The Washington Nationals got a day-off yesterday, and are the field practicing in heat of over 100 degrees. Yes, it is one of those scorching hot July summer days in Washington, D.C., but normally it is 89 degrees on this day with the record set of 101 degrees back in 1966.
After coming off a career-high 112 pitches six days ago, Foster Griffin takes the mound for the Nats. Hopefully the extra day of rest keeps him fresh in this weather. The Nats are looking to shove further into the Wild Card discussion. A win tonight for the Nats could be big to get this weekend series going on a positive note.
On Wednesday, Andres Chaparro finally hit his first home run of the season. It only took 26 games to get that first one. The issue is that based on the law of averages that was going to happen if he kept playing. The issue is that Chappy just got back to 0.0 WAR with the luxury of starting only against left-handed pitchers. Meanwhile, Yohandy Morales, also a right-handed batter, just smashed his 18th home run of the season at Triple-A Rochester in just 74 games. Morales starts games against right-handed pitchers.
❝To see guys in the bottom of the order or guys that aren’t starting every single night come through for us and step up, that’s what it takes to be a winning ball club and have success in this league. You need all 1-through-13 [position players] to be able to contribute. Hats off to our guys for doing so.❞
— manager Blake Butera said after Wednesday’s game
On offense, the Nats are at the 2nd in MLB for the most runs scored this season at 470 runs and that is an impressive 5.34 runs per game. With the Nats pitching giving up 4.63 earned runs per game, the difference is really those pesky unearned runs due to the errors. Overall, the Nats have a +17 run differential on the season.
With the team day-off yesterday, the Nats bullpen is rested and for some pitchers — possibly too much rest. Here is manager Blake Butera‘s bullpen chart:
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.
Pittsburgh Pirates vs. Washington Nationals
Stadium: Nationals Park, Washington, D.C. 1st Pitch: 6:45 PM EDT TV: Nationals.TV Radio: 106.7 The Fan radio and via the MLB app. On Sirius/XM, tune to Channel 176 for the home broadcast and the road team is online only.
