The Washington Nationals got another great start from MacKenzie Gore last night. With a Nats’ 4-2 lead going into the bottom of the 8th inning — it was a 2-out walk that opened the door for the Mets. Now the Nats have dropped 3-games in a row and need Jake Irvin to be their stopper.
Manager Dave Martinez has penciled up a lineup with five right-handed batters, with just CJ Abrams, James Wood, Nathaniel Lowe, and Luis Garcia Jr. hitting from the left-side.
Last night, Abrams emerged from his funk with a a nice 3-hit game that included two doubles and an oppo home run. Lowe had a 2-run homer, and Wood had a hit. What was encouraging to see was that Garcia worked two walks in the game. Andres Chaparro had a pinch-hit double in place of the slumping Josh Bell.
“When he gets the ball in the strike zone, he’s going to hit it hard. He got ready a little bit earlier today. He saw the ball really well.”
— manager Dave Martinez said after yesterday’s game about Abrams
You can see the recent bullpen usage here:
Here are your Nats’ WAR leaders MacKenzie Gore at +2.5 with James Wood at +2.4 followed by CJ Abrams.
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 nearly two months 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 -13.0 OAA. Clearly, that is an issue.
Another defensive 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 63 percent which must improve. With as little as Amed Rosario has played on defense, he is at -7.0 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 -8.0 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.
“I talked to Davey before the game. We had a conversation about getting a good pitch to hit, and I did that tonight.”
— Abrams said after yesterday’s game
The Nats starting pitchers have a combined ERA of 4.30 and 21st best in MLB. You might be surprised at the team just behind the Nationals in the rankings. The reliever’s ERA sits at a 5.81 and now only the second worst in baseball in ERA.
Here is how the starters rank by ERA:
No. 5 Starter: Trevor Williams 5.91
No. 4 Starter: Michael Soroka 4.86
No. 3 Starter: Mitchell Parker 4.44
No. 2 Starter: Jake Irvin 4.02
No. 1 Starter: MacKenzie Gore 2.88
Washington Nationals vs. New York Mets
Stadium: CitiField, Queens, New York
1st Pitch: 7:10 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 185 for the home broadcast and the road team is online only.
Line-up subject to change (without notice):
- CJ Abrams SS LH
- Amed Rosario 3B RH
- James Wood LF LH
- Andres Chaparro DH RH
- Nathaniel Lowe 1B LH
- Alex Call RF RH
- Riley Adams C RH
- Luis Garcia Jr. 2B LH
- Jacob Young CF RH
