The Washington Nationals have won two key series at Nationals Park at times when the Dodgers and Tigers had the best records in baseball. How can you beat the best teams, yet struggle against the worst teams in the league? That is a subjective discussion for later. Just think where the Nationals would be if they pounced on the last place Rockies and Marlins in the month of June instead of getting trounced.
So here we are on U.S.A. Independence Day on July 4, and one year before the 250th celebration next year. MLB has been scheduling the Nationals to host July 4 games, and what better matchup than against Plymouth Rock’s Boston Red Sox. Nothing is more American than baseball, hot dogs, apple pie, Budweiser beer, and having that all in the Nation’s Capital for matinee baseball.
For the Nats, they have Michael Soroka on the mound, and he will be opposing a familiar face in Lucas Giolito who was a first round pick (16th) of the Nats in 2012 and a key piece of the Adam Eaton trade.
Before the game, the Nationals placed Trevor Williams on the 15-day Injured List (right elbow sprain) and recalled from Ryan Loutos from Triple-A Rochester. On top of that, the team reinstated Keibert Ruiz from the Injured List with no minor league rehab time. What was the rush with as well as the current catchers have done? The corresponding move to bring back Ruiz was to option Drew Millas to Triple-A Rochester.
Possibilities to replace Williams would be Andry Lara on short-rest on Sunday after pitching 36 in 3-innings of work on Wednesday, or the team could go to Cade Cavalli, Shinnosuke Ogasawara, or a player off the 40-man roster like Chase Solesky who was just the Player of the Week last week for Triple-A Rochester after his 5 1/3 scoreless. Of course not all of them line up perfectly. Maybe the Nats go with two starters to give MacKenzie Gore more rest after throwing a career-high of 111 pitches on Wednesday, and Jake Irvin going 107 last night. With Monday’s scheduled day-off, the team could have Gore pitch on Tuesday and Irvin on Wednesday, Soroka on Thursday, and Mitchell Parker on Friday and then reseed in Williams’ replacement Saturday.
“Just watching him over the years, hitting close to .300 doesn’t surprise me. The big thing is when he gets the ball in the zone, he’s really good. He’s chasing less. He’s hitting the ball the other way. He’s pulling the ball when he needs to. He’s doing everything I saw him do in the Minor Leagues. It’s awesome to watch him go out there and hit the way he hits. He’s been great.”
— manager Dave Martinez said after the game about James Wood
With Kyle Finnegan pitching two days in a row, and this early morning game after a night game, how will the Nats put together their bullpen?
Here are your Nats’ WAR leaders with James Wood at +4.0 and MacKenzie Gore at +2.8 followed by CJ Abrams at +2.8. Add those up, and you get a total of +9.5 WAR.
On defense, the stats are clear as to what his defense is all about. Jacob Young is the team’s OAA leader at +7.0 and Brady House is now on the list at +1.0. 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 -5.0 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 -7.0 already — and with CJ Abrams, they combine for -13.0 OAA. That is the worst middle infield in baseball and entirely unacceptable.
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 66 percent which must improve. His OAA is at -0.1 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 or should he only DH and PH? 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.
“I want the young guys to appreciate what [the veteran players] do.”
— manager Dave Martinez said after the game on Wednesday
The Nats starting pitchers have a combined ERA of 4.59 and 25th 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 5.89 and now the worst in baseball in ERA.
Here is how the starters rank by ERA:
No. 5 Starter: Trevor Williams 6.21
No. 4 Starter: Michael Soroka 4.70
No. 3 Starter: Mitchell Parker 4.63
No. 2 Starter: Jake Irvin 4.71
No. 1 Starter: MacKenzie Gore 3.11
Boston Red Sox vs. Washington Nationals
Stadium: Nationals Park, Washington, D.C.
1st Pitch: 11:05 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 89 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
- Keibert Ruiz C SH
- Jacob Young CF RH
