The Washington Nationals will play their first game under interim GM Mike DeBartolo and manager Miguel Cairo. Both of them met with the media before the game.
The Nationals made several roster moves before the game. The team signed RHP reliever Luis García on a one-year deal. They called catcher Drew Millas from Triple-A Rochester to replace Keibert Ruiz who returned to the 7-day concussion IL (retroactive to July 6). The Nats sent Eduardo Salazar to Triple-A Rochester, and they transferred RHP Trevor Williams to the 60-day IL.
“Simply stepping up our game is not enough. We need real change.”
— Interim GM Mike DeBartolo said before the game
The bullpen usage looks like this:
Here are your Nats’ WAR leaders with James Wood at +3.9, CJ Abrams at +2.9, and MacKenzie Gore at +2.9. Add those up, and you get a total of +9.7 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’ve negotiated several of the trades we’ve done on my own – with Riz’s final decision, obviously. I’m proud of the role I played in the Juan Soto trade in trying to identify some of the key players in that trade, including James Wood, and negotiating elements of that trade and strategizing around that trade for months in advance. I’ve executed and been heavily involved with the trade deadline for 10 years.”
— DeBartolo said
The Nats starting pitchers have a combined ERA of 4.75 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 5.79 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 4.72
No. 2 Starter: Jake Irvin 4.71
No. 1 Starter: MacKenzie Gore 3.11
Washington Nationals vs. St. Louis Cardinals
Stadium: Busch Stadium, St. Louis, Missouri
1st Pitch: 7:45 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 184 for the home broadcast and the road team is online only.
Line-up subject to change (without notice):
