Photo by Sol Tucker/TalkNats
The Washington Nationals needed a win on Saturday and delivered. Their blown saves in back-to-back games were unfortunate — but on Saturday, the bullpen didn’t allow the team to fall behind in the game. The team got an ace start from Jake Irvin along with a new Nats hitting hero: Nasim Nunez. He finally stopped swinging for the fences as we pointed out on Friday, and what a difference that has made. Two singles from Nunez drove in four runs. It goes to show you that sometimes you have to know who you are as a batter.
Nunez is now 5-points from the Mendoza line and just climbed above the .500 OPS mark. Why he was allowed to swing for the fences for so long is a mystery. Having a Nunez hitting singles and wreaking havoc on the bases is what he needs to do.
Yesterday, the Nats entered the game at their low-point of the season at 5-games under .50 after flushing away another win by making too many mistakes in a self-inflicted loss. The Nats should have won Friday’s game running away. On Saturday, it was a pitcher’s duel for most of the game, and the Nats pulled it out in extra innings.
Today’s finale in Chicago has the Nats best statistical pitcher on the mound in Foster Griffin. It looks like the White Sox will once again employ a lefty opener then go to the former University of Maryland ace, Sean Burke, to come in after the opener is pulled.
Tough break and we got the answer on Clayton Beeter as to why he didn’t pitch yesterday as he goes to the IL with right forearm soreness. We don’t know the severity at this point. He’s replaced by Paxton Schultz, and not Orlando Ribalta. When you have an injury, you can circumvent the 15-day minor league option rule. The Nats also brought back Andre Granillo to replace Andres Chaparro. That puts the Nats at the maximum of 13 pitchers.
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 a few more weeks when the sample sizes get larger. The OAA defense stat is now giving us a picture of what the Nats have — and don’t have. We will start adding more statistics as the sample sizes get larger.
Washington Nationals vs. Chicago White Sox
Stadium: Rate Field, Chicago, Illinois
1st Pitch: 2:10 PM EDT
TV: Nationals.TV
Radio: 106.7 The Fan radio and via the MLB app. On Sirius/XM, tune to Channel 181 for the home broadcast and the road team is online only.
