The Washington Nationals just have not played well in day games this season. They were blown out yesterday on the 4th of July versus Boston. Per Baseball Reference’s website, the team is 13-25 in day games and just 2-games under .500 in night games. Figuring out why this team is so bad in the daylight hours has to be something the brain-trust can fix.
For the Nats, they have Mitchell Parker going today. Boston has Walker Buehler for their team. The Nats need this game ahead of having to face Garrett Crochet, their ace, in a day game. The Nats need a starter for tomorrow and the swirling rumors are that it will be Cade Cavalli. Nothing official yet on that. Certainly Shinnosuke Ogasawara lines up to start too.
Possibilities to replace Trevor Williams, who went on the 15-day IL yesterday, would be Cavalli, Ogasawara or Andry Lara on short-rest on Sunday after pitching 36 in 3-innings of work on Wednesday for the Nationals in a doubleheader.
Maybe the Nats go with two new starters for Sunday and again on Tuesday which was Williams day to pitch next. It might be a good idea to give MacKenzie Gore more rest after throwing a career-high of 111 pitches on Wednesday, and Jake Irvin going 107 on Thursday. With Monday’s scheduled day-off, the team could have Gore pitch on Tuesday and Irvin on Wednesday, Michael Soroka on Thursday, and Mitchell Parker on Friday and then reseed in Williams’ replacement Saturday.
Another disturbing trend is that the Nats have lost 9-of-12 of Michael Soroka‘s starts. He has proven again that he has stamina issues as his command goes and his velo drops around pitch 60-75. Simply, he has a 3.00 ERA through the third inning, and after that he jumps to a 6.00 for the 4th inning, a 6.30 for the 5th inning, and a 18.56 for the 6th inning. Through pitch 50, opponents only have a .588 OPS against Soroka, and after that is where the issues start. It just gets worse at an .869 OPS from pitch 51-75 and then .936 above that. But really it’s the dreaded 3rd time through the batting order at a 1.115 OPS. In a 2-0 game and a pitch count in the 80’s, Soroka was facing Boston’s batting order for the 3rd time for the final out of the 4th inning, so when he went out for the 5th inning on fumes — was it any surprise he gave up a double, walk, single, walk, and single before he was pulled? Just another example of how manager Dave Martinez and the staff ignore the analytics and simply in the old-school approach, reading their pitchers.
The Nationals invested $9 million in Soroka on a 1-year deal. There was no team option attached. His only value would have been to get the Nationals wins and contention in the 2025 which clearly didn’t happen — or flip him at the trade deadline. The Nats have done nothing but lower his trade value. Last year, Soroka threw to a 6.39 ERA and was demoted to the bullpen where he shined as a 2.75 ERA. The White Sox knew what general manager Mike Rizzo ignored. Could it be that Soroka just needs to be a 3-inning or short reliever where he can excel?
“I didn’t think I had too much for fastball, fastball command today, and I think ultimately, it bit me. We got into the fifth, and they were putting good swings on balls. It’s tough when you don’t command your fastball that well. It’s just one of those days where I think kind of a perfect storm, where I’m not throwing all that well and didn’t quite catch a couple breaks. It added up, and unfortunately got away from us.”
— Michael Soroka said after yesterday’s game
After yesterday’s game, Martinez claimed that he had four relievers not available in his decision to pitch Soroka deeper in the game. The Nats made the following roster moves today:
· Returned Mason Thompson from the 60-day Injured List
· Optioned right-handed pitcher Zach Brzykcy to Triple-A Rochester
· Transferred right-handed pitcher Derek Law to the 60-day Injured List
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 +2.0. 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 4.68 and 26th 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 5.91 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 5.40
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: 4:05 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 179 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
