Photo by Marlene Koenig for TalkNats
Another rainy day in Washington, D.C. today. Where have we heard that before? The 2018 season has had more rain delays in Nats Park than we can count on our fingers. Hopefully Skittles, which is the company that sponsors the Nationals Park tarp, is paying per rain delay because that tarp with the rainbow skittles has been seen too often this season.’
“We’re going to sit a while I’m assuming,” manager Dave Martinez said.
Because this is the last series for these two teams this season, MLB takes over the decision on whether they will postpone the game, and if they did postpone this game it would almost certainly mean the Nationals would not reschedule this game as this game has no post-season implications.
With lefty Steve Matz scheduled to pitch, Juan Soto gets a very rare day-off, and Michael A. Taylor takes his place. Taylor normally feasts on left-handed pitchers but Taylor has not had a hit in well over a month. His last hit was in a 1-for-4 game all the way back on August 15th. MAT started in August with a .243 batting average and has seen his batting average drop 20 points, and his OPS drop 40 points. His career as an arbitration eligible player for the second time could be in jeopardy after the season as Taylor has shown he just is not a bench player. The sporadic starts and pinch-hitting appearances are not conducive to his need for regular at-bats. As a sub-in player, MAT is batting .143, and that says it all. In contrast, Andrew Stevenson has shown the ability to come off the bench and make an impact. Stevo in pinch-hitting since the evening of September 11 is batting .333.
On the mound for the Nats is Erick Fedde who has a 3.60 in his 3 starts in the month of September. His audition continues today for a coveted 2019 rotation spot on the opening day roster.
The last game that Juan Soto did not play was the second game of the September 8th doubleheader, but his last full day-off was all the way back on June 11th which is over 3 months ago. Even young legs get tired from all the innings during the marathon that a baseball season becomes as the days tick off on the calendar.
New York Mets vs. Washington Nationals
Stadium: Nationals Park, Washington, D.C.
1st Pitch: 1:35 pm EDT
TV: MASN2; MLB App out-of-market
Nats Radio: 106.7 The Fan and via the MLB app
Line-ups subject to change without notice:
- Victor Robles CF
- Trea Turner SS
- Bryce Harper RF
- Anthony Rendon 3B
- Mark Reynolds 1B
- Adrian Sanchez 2B
- Spencer Kieboom C
- Erick Fedde RHP
- Michael A. Taylor CF
