Game #32 Nats are on their second West Coast trip of the season!

The Washington Nationals are 8-5 since that trip in the cold weather in Minnesota woke the team up. The Nats have now won 3-of-4 series in a row, and are now on their second West Coast trip of the season. This weekend’s series is in Arizona to face the Diamondbacks, and the Nats Top-3 starters are lined up for this series.

That is all the good news. The bad news is that the “A” bullpen is taxed, and manager Dave Martinez might have to rely on some “B” bullpen today even if his team has a lead. We said the same thing yesterday, and it didn’t matter. Both Kyle Finnegan and Hunter Harvey have appeared in the last three games and have thrown at least 50 pitches over that span. Harvey has an extensive injury history so his 55 pitches at his velo might have gone past that Scherzian “empty the gas tank” and gone to bone dry. Our hope is there are no health issues of course and no negative residual effects, but when is the last time Harvey pitched three days in a row? The answer is NEVER in his 5-season MLB career. By the way, Harvey threw 31 pitches on April 14, then wasn’t seen for a week in this season because his arm did not feel “right” per a source.

The Nats will have Josiah Gray pitching tonight for the opener of this series. He has been on an exceptional streak, and back in the west where his career started.

“He’s been very honest with me, even since I had him last year. He’ll come up to me right away and say I need a day. When he says that, I absolutely know he’s not feeling that great, but my biggest thing is to have them in June, July and August. So we’ve got to be smart about some things.”

— manager Dave Martinez on Hunter Harvey

The Nats starters ERAs are a combined 4.53, and we all saw Patrick Corbin come so close to a no-hitter after hi only hit surrendered through 7-innings was from a popup lost in the sun. Unfortunately for Corbin, he recorded no outs in the eighth inning and got collared with two earnies as his two inherited runners scored. So he finished with a 3-hitter and two runs on his record. His ERA actually dipped below 4.99 before the two runs got added back to his ERA that finished the game at 5.17.

Here is how they rank:

No. 6 Starter: Jake Irvin 2.08 ERA
No. 5 Starter: Chad Kuhl 9.41
No. 4 Starter: Patrick Corbin 5.17
No. 3 Starter: MacKenzie Gore 3.77
No. 2 Starter: Trevor Williams 3.41
No. 1 Starter: Josiah Gray 2.67

Here is your Baseball Savant Statcast link for the game.


Washington National vs. Arizona Diamondbacks

Stadium: Chase Field, Phoenix, Arizona
1st Pitch: 9:40 pm EDT
TV: MASN2
Radio: 106.7 The Fan radio and via the MLB app


Line-up subject to change (without notice):

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