Photo by Lynn G./TalkNats
The Washington Nationals return to their home field after an impressive 5-2 road trip. The team has the San Francisco Giants in town for a weekend series, and the Nats are boasting the great weather.
There is continued roster churn today as Richard Lovelady was acquired in a trade with the Mets for cash considerations. To make room for Lovelady, the team will send last night’s closer, Orlando Ribalta, to Rochester Triple-A.
Tonight’s starter is Zack Littell in his fourth appearance of the season to match the other starters. He has averaged exactly 5.0 innings per start so far this season.
With the game going into extra innings yesterday, much of the bullpen got used. You’d think that Brad Lord gets tonight off, and we will see who pitches. Here is a chart of usage on manager Blake Butera‘s bullpen:
The FanGraphs WAR chart is accumulating data. This will start to give us a clearer picture in six weeks when the sample sizes get larger. The OAA defense stat requires a minimum of 10 defensive plays. We will start adding more statistics as the sample sizes get larger.
San Francisco Giants vs. Washington Nationals
Stadium: Nationals Park, Washington, D.C.
1st Pitch: 6:45 PM EDT
TV: Nationals.TV and WTTG FOX-5
Radio: 106.7 The Fan radio and via the MLB app. On Sirius/XM, tune to Channel 177 for the home broadcast and the road team is online only.
