Photo by Sol Tucker for TalkNats
If you had to choose the best starter (minimum 7 starts) for the Washington Nationals since the trade deadline, your ace is Paolo Espino. His ERA for the season is at 4.01 prior to today’s start that will also mark his final start of the 2021 season. The injured Joe Ross had a 4.17 ERA before he was injured, and his status for 2022 is very much up in the air. Additionally, there is the lefty, Josh Rogers, who will make his sixth and final start of the 2021 season this weekend. Rogers ERA is at 2.73, and he will be competing in Spring Training for one of the spots in the rotation.
So what do the in-house options look like for pitchers for next year?
| Rk | Name | Age | W | L | ERA | G | GS | GF | SHO | SV | IP | H | R | ER | HR | BB | SO | FIP | WHIP | HR9 | BB9 | SO9 | SO/W |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Patrick Corbin* | 31 | 9 | 16 | 5.82 | 31 | 31 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 171.2 | 192 | 114 | 111 | 37 | 60 | 143 | 5.40 | 1.468 | 1.9 | 3.1 | 7.5 | 2.38 |
| 2 | Erick Fedde | 28 | 7 | 9 | 5.26 | 27 | 27 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 131.2 | 139 | 86 | 77 | 23 | 47 | 126 | 4.68 | 1.413 | 1.6 | 3.2 | 8.6 | 2.68 |
| 4 | Joe Ross (60-day IL) | 28 | 5 | 9 | 4.17 | 20 | 19 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 108.0 | 98 | 57 | 50 | 17 | 34 | 109 | 4.35 | 1.222 | 1.4 | 2.8 | 9.1 | 3.21 |
| 5 | Paolo Espino | 34 | 5 | 5 | 4.01 | 34 | 18 | 11 | 0 | 1 | 107.2 | 104 | 49 | 48 | 18 | 24 | 92 | 4.32 | 1.189 | 1.5 | 2.0 | 7.7 | 3.83 |
| Rk | Name | Age | W | L | ERA | G | GS | GF | SHO | SV | IP | H | R | ER | HR | BB | SO | FIP | WHIP | HR9 | BB9 | SO9 | SO/W |
| 8 | Kyle Finnegan | 29 | 5 | 8 | 3.46 | 66 | 0 | 24 | 0 | 11 | 65.0 | 63 | 37 | 25 | 8 | 32 | 65 | 4.33 | 1.462 | 1.1 | 4.4 | 9.0 | 2.03 |
| 9 | Austin Voth | 29 | 4 | 1 | 5.53 | 47 | 1 | 8 | 0 | 0 | 55.1 | 56 | 35 | 34 | 10 | 27 | 55 | 5.04 | 1.500 | 1.6 | 4.4 | 8.9 | 2.04 |
| 10 | Sam Clay* (40-man) | 28 | 0 | 5 | 5.60 | 58 | 0 | 9 | 0 | 0 | 45.0 | 55 | 32 | 28 | 4 | 22 | 34 | 4.60 | 1.711 | 0.8 | 4.4 | 6.8 | 1.55 |
| 11 | Wander Suero (40-man) | 29 | 2 | 3 | 6.33 | 45 | 0 | 8 | 0 | 0 | 42.2 | 45 | 35 | 30 | 11 | 15 | 44 | 5.78 | 1.406 | 2.3 | 3.2 | 9.3 | 2.93 |
| 12 | Josiah Gray | 23 | 2 | 2 | 5.72 | 11 | 11 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 56.2 | 53 | 37 | 36 | 14 | 26 | 56 | 5.88 | 1.394 | 2.2 | 4.1 | 8.9 | 2.15 |
| 13 | Ryne Harper | 32 | 0 | 2 | 4.08 | 33 | 0 | 9 | 0 | 0 | 35.1 | 28 | 16 | 16 | 6 | 14 | 31 | 4.97 | 1.189 | 1.5 | 3.6 | 7.9 | 2.21 |
| 14 | Andres Machado | 28 | 1 | 2 | 3.82 | 37 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 33.0 | 28 | 17 | 14 | 4 | 13 | 30 | 4.55 | 1.242 | 1.1 | 3.5 | 8.2 | 2.31 |
| 16 | Tanner Rainey | 28 | 1 | 2 | 6.75 | 37 | 0 | 8 | 0 | 3 | 30.2 | 27 | 24 | 23 | 6 | 23 | 39 | 5.70 | 1.630 | 1.8 | 6.8 | 11.4 | 1.70 |
| 17 | Kyle McGowin (60-day IL) | 29 | 0 | 0 | 4.20 | 27 | 0 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 30.0 | 21 | 14 | 14 | 5 | 14 | 35 | 4.59 | 1.167 | 1.5 | 4.2 | 10.5 | 2.50 |
