Photo by Marlene Koenig for TalkNats
Has their been a bigger 4-game series than this one for the Washington Nationals? Kind of a no excuses game as far as the rosters matchup here with injuries on both sides, and the Nats will not face the Mets two best pitchers like they did the first time these two teams met because the New Yorkers re-seeded their rotation to make sure the Nats faced the best pitcher in baseball, Jacob deGrom as well as their No. 2 pitcher Marcus Stroman. Instead both teams will be pitching their 3’s, 4’s, 5’s and a spot 6th starter in this series.
The Nationals made several roster moves today, and the surprise of the day was Andrew Stevenson going on the 10-day IL with an injured oblique, and he will be replaced by Starlin Castro who returns from the restricted list. If you find that odd, yes, the Nats are down to just three natural outfielders which means Josh Harrison becomes the emergency fourth outfielder. Two of the other moves was to activate Austin Voth from the 10-day IL with a broken nose, and the team optioned Ryne Harper back to Triple-A Rochester. The final move was to add Rogelio Armenteros to the Triple-A roster after he was DFA’d earlier in the week and passed through waivers.
Clearly, the Nats have other moves to make when Max Scherzer comes off of the 10-day IL with his groin inflammation. The team might also add Yadiel Hernandez or Gerardo Parra as the 27th man tomorrow. Hernandez is on the 40-man roster and Parra is not. That makes the decision much more difficult if Parra is added because what do you do with him when Stevenson returns from the IL?
The Nats will have Erick Fedde starting, and he will be facing another lefty tonight in Joey Lucchesi.
With the lefty on the mound, manager Dave Martinez will have Luis Garcia and Josh Bell on the bench tonight. Starlin Castro will also be on the bench for this one, and his role going forward doesn’t look clear give the lengthy slump he has been in since mid-May.
According to Elias Sports, the Washington Nationals set a team record for the least amount of earned runs, six, in a 7 game stretch. The streak started with Max Scherzer‘s 1/3 of an inning when he injured himself and includes games started by Jefry Rodriguez, Paolo Espino, Fedde, Joe Ross, Jon Lester and Patrick Corbin.
A special treat tonight as American hero and U.S. Capitol police officer Eugene Goodman will throw out the first pitch at the Nationals game. On January 6, he led a violent mob away from our elected leaders. He represents all the heroic officers who protected America on that day. God Bless America.
New York Mets vs. Washington Nationals
Stadium: Nationals Park, Washington, D.C.
1st Pitch: 7:05 pm EDT
TV: MASN2, SNY, MLB.TV
Nats Radio: 106.7 FM The Fan; SiriusXM® ( Streaming Internet 869)
Line-ups subject to change without notice:
1. Kyle Schwarber LF
2. Trea Turner SS
3. Juan Soto RF
4. Ryan Zimmerman 1B
5. Yan Gomes C
6. Josh Harrison 2B
7. Jordy Mercer 3B
8. Victor Robles CF
9. Erick Fedde RHP
