The Washington Nationals fell flat in another first game of a series last night with a record of 5-6 in first games of series. Sure, they were facing Cincinnati’s best pitcher, and the Nats best pitcher, Mitchell Parker, based on ERA, fell flat for his second game in a row following that outing when he went 8.0 full innings.
Thinking that every starter is a workhorse is fantasy in this day and age. Starting pitchers averaged 86.5 pitches per start and 5 1/3 innings last year. Getting 6.0 full innings with two runs or less is the hope. When a pitcher goes into the 7th inning, just his warm-up pitches adds 8+ pitches to the workload. Last week, when Parker and Jake Irvin were pushed into the 8th inning, their effective pitches thrown were closer to 114 in total. Everyone would love to think that these pitchers can do what Max Scherzer used to do for the Nats, and they would be mistaken. These new-age pitchers are conditioned to go 6.0 innings and 90 pitches max. Some teams don’t even want their starters facing batters for a third time through the batting order.
If you look as to why Patrick Corbin has been effective with his new team, you will see a few factors. 1) They have him pitching to the third best pitch framer, Jonah Heim, as his catcher. Keibert Ruiz is ranked 32nd. 2) Corbin is throwing more sliders and getting more strikes 3) They are pulling him if he gets in trouble 4) The relievers coming in for Corbin haven’t allowed an inherited runner to score 5) Corbin is averaging 4 2/3 innings
In Corbin’s starts, the give and take is that the bullpen has to cover 4 1/3 innings. That is a big ask, but he is giving them a chance to win. Tonight, Corbin is set to pitch with his 3.79 ERA against the Mariners. There is no guarantee that even with the way Texas is handling Corbin that he can keep up this success.
The Nats enter this game with a 14-19 record. Who told CJ Abrams to try to steal 3rd base last night with a 5-run deficit? The mistakes in last night’s game were many. The Nats combined for 17 strikeouts. Josh Bell had the biggest hit of the night with a solo home run in a low lev situation. He would come out of the game with a sore groin.
“Hey, we tried to compete with [Hunter Greene], but his stuff was good today. He’s their ace. He was good tonight.”
— manager Dave Martinez said about last night’s game
You can see the recent bullpen usage here, and the addition of the newly acquired Andrew Chafin in the graphic:
Here are your Nats’ WAR leaders with MacKenzie Gore followed by James Wood, CJ Abrams and Mitchell Parker.. On the negative side, Josh Bell has fallen to a -0.7 to this point.
On defense, Paul DeJong is your OAA leader , and Luis Garcia Jr. has slumped to a -3.0 already — and with CJ Abrams, they combine for -5.0 OAA. Another issue that we have discussed is the positioning of Nathaniel Lowe at first base as he is too often out of position to make a play — and OAA has his chance at success at only 57 percent which must improve.
These are your stats leaders on BBRef. There are certainly some surprises on there — good and not so good — but the gap is widening.
“My bullpens between the outings and before the outing are good, and then it’s like I lose focus when it matters.”
— Mitchell Parker said after the game
The Nats starting pitchers have a combined ERA of 4.19 and 11th worst in MLB. The reliever’s ERA sits at a 6.94 and is the worst in MLB.
Here is how the starters rank by ERA:
No. 5 Starter: Trevor Williams 5.70
No. 4 Starter: Michael Soroka 7.20
No. 3 Starter: Mitchell Parker 3.48
No. 2 Starter: Jake Irvin 4.01
No. 1 Starter: MacKenzie Gore 3.51
Washington Nationals vs. Cincinnati Reds
Stadium: Great American Ball Park, Cincinnati, Ohio
1st Pitch: 6:40 pm EDT
TV: MASN
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, tune to Channel 183 for the home broadcast and the road team is online only.
Line-up subject to change (without notice):
