Cade Cavalli in his 2022 debut; Photo by Sol Tucker for TalkNats
Photo by Sol Tucker/Nats.Talk
The Washington Nationals got a dud from Miles Mikolas last night, and it certainly felt like Groundhog Day. Your starter can’t give up six runs and expect to win. Tonight, the Nats will pin their hopes on starter Cade Cavalli to deliver a gem and even this series in Boston.
Because Mikolas went 7.0 innings last night, the Nats only needed reliever Zak Kent to close out the game, and that allowed the rest of the bullpen to rest up.
The MRI came back on pitcher Mitchell Parker and the news was worse than expected, he has a serious tear (Grade 3) in his ulnar collateral ligament (UCL) in his throwing elbow that will most likely require TJ surgery. If there is good news, the Nats will be able to free up a roster spot when Parker is moved to the 60-day IL.
Last night’s game was encouraging to see both James Wood and CJ Abrams get their bats going. Wood had a 441 foot bomb, and Abrams had a 2-RBI hit.
❝[James Wood] got an advantage count there to start the game and got a good fastball to hit and did some damage on it. He has been going through it a little bit, so it was good to see him get a good swing off there early for us and get going a little bit.❞
— manager Blake Butera said after last night’s game
On offense, the Nats are at the top of MLB for the most runs scored this season at 452 runs and that is an impressive 5.26 runs per game. With the Nats pitching giving up 4.71 earned runs per game, the difference is really those pesky unearned runs due to the errors. Overall, the Nats have a +2 run differential on the season.
The FanGraphs WAR chart is now large in its sample size. You can certainly start to extrapolate the numbers for the full-season. The OAA defense stat is now giving us a picture of what the Nats have — and don’t have.
Washington Nationals vs. Boston Red Sox
Stadium: Fenway Park, Boston, Massachusetts 1st Pitch: 7:10 PM EDT TV: Nationals.TV Radio: 106.7 The Fan radio and via the MLB app. On Sirius/XM, tune to Channel 180 for the home broadcast and the road team is online only.
