Photo by Kevin Nibley for TalkNats
The last time we saw Erick Fedde he was shutting out the San Diego Padres on May 23rd while the game headed into the 5th inning. Fedde gave up a run in the top of the 5th inning with a pitch count of 82 to finish the inning. Instead of doing what manager Dave Martinez has done many times with starter Jeremy Hellickson, the Nationals manager sent Fedde out for the 6th inning and did not pull Fedde at first time of trouble and Fedde gave up a single, a walk, and a bases clearing double and was pulled out of the game while surrendering 3 earned runs. The Nats lost the game 3-to-1 and it seemed like a winnable game if Martinez was quicker with the hook.
What did Fedde gain by staying in the game longer? Tim Collins and Brandon Kintzler were both warming in the bullpen at the time. It’s that question you always wonder about. What if?
Tonight, Fedde faces the Bronx Bombers who make the Gaslight Thumpers look like a Pee Wee team — no offense to Hosmer , Jankowski and Villanueva. With a rested bullpen and a team day-off tomorrow, Martinez has to make the right choice on how far he allows Fedde to pitch tonight.
As of last night, the Nationals haven’t scored a run since Saturday. The Yankees are pitching righty Sonny Gray tonight, and he has a 4.81 ERA. Does ERA matter if you can’t score runs? The law of averages says the Nationals will score in bunches at some point as the BABIP in the .150’s speaks to some bad luck at the plate. So why not tonight? To be fair, many of the Nats at-bats have not been good and there is no BABIP in a strikeout. Put the ball in play and see what happens. As Michael Taylor saw in his swinging bunt single last night, you must make contact to have a chance and sometimes luck rewards you.
Two more notes on Sonny Gray, he has a 7.22 ERA in Yankee Stadium and he has reverse splits where right-handers hit him at an .834 OPS which is more than 200 points higher than lefties.
The Nationals batters are hitting .198 for the 9 games of June. A small sample size but here is what it looks like:
The Nationals will send a bullpen arm back today to make room for Erick Fedde on the roster. The candidates are Wander Suero or Trevor Gott for the demotion.
Speaking of roster moves, the Nationals announced they have signed 22 of their 2018 draft picks already which includes Tim Cate who signed yesterday according to a source who also told us that Cate is in Florida ready to go. You’ll notice the Nationals have not signed any of their high schoolers yet which includes the Nats #1 pick Mason Denaburg.
Washington Nationals vs. New York Yankees
Stadium: Yankee Stadium, Bronx, NY
1st Pitch: 7:05 pm EDT
TV: MASN; MLB App out-of-market; ESPN (out-of-market only)
Nats Radio: 106.7 The Fan and via the MLB app
Line-ups subject to change without notice:
- Adam Eaton RF
- Trea Turner SS
- Bryce Harper CF
- Anthony Rendon 3B
- Daniel Murphy DH
- Matt Adams 1B
- Juan Soto LF
- Wilmer Difo 2B
- Spencer Kieboom C
Erick Fedde RHP
