The Washington Nationals might be down to the final start at Nationals Park for pitcher Michael Soroka and a few teammates as the team departs on a road trip after today’s game that will take them to the trade deadline. The Nationals will not play at home again until August 1 when they play the best team in baseball — the Milwaukee Brewers. We will see if Soroka raises his stock today.
While the Nationals won the first two games of this series, the Reds have not been swept in a 3-game series this season. After today’s game, the Nationals have a day-off tomorrow and just 60-games on the schedule. Before they begin a weekend series against the team in Minnesota, remember that the Twins began as Walter Johnson‘s original Washington Senators team until the 1961 season when his Senators and the Griffiths relocated to the L’Étoile du Nord.
The Nats only have 6-games remaining after today until the trade deadline. Rumors are flying all over the internet on who will be traded. It is that time of year to be on “hug watch” in case any player gets traded mid-game. How’s about Josh Bell who is +0.6 in WAR since May 27. Yes, he is still a neg -0.2 overall — but what a recovery from the depths of unwatchable baseball. Since that point, Bell is slashing .298/.374/.497 with an .871 OPS. We detailed several Nats players who are on trade watch.
The Nats added LHP reliever Konnor Pilkington to the roster yesterday — and he pitched 2.0 innings in relief and did not disappoint. While it wasn’t a perfect game, Pilkington threw 2.0 perfect innings with three strikeouts and three outs on contact. That was his first appearance in the Majors since 2023.
Did you know that the Nats are now 26-14 when James Wood has an RBI? The team is 15-46 with no RBI from Wood. One of the rare games the Nationals won yesterday without offensive production from Wood.
“Everyone has got to contribute.”
— Miguel Cairo said after yesterday’s game
The bullpen usage looks like this:
Here are your Nats’ WAR leaders with James Wood at +3.8, MacKenzie Gore at +2.8 CJ Abrams at +2.9, and . Add those up, and you get a total of +9.5 WAR. The issue is the large gap between those players and the next tier. Brady House in his 25-games jumps to a +0.4, and that extrapolates to +2.8 for a full season.
On defense, the stats are clear as to what his defense is all about. Jacob Young is the team’s OAA leader at +8.0 and Brady House is on the list at +2.0. James Wood is at +0.0 on his OAA, and that is a good sign from where he had been early in the season.
Then you have Daylen Lile who is already at a -5.0 OAA although he has been playing league average defense lately. Luis Garcia Jr. is at -5.0 — and with CJ Abrams, they combine for -13.0 OAA. Do you know that Garcia is a +3.0 defender in the month of July?
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 -0.4 now, and that just makes the situation even worse. With as little as Amed Rosario has played on defense, he is at -8.0 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.
“We cannot be using the same guys all the time, because I don’t want to break their arms. Everyone is doing the little things, and when you’re given the chance to be put in the best situation to succeed, that’s what happens.”
— Cairo said after yesterday’s game
The Nats starting pitchers have a combined ERA of 4.87 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 5.71 and now the worst in baseball in ERA.
Here is how the starters rank by ERA:
No. 5 Starter: Brad Lord 3.39 (starting/relieving)
No. 4 Starter: Michael Soroka 5.35
No. 3 Starter: Mitchell Parker 5.00
No. 2 Starter: Jake Irvin 4.81
No. 1 Starter: MacKenzie Gore 3.59
Cincinnati Reds vs. Washington Nationals
Stadium: Nationals Park, Washington, D.C.
1st Pitch: 12:05 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 175 for the home broadcast and the road team is online only.
Line-up subject to change (without notice):
