This afternoon, the rain could cooperate to get this game in. It is Joe Ross against ex-Nat farmhand Robbie Ray. The Nationals faced Ray and his big heater in Arizona in early August, and it was Wilson Ramos who hit the big three-run home run with 2 outs in just another of his clutch hits in 2016.
Robbie Ray is a lefty which has given Dusty Baker the opportunity to sit Bryce Harper again and insert a line-up with all players who will start the game batting right-handed.
The Nationals will get a further look at Wilmer Difo as they had been with Brian Goodwin who stepped up again last night and raised his batting average to .308 with a .803 OPS. Difo enters the game with a .292 batting average.
The post-season bench so far looks to be:
- Stephen Drew
- Severino/Lobaton
That leaves three spots remaining to choose from an extensive list with incumbents like Chris Heisey, Clint Robinson, and Ben Revere, but also Difo and Goodwin.
Wilson Ramos is saying goodbye to his teammates today as he gets ready for his surgery next week and will be recovering in Florida.
Ramos knows the injury will impact his free agency process, but says if it's up to him, he'd like to stay with the Nationals going forward.
— Dan Kolko (@masnKolko) September 29, 2016
Washington Nationals and Arizona Diamondbacks
Stadium: Nationals Park, Washington, D.C.
1st Pitch: 1:05 pm EDT
TV: MASN, Fox Sports Arizona , MLB.TV
Line-ups (subject to change without notice):
- Trea Turner CF
- Wilmer Difo 2B
- Jayson Werth LF
- Anthony Rendon 3B
- Ryan Zimmerman 1B
- Danny Espinosa SS
- Michael Taylor RF
- Pedro Severino C
- Joe Ross RHP
