The Washington Nationals are now at double-digits with 10 losses in a row, and NatsTown is now booing Nats’ players. For today’s game, the Nats turn to Mitchell Parker, with the hopes he can be as good as he was into mid-April.
This morning, general manager Mike Rizzo appeared on the Sports Junkies radio show and said that Nathaniel Lowe, Josh Bell, and MacKenzie Gore were his veteran team leaders.
“Believe me, it stinks. Nobody wants to lose 10 in a row. No way. I don’t. I know those guys don’t. But we’re not going to quit. We’re going to keep fighting. That’s who we are. I don’t quit. I’m not going to quit on those guys. We’ve got to keep fighting every day.”
— manager Dave Martinez said after yesterday’s game
Here is the bullpen usage:
Here are your Nats’ WAR leaders with James Wood at +2.9 and MacKenzie Gore at +2.7 followed by CJ Abrams.
On defense, the stats are clear as to what his defense is all about. Paul DeJong is your OAA leader and he hasn’t played in nearly two months dating back to April 15. Jacob Young has missed a large chunk of the season and he is just below DeJong. James Wood just got back to even 0.0 on his OAA, and that is a good sign from where he had been early in the season. One of the newest Nats, Daylen Lile, is already at a -3.0 OAA.
Luis Garcia Jr. has slumped this season defensively to a -7.0 already — and with CJ Abrams, they combine for -13.0 OAA. That is the worst middle infield in baseball.
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 64 percent which must improve. His OAA is at 0.0 now. 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 -7.0 OAA also. The Nationals were supposed to be better on defense. That clearly isn’t the case.
These are your stats leaders on BBRef. There are certainly some surprises on there — good and not so good.
“You’ve got to keep going. You’ve got to trust the guys next to you. You can’t press and solve it all in one at-bat, or one day. But the second you quit, the game will steamroll you.”
— Nathaniel Lowe said after yesterday’s game
The Nats starting pitchers have a combined ERA of 4.42 and 24th best in MLB. You might be surprised at the team just ahead of the Nationals in the rankings. The reliever’s ERA sits at a 5.71 and now only the second worst in baseball in ERA.
Here is how the starters rank by ERA:
No. 5 Starter: Trevor Williams 5.71
No. 4 Starter: Michael Soroka 5.06
No. 3 Starter: Mitchell Parker 4.84
No. 2 Starter: Jake Irvin 4.23
No. 1 Starter: MacKenzie Gore 2.89
Colorado Rockies 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 178 for the home broadcast and the road team is online only.
Line-up subject to change (without notice):
- CJ Abrams SS LH
- James Wood DH LH
- Luis Garcia Jr. 2B LH
- Nathaniel Lowe 1B LH
- Brady House 3B RH
- Josh Bell DH SH
- Daylen Lile RF LH
- Keibert Ruiz C SH
- Jacob Young CF RH
