A big moment in the 2026 season as Foster Griffin stays in the game; Photo by Sol Tucker/TalkNats
The Washington Nationals haven’t had many big moments in Nationals Park this year. But Foster Griffin has shown he is good at his home stadium also. The Nats are a disappointing 3-11 in Nationals Park this year. That has to change. This is Griffin’s third start at home.
We talk all the time here at how DEFENSE MATTERS. Nats defense/pitching have surrendered 25 unearned runs which is the most in MLB. The team has 30 errors which is the most in MLB. Drew Millas has 4 passed balls which is the 2nd worst in MLB but he only plays half the time. Nats catchers/pitchers have allowed 18 wild pitches. On top of that, besides James Wood, Jacob Young, and Nasim Nunez, who else are making great defensive plays? This defense makes the routine plays. The defensive positioning at times boggles the mind. We were promised improvement, and we aren’t seeing it on defense.
Last night, the Nats gave up three earned runs and three unearned runs. But the bad defense was more than committing actual errors. Too many of the fielders are not making the tough plays, and at one point a ball was bunted to Brady House and he froze because he thought the pitcher would field it. Ruled a hit, but that was a mental error.
The bullpen put up another zero in unearned runs. Cionel Perez took on the bulk of the innings as he went 2.0 full, and before today’s game, the team announced he was DFA’d and already cleared waivers. In his place, Orlando Ribalta comes back in Perez’s place.
Andre Granillo was the victim of some really bad defense behind him last night, and really had to get five outs which caused him to throw 40 pitches. Expect Mitchell Parker after his Thursday tandem start along with Granillo to get the game off. Here is the chart of bullpen usage for Blake Butera‘s team:
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.
Milwaukee Brewers vs. Washington Nationals
Stadium: Nationals Park, Washington, D.C.
1st Pitch: 4:05 PM EDT
TV: Nationals.TV
Radio: 106.7 The Fan radio and via the MLB app. On Sirius/XM, tune to Channel 178 for the home broadcast and the road team is online only.
