The Washington Nationals just completed a 17 consecutive game marathon on Sunday. They brought forward some momentum to Detroit and won last night to push the Nats winning streak to 4-games which tied their best mark of the season. With Jake Irvin on the mound tonight, the team hope to continue his success from his previous start. Last week Irvin pitched a 6.0 inning scoreless gem against the Braves. Now Irvin has to hope to replicate that success against the Tigers.
There was a roster move today after Joey Gallo injured his left hamstring last night and was placed on the 10-day IL. The immediate solution was a call-up of Trey Lipscomb for his third stint this season so far with the big league team.
Currently, the Nationals have won 4-games in a row, and that matched their season-high winning streak (April 26-29). Last night’s game saw the chess game between the two managers, Dave Martinez and A.J. Hinch, who happened to also be the two 2019 World Series managers. Hinch pulled his starting pitcher after just 4.0 innings, and in a coincidence, the Nats faced that pitcher, Kenta Maeda, in the 2019 NLDS when he was with the Dodgers.
With the day-off on Monday, the entire bullpen got a rest day. Unfortunately last night with Mitchell Parker pulled in the 5th inning, Martinez had to use his key bullpen arms into extra innings. His closer, Kyle Finnegan, pitched 1⅓ innings and 22 high-octane pitches. Hunter Harvey pitched 1⅔ innings and 32 max-effort pitches. And Derek Law also covered 1⅓ innings on 27-pitches. Dylan Floro had the easiest inning on just 6-pitches and should get a key late inning role tonight if needed. Robert Garcia and Jacob Barnes both got the night off. Jordan Weems and Tanner Rainey are both relegated to the “C” bullpen. You would definitely want to stay off of Harvey and Law tonight, and you would expect everyone else to be available.
Josiah Gray pitched a rehab game with Single-A Fredericksburg on Sunday and gave up 3-runs in 3.0 innings, and Martinez announced that Gray will pitch Friday for Double-A Harrisburg. GM Mike Rizzo said that Gray is scheduled to pitch 4.0 innings and 60 pitches. He definitely needs to show more progress. Cade Cavalli will do some bullpen work after his rehab start with Wilmington High-A did not go too well. He has traveled with the team to Detroit. Martinez says he hopes that Cavalli can throw another sim game soon.
It appears that Gray will be ready before Cavalli, but you have to hope that Gray earns a spot, and can push the weaker of DJ Herz or Patrick Corbin out of the starting rotation. The way to improve is bringing in better talent. Now based on the offseason mantra by Rizzo, of not blocking prospects, you would think he would want Herz to continue to pitch on the big league roster.
The Nats announced they are skipping Corbin’s next start and moving him to Saturday against Miami with Herz pitching on regular rest on Friday. Trevor Williams pitched last on May 30. He could be ready to pitch again before the end of June. Here’s what we think the starting rotation could look like going forward without Gray, Williams, and Cavalli:
- Wednesday: Jake Irvin vs. Tigers
- Thursday: Patrick Corbin vs. Tigers
- Friday: MacKenzie Gore vs. Marlins
- Saturday: DJ Herz vs. Marlins
- Sunday: Mitchell Parker vs. Marlins
- Monday: Day-off June 17
- Tuesday: Irvin vs. Diamondbacks
- Wednesday: Corbin vs. Diamondbacks
- Thursday: Gore vs. Diamondbacks
- Friday: Herz vs. Rockies
- Saturday: Parker vs. Rockies
- Sunday: Irvin vs. Rockies
- Monday: Corbin vs. Padres
- Tuesday: Gore vs. Padres
- Wednesday: Herz vs. Padres
- Thursday: Day-off June 27
Your top Washington Nationals on the FanGraphs’ WAR leaderboard has Jake Irvin on top with a +1.7 WAR, and Trevor Williams at +1.7 WAR, and MacKenzie Gore is at +1.5 WAR. Jacob Young is at the top spot with +1.3 for position players, and Mitchell Parker is at the +1.0 mark. In total, 21 Nats’ players are in positive WAR and another five are at a neutral 0.0 WAR.
“One more [run] than the other guys. The character they showed tonight was awesome. They had the lead. We lost the lead. They fought, scratched and clawed. The guys at the back-end of the bullpen kept it together, and we were able to score one more run than them.”
— manager Dave Martinez said after yesterday’s game
The Nats starting pitchers have a combined ERA of 4.02 and 15th in MLB. The Nats are 28 points from being the 12th best starting rotation by ERA.
Here is how they rank:
No. 5 Starter: Patrick Corbin 6.15
No. 4 Starter: MacKenzie Gore 3.57
No. 3 Starter: Mitchell Parker 3.21
No. 2 Starter: Jake Irvin 3.12
No. 1 Starter: Trevor Williams 2.22
Washington Nationals vs. Detroit Tigers
Stadium: Comerica Park, Detroit, Michigan
1st Pitch: 6:40 pm EDT
TV: MASN2
Radio: 106.7 The Fan radio and via the MLB app; In Spanish on DC 87.7 FM and La Pantera 100.7 FM/1220 AM. On Sirius/XM, the opposing team will be online and the Nats broadcast will be on Channel 176.
Line-up subject to change (without notice):
TalkNats is Celebrating the 5 and 100 year anniversaries of World Series Wins by providing Game-by-Game Summaries.
Game 67:
The Nationals won on 06/11 on the road against the White Sox resulting in a record of 31-36. But you knew this already. Box Score / Standings
The Senators won on 07/01 at home against the Red Sox resulting in a record of 39-28. Box Score / Standings