The Washington Nationals are 11-5 (.688) since May 14, and that is Top-5 in baseball during that span. The Nats set a team scoring record with four consecutive games with at least 9-runs each, and then on Sunday couldn’t find the ability to score more than one run. Now the Nats are back in Washington, D.C. for a 6-game homestand against the Cubs followed by the Rangers.
On the mound for the Nats is Trevor Williams who will try to replicate what he did last week. If Williams can put up zeros, you would think the Nats will give themselves a good chance to win.
With the day-off yesterday, manager Dave Martinez has a rested bullpen. Also, the team sent Jacob Young out on a rehab assignment with Double-A Harrisburg.
“We should get used to [winning]. You play this game to win. So ideally you show up every day with a chance to compete and win. Losing is not why we play at all. So I would encourage this group to get used to winning, because that’s what we strive to do every day.”
— Nathaniel Lowe said this weekend
“So I would encourage this group to get used to winning because that’s what we strive to do every day. But we’ll take this month [of May] and obviously keep going into June and look for another winning month.”
You can see the recent bullpen usage here:
Here are your Nats’ WAR leaders James Wood at +2.7 with MacKenzie Gore at +2.1 followed by CJ Abrams, and Mitchell Parker.
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 over a month dating back to April 15. Luis Garcia Jr. has slumped this season defensively to a -6.0 already — and with CJ Abrams, they combine for -10.0 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 62 percent which must improve. With as little as Amed Rosario has played on defense, he is at -6.0 OAA this season and the worst on the team. Per Statcast, his defense has cost the Nationals 5-runs. Is his offense good enough to make up that deficit if he plays the field? Keibert Ruiz, per Statcast, has a -7.0 OAA also. The Nationals were supposed to be better on defense. What has happened?
These are your stats leaders on BBRef. There are certainly some surprises on there — good and not so good.
“We’re playing well. We had a good road trip. A very good road trip.”
— manager Dave Martinez said after Sunday’s game
The Nats starting pitchers have a combined ERA of 4.45 and 7th worst in MLB. The reliever’s ERA sits at a 5.93 and now only the third worst in baseball in ERA.
Here is how the starters rank by ERA:
No. 5 Starter: Trevor Williams 5.69
No. 4 Starter: Michael Soroka 5.81
No. 3 Starter: Mitchell Parker 4.71
No. 2 Starter: Jake Irvin 3.93
No. 1 Starter: MacKenzie Gore 3.16
Chicago Cubs vs. Washington Nationals
Stadium: Nationals Park, Washington, D.C.
1st Pitch: 6:45 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):
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