Carter Kieboom; Photo by Sol Tucker for TalkNats
Baseball fans have a reason to watch the San Diego Padres again. They signed Manny Machado in the off-season for $300 million after signing Eric Hosmer in the prior year. This season the Padres promoted top prospect Fernando Tatis Jr. to create a new-look team. The Nationals will be new-look also today as they call-up their top prospect Carter Kieboom. We should know the near-term plans for the youngest of the Kieboom boys when the lineups are loaded, and manager Dave Martinez meets with the media.
The rest of today’s questions will revolve around the Nationals injuries involving Max Scherzer, Ryan Zimmerman, and Anthony Rendon. With Scherzer, he strained his intercostal muscle after twisting away from a foul ball that was smoked into the dugout where he was standing, and he is scheduled to pitch tonight. Zimmerman complained of injuring his heal after jumping for a ball on Tuesday. It has been a week since Rendon was hit by a pitch near his left elbow last Friday night in Miami and has not appeared in a game since being removed.
If Scherzer cannot go, expect Stephen Strasburg on regular rest or possibly Joe Ross.
With all of these question marks, there is also the ongoing saga with reliever Trevor Rosenthal as well as the Washington, D.C. weather. The team from San Diego rolls in town with their plans of pitching three lefties this weekend. Their starter, Matt Strahm, has limited stats against the Nats. The left-handed Matt Adams hit a three-run home run off of Strahm in his only at-bat. This season, lefties hit Strahm at a batting average of .357 vs. .219 for right-handed batters.
The Nationals will have to make a corresponding move on their 40-man roster to make room for Carter Kieboom before game time. This has led to some speculation on who that could be as the Nats will have to remove a player or it could be accomplished through a 60-day IL move.
The Nationals enter this series with an 11-12 record, and they need a win to get back to .500.
San Diego Padres vs. Washington Nationals
Stadium: Nationals Park, Washington, D.C.
1st Pitch: 7:05 pm EDT
TV: MASN; MLB App out-of-market
Nats Radio: 106.7 The Fan and via the MLB app
Line-ups subject to change without notice:
