The Washington Nationals have dropped six games in a row, and now have to rely on Cade Cavalli who hasn’t pitched in an MLB game in nearly three years. Actually, this is his second career MLB game after TJ surgery back in 2022. Did Cavalli earn this promotion or is this just another case of ‘this is what we have?’ No disrespect to Cavalli, but that 6.09 ERA and 1.554 WHIP this season in Triple-A makes it seem like he didn’t earn this promotion the old-fashioned way. But then again, Cavalli’s ERA is kind of in-line with the 2025 team ERA for the bullpen of 5.98. Pitching to a 6.00 ERA might actually earn the Nats a win!
This is how bad things are for this team from drafting to player development that Cavalli and Jackson Rutledge, the two 1st round picks from the Nationals in 2020 and 2019 respectively are struggling to stay viable in this organization. Rutledge was already demoted to the bullpen, and he gets used in low leverage spots and has a 6.35 ERA. That is how dire the situation is that Rutledge is still employed. Okay, he pitched his best inning last night of his career with the Nats trailing by 9-runs in the 9th inning, and he struck out the side facing the 7th-9th hitters in the Athletics’ lineup. Rutledge’s ERA was actually 6.92 a month ago, so he has improved some.
Speaking of struggling players, what is up with James Wood? Could it get any worse? His only way on-base was a hit-by-pitch in another 0-fer game. Since July 4, and 90 consecutive plate appearances, the 2025 All-Star is hitting .115 with a .395 OPS since that point. Contrast that to Stephen Strasburg in 2019 who had 80 plate appearances and slashed .167 batting average and a .422 OPS. The current tally on when Wood has an RBI in the game, the Nats are 26-15, and just 17-52 when he doesn’t have an RBI. This team goes as Wood goes.
“[Gore] threw strikes. They were just in the middle of the plate.”
— Miguel Cairo said after yesterday’s game
The bullpen usage looks like this:
Here are your Nats’ WAR leaders with CJ Abrams at +2.9, James Wood at +2.9, MacKenzie Gore at +2.4. Add those up, and you get a total of +8.2 WAR. The issue is the large gap between those players and the next tier.
On defense, the OAA stats give you a good picture of the team’s overall defense which is the good, the bad, and the ugly. The good news is that besides Nathaniel Lowe, the defense under interim-manager Miguel Cairo has drastically improved. All of a sudden, Luis Garcia Jr. looked Gold Glove in the month of July.
These are your stats leaders on BBRef. There are certainly some surprises on there — good and not so good. The issue is the consistency on this team.
“This is embarrassing. We shouldn’t just try to act like nothing happened here. What has happened this homestand is not acceptable, no matter what happened last week. We’re all better than this. This is embarrassing. We’ve got to not let it affect everybody. We’ve got to be able to come together as a group and get better. What happened this homestand, it’s hard to watch.”
— MacKenzie Gore said after his start last night
The Nats starting pitchers have a combined ERA of 5.03 and that places the starters at 2nd from last in MLB. The reliever’s ERA sits at a 5.98 and now the worst in baseball in ERA.
Here is how the starters rank by ERA:
No. 5 Starter: TBD
No. 4 Starter: Mitchell Parker 5.35
No. 3 Starter: Brad Lord 3.42 (starting/relieving)
No. 2 Starter: Jake Irvin 4.89
No. 1 Starter: MacKenzie Gore 4.29
Athletics vs. Washington Nationals
Stadium: Nationals Park, Washington, D.C.
1st Pitch: 6:45 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 185 for the home broadcast and the road team is online only.
Line-up subject to change (without notice):
