Fedde RHP
9. Andrew Stevenson CF
