The Home for Washington Nationals Game Talk

Credit to the Washington Nationals after losing a heartbreaker on Saturday, the Nats got immediate payback on Sunday and got right back in the win column for a happy flight to San Francisco last night. The Nats and Giants face-off for a three-game series that wraps up in an afternoon game on Wednesday. Four bats got hot in Arizona with Lane Thomas, Luis Garcia, Keibert Ruiz, and Joey Meneses hoping to carry momentum into this series. A day of rest on Saturday proved well for CJ Abrams who finished up nicely in Arizona to join the hit parade.

This Washington Nationals team just seems to get in their own way this year. Late inning heroics from the April 27 grand slam by CJ Abrams to the Lane Thomas two-run bomb last night went for naught in the win column. Who thought this team with a starting staff as it is configured now would have a 3.78 ERA? In total if you add back Chad Kuhl they have a 4.50 ERA for 16th best in MLB. The issue is this team is the 4th worst in scoring runs as an offense at the same time that they have the 14th best batting average. The culprit is being the 2nd worst in power numbers. The team still lacks the balance to be a postseason team.

The Washington Nationals are now 20 percent through their 2023 schedule, and you usually know the team you have at game 45. The Nats are a surprisingly good 8-6 in their past two weeks in their schedule.

The Washington Nationals are 8-5 since that trip in the cold weather in Minnesota woke the team up. The Nats have now won 3-of-4 series in a row, and are now on their second West Coast trip of the season. This weekend’s series is in Arizona to face the Diamondbacks, and the Nats Top-3 starters are lined up for this series.

That is all the good news. The bad news is that the “A” bullpen is taxed, and manager Dave Martinez might have to rely on some “B” bullpen today even if his team has a lead. We said the same thing yesterday, and it didn’t matter. Both Kyle Finnegan and Hunter Harvey have appeared in the last three games and have thrown at least 50 pitches over that span. Harvey has an extensive injury history so his 55 pitches at his velo might have gone past that Scherzian “empty the gas tank” and gone to bone dry. Our hope is there are no health issues of course and no negative residual effects, but when is the last time Harvey pitched three days in a row? The answer is NEVER in his 5-season MLB career. By the way, Harvey threw 31 pitches on April 14, then wasn’t seen for a week in this season because his arm did not feel “right” per a source.