The Washington Nationals are ahead 2-games-to-1 in this long four game series with the Philadelphia Phillies, ahead of a day-off tomorrow. So, interim-manager Miguel Cairo is “playing with house money” as they say because he can’t lose this series, and he has penciled in Paul DeJong at first base for the first time in his career.
The lineup actually looks like some concoction formulated in Spring Training. The team’s overall best player, James Wood, as well as the team’s second and fourth hottest hitters behind DeJong the past two weeks, Riley Adams and Josh Bell, will both sit today as well.
With that rare day-off tomorrow after 13 straight games without a day off, Cairo gets to rest Wood who has been playing every day. And Adams has played every game since August 8th .
In today’s lineup, Luis Garcia Jr. will be the DH, and that might be a good thing given his tired legs on defense or whatever has been keeping him from fielding balls. His range has certainly been lacking most of the season except during the month of July where Garcia showed his form of last year.
Today’s pitching matchup has Aaron Nola returning from a long IL stint for the Phillies, and Mitchell Parker going for the home team. And a programming reminder that this is an early 11:35 am EDT start time with the game only broadcast on ROKU streaming service. If you own a smart TV, the ROKU stick is a great purchase and then you get their programming for free. The ROKU software allows you to manage your streaming channels which is an added benefit. Their cheapest stick is only $19.99 as a one-time purchase.
“It was not even a question. [Cade Cavalli] wanted to come out for the seventh. I’m so proud. I’m so happy for him. Because for so long, with all the injuries … to perform against that team like that is amazing.”
— Miguel Cairo said after yesterday’s game
“He gets ahead. And when you get ahead, you’ve got a chance. Now, they’ve got to be thinking about everything. He was outstanding.”
The bullpen usage looks like this:
Here are your Nats’ WAR leaders with James Wood at +3.1, CJ Abrams at +3.0, MacKenzie Gore at +2.9. Add those up, and you get a total of +9.0 WAR. The issue is the large gap between those players and the next tier, and of course the negative tier after them of which many of those players are off the roster.
On defense, the OAA stats showed some improvement with a good defensive game yesterday. Jacob Young leads the team at +12, and CJ Abrams is on the opposite end at -9. That is actually quite the improvement over last year’s -18 for Abrams who is on pace to finish at -12.
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.
“[Jose A. Ferrer] is going to have a beautiful two days off. I told him to bring his pajamas tomorrow, so he can rest.”
— Cairo said after yesterday’s game
The Nats starting pitchers have a combined ERA of 4.94 and that places the starters at 2nd from last in MLB. The reliever’s ERA sits at a 5.81 and now the worst in baseball in ERA.
Here is how the starters rank by ERA:
No. 5 Starter: Cade Cavalli 2.20
No. 4 Starter: Mitchell Parker 5.55
No. 3 Starter: Brad Lord 3.26 (starting/relieving)
No. 2 Starter: Jake Irvin 5.14
No. 1 Starter: MacKenzie Gore 4.04
Philadelphia Phillies vs. Washington Nationals
Stadium: Nationals Park, Washington, D.C.
1st Pitch: 11:35 am EDT
TV: ROKU streaming service
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):
- Luis Garcia Jr. DH
- CJ Abrams SS
- Paul DeJong 1B
- Daylen Lile LF
- Dylan Crews RF
- Jose Tena 2B
- Drew Millas C
- Brady House 3B
- Robert Hassell III CF
