Erick Fedde; Photo by Marlene Koenig for TalkNats
The season is almost at the point where it is a dash to the finish in a marathon season, and doubleheaders will test your stamina. The Nationals will get to call-up a 26th man today, but you also have to plan ahead that you might need to cover several innings in the bullpen with Erick Fedde starting the afternoon game and Patrick Corbin in the second game of the twin-bill. You hope that both of these starters can go at least 6.0 innings, but you have to pre-plan for 5.0 innings each. One reliever that should not be available is Michael Blazek who went 2.0 innings last night with a 40-pitch count. When pitching for Fresno, Blazek threw 44-pitches and then sat for 3-days which seemed prudent, but if you follow that protocol now, that would have him down until Saturday, and you need all hands on-deck. Will the 26th man today be a long-man like Kyle McGowin or will it be a position player? Last night, Blazek was nothing special giving up three hits and two walks and one run in those two innings of work. Do you send him back to get in a fresh arm?
The Colorado Rockies will start Jon Gray in the afternoon game. The righthander has faced the Nats several times in his career. The Nats have fared well against Gray in the past except for Howie Kendrick who is 0-for-his-last-10 against him. Believe it or not, Gray has been worse away from Colorado throwing a 4.29 ERA and even worse in day games at a 4.91 ERA.
For manager Dave Martinez, this is the delicate balance of managing with no days-off until a week from tomorrow, and Bud Black in the opposite dugout will have similar issues. We will wait to see the roster move(s), and how the managers strategize for today and beyond.
Colorado Rockies at Washington Nationals
Stadium: Nationals Park, Washington, D.C.
1st Pitch: 1:05 pm EDT
TV: MASN, AT&T Sportsnet Rockie Mountains, MLB.TV
Nats Radio: 106.7 FM The Fan; SiriusXM® ( Streaming Internet 869)
Line-up subject to change (without notice):
