The Washington Nationals bats came alive in the first game of this series in San Diego to run away with a 10-6 win. Mitchell Parker completed 6.0 innings last night, and the team is now 8-8 (.500) in his starts — even though his run support had been lacking over his previous five starts.
Nats’ manager Dave Martinez pushed Parker at 95-pitches and on fumes into the 7th inning last night and Parker gave up a home run to the first batter he faced and then was pulled. He exited with a 6-3 lead.
Since the Nationals are playing the Padres for the first time, let’s look at the three players who lead the Nats in WAR value. That would be James Wood, MacKenzie Gore, and CJ Abrams who were all acquired in the Juan Soto trade.
Tomorrow, we will complete the 81st game of the season — making it the mathematical middle of the season. You can take many stats and multiply them by two to extrapolate for a full-season. Wood is almost on an MVP pace, and Gore and Abrams are putting up impressive numbers also. If they stay at their current pace, or better, for the full season, that trio would combine for at least a +17.0 WAR.
There was a roster move made as Keibert Ruiz was hit in the head on a foul ball into the dugout last night. He left to get a CT-Scan and was placed on the 10-day IL, not on the 7-day concussion IL. Drew Millas will take his place on the roster. We broke this news in the early morning hours. The IL decision was for a head contusion.
“When he went down, we kind of got scared a little bit. He had a nice lump on his head. A little concerned right now. Hopefully he comes out of it OK.”
— manager Dave Martinez said after yesterday’s game
Here is the bullpen usage:
Here are your Nats’ WAR leaders with James Wood at +3.5 and MacKenzie Gore at +2.6 followed by CJ Abrams.
On defense, the stats are clear as to what his defense is all about. Jacob Young is the team’s OAA leader and James Wood got to a +1.0 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 -4.0 OAA and that is unsustainable as that is one of the worst marks in baseball if you extrapolated it for a full-season.
Luis Garcia Jr. has slumped this season defensively to a -8.0 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 -8.0 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.
“We’re really swinging at strikes, that’s been the key. Not trying to do a whole lot, but limiting our chase, trying to get the ball up. They’ve been swinging the bats really well.”
— Martinez said after yesterday’s game
The Nats starting pitchers have a combined ERA of 4.41 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 5.95 and now only the worst in baseball in ERA.
Here is how the starters rank by ERA:
No. 5 Starter: Trevor Williams 5.54
No. 4 Starter: Michael Soroka 5.06
No. 3 Starter: Mitchell Parker 4.59
No. 2 Starter: Jake Irvin 4.18
No. 1 Starter: MacKenzie Gore 3.19
Washington Nationals vs. San Diego Padres
Stadium: Petco Park, San Diego, California
1st Pitch: 9:40 pm EDT
TV: MASN2
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 187 for the home broadcast and the road team is online only.
Line-up subject to change (without notice):
- CJ Abrams SS LH
- James Wood LF LH
- Luis Garcia Jr. 2B LH
- Nathaniel Lowe 1B LH
- Josh Bell DH SH
- Brady House 3B RH
- Daylen Lile RF LH
- Riley Adams C RH
- Jacob Young CF RH
