The Washington Nationals got into their hotel room in Atlanta around 10:00 PM last night. This wasn’t a ‘happy flight’ after a getaway game with a win. In the postgame, MacKenzie Gore used the word “frustration” and that seems to be the way you should feel when you lost five straight games. The Nats had a real chance to get above .500 if they could have piece together wins on Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday. It wasn’t meant to be.
Manager Dave Martinez cannot be too happy these days. But Davey has been in 5-game losing streaks before, and has to hope that Jake Irvin can be his stopper today in Atlanta.
“We need to accept our walks. It’s the bottom line. We need to accept our walks – and stop chasing. It’s how we’re gonna get runs. It’s how we’re gonna comeback and win games.”
— manager Dave Martinez said after Saturday’s loss
“We’re young. That’s a big part of it. I think they’ve just got to understand the feel of the game. All of a sudden, we get down 4 runs, don’t just go up there and swing just to swing. I know he was good. He was attacking the zone, but make him work a little bit. It needs to happen.”
You can see the recent bullpen usage here:
Here are your Nats’ WAR leaders with James Wood at +1.3 and MacKenzie Gore +1.3 and followed by CJ Abrams and Mitchell Parker. On the negative side, Josh Bell has fallen to a -0.8 at this point and the worst on the team.
On defense, the stats are starting to give you an idea of what this defense is all about. Paul DeJong is your OAA leader and he hasn’t played in almost a month dating back to April 15. Luis Garcia Jr. has slumped this season defensively to a -3.0 already — and with CJ Abrams, they combine for -6.0 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 61 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.
The Nats starting pitchers were the 6th best rotation in baseball on April 25th, and now are the 6th worst. A total 180 degree turn.
“Two things need to happen. We need to stop walking guys and hitting guys.”
— Martinez said over the weekend
The Nats starting pitchers have a combined ERA of 4.43 and 6th worst in MLB. The reliever’s ERA sits at a 7.13 and is the worst in MLB.
Here is how the starters rank by ERA:
No. 5 Starter: Trevor Williams 5.88
No. 4 Starter: Michael Soroka 7.20
No. 3 Starter: Mitchell Parker 3.97
No. 2 Starter: Jake Irvin 3.94
No. 1 Starter: MacKenzie Gore 3.59
Washington Nationals vs. Atlanta Braves
Stadium: Truist Park, Atlanta, Georgia
1st Pitch: 7:15 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 177 for the home broadcast and the road team is online only.
Line-up subject to change (without notice):
- CJ Abrams SS
- James Wood LF
- Nathaniel Lowe 1B
- Keibert Ruiz C
- Luis Garcia Jr. 2B
- Josh Bell DH
- Dylan Crews RF
- Jose Tena 3B
- Jacob Young CF
