Photo by Andrew Lang/TalkNats
The Washington Nationals arrived in Cincinnati early on Sunday evening and had a much needed day-off. The bullpen needed a day-off and got it after their rough Saturday and Sunday. That was not a happy flight.
Today’s game features Miles Mikolas as the starter, and a rested Brad Lord could be the long-man behind him. After two consecutive losses in Miami, the Nats really need Mikolas to take the team to the winner’s circle line.
If it aligns well, it might be time to give Mitchell Parker a longer breather than the two rest day schedule he had been on. He had 6 1/3 perfect innings going before he unraveled on Saturday, and it was Gus Varland who couldn’t find his stuff on Sunday. Richard Lovelady pitched 2.0 innings as the opener on Saturday. Here is a quick look at the use and usage in 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. Cincinnati Reds
Stadium: Great American Ball Park, Cincinnati, Ohio
1st Pitch: 6:40 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.
