Stephen Strasburg made his MLB debut against the Pittsburgh Pirates
Tonight in Pittsburgh, Stephen Strasburg gets the start for the Washington Nationals. Dusty Baker has penciled in Jayson Werth who was once again nursing a tight groin, and Baker gives Daniel Murphy the day off.
The Pirates pitch right-hander Chad Kuhl who has had a rough season so far. Only Trea Turner, Bryce Harper, and Jayson Werth have faced Kuhl before.
There aren’t too many current Pirates’ players who have faced Stephen Strasburg before, and Stras is one of the Nats pitchers who has dominated Andrew McCutchen who was only hitting .231 off of him. Those stats were built up over several seasons when McCutchen was an All-Star player. This season McCutchen has regressed even further, and he is slashing .212/.288/.401/.689. It was a hot rumor in the off-season that Mike Rizzo was trading for McCutchen and it clearly did not come to fruition as the Nats traded for Adam Eaton. Our concern with McCutchen was that his speed had regressed to a point that it was affecting his ability to beat-out infield hits, steal bases, and play above-average defense. Nats fans will get to see the 2017 version of McCutchen and hope the Nats pitching can cool him off further.
Washington Nationals at Pittsburgh Pirates
Stadium: PNC Park, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
1st Pitch: 7:05 pm EDT
TV: MASN, ROOT Sports, MLB.TV
Nats Radio: 106.7 FM The Fan; SiriusXM® (Internet 869)
Line-ups (subject to change without notice):
- Trea Turner SS
- Jayson Werth LF
- Bryce Harper RF
- Ryan Zimmerman 1B
- Anthony Rendon 3B
- Matt Wieters C
- Michael Taylor CF
- Wilmer Difo 2B
- Stephen Strasburg RHP