| 18 | Josh Rogers* | 26 | 2 | 1 | 2.73 | 5 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 29.2 | 25 | 9 | 9 | 5 | 11 | 19 | 5.38 | 1.213 | 1.5 | 3.3 | 5.8 | 1.73 |
| 19 | Jefry Rodriguez | 27 | 0 | 0 | 5.92 | 14 | 1 | 10 | 0 | 0 | 24.1 | 25 | 16 | 16 | 6 | 17 | 20 | 6.94 | 1.726 | 2.2 | 6.3 | 7.4 | 1.18 |
| 20 | Sean Nolin* | 31 | 0 | 2 | 4.94 | 8 | 5 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 23.2 | 30 | 13 | 13 | 4 | 10 | 20 | 5.19 | 1.690 | 1.5 | 3.8 | 7.6 | 2.00 |
| 21 | Stephen Strasburg (60-day IL) | 32 | 1 | 2 | 4.57 | 5 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 21.2 | 16 | 12 | 11 | 4 | 14 | 21 | 5.70 | 1.385 | 1.7 | 5.8 | 8.7 | 1.50 |
| 22 | Mason Thompson | 23 | 1 | 2 | 2.91 | 25 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 21.2 | 25 | 11 | 7 | 3 | 12 | 21 | 4.68 | 1.708 | 1.2 | 5.0 | 8.7 | 1.75 |
| 23 | Patrick Murphy | 26 | 0 | 2 | 5.82 | 15 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 17.0 | 18 | 12 | 11 | 2 | 6 | 21 | 3.63 | 1.412 | 1.1 | 3.2 | 11.1 | 3.50 |
| 24 | Gabe Klobosits (40-man) | 26 | 0 | 1 | 5.56 | 11 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 11.1 | 13 | 8 | 7 | 0 | 5 | 5 | 3.86 | 1.588 | 0.0 | 4.0 | 4.0 | 1.00 |
| 25 | Alberto Baldonado* | 28 | 0 | 1 | 7.45 | 12 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 9.2 | 9 | 8 | 8 | 3 | 6 | 11 | 6.78 | 1.552 | 2.8 | 5.6 | 10.2 | 1.83 |
| 26 | Javy Guerra | 35 | 0 | 1 | 16.50 | 6 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 6.0 | 12 | 13 | 11 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 11.33 | 2.500 | 4.5 | 4.5 | 6.0 | 1.33 |
| 27 | Will Harris (60-day IL) | 36 | 0 | 1 | 9.00 | 8 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 6.0 | 7 | 6 | 6 | 1 | 3 | 9 | 3.83 | 1.667 | 1.5 | 4.5 | 13.5 | 3.00 |
| 30 | Jhon Romero | 26 | 0 | 0 | 3.38 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2.2 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1.66 | 0.750 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 6.8 | |
| Team Totals | 30.3 | 65 | 93 | 4.75 | 158 | 158 | 157 | 0 | 36 | 1359.1 | 1323 | 794 | 718 | 240 | 525 | 1311 | 4.84 | 1.359 | 1.6 | 3.5 | 8.7 | 2.50 | |
| Rank in 15 NL teams | 12 | 3 | 11 | 8 | 10 | 13 | 11 | 12 | 11 | 15 | 10 | 11 | |||||||||||
| Rk | Name | Age | W | L | ERA | G | GS | GF | SHO | SV | IP | H | R | ER | HR | BB | SO | FIP | WHIP | HR9 | BB9 | SO9 | SO/W |
There really should be a housecleaning next year with this pitching staff while understanding that pitchers like Stephen Strasburg, Patrick Corbin, and Will Harris who are all signed to lucrative deals will be part of the equation for 2022.
With the position players, we will have the annual debate on whether Carter Kieboom should be anointed as a starter again. Then there will be the debate on whether Victor Robles should be the starting centerfielder over Lane Thomas, and who starts in leftfield, Yadiel Hernandez or someone else?
This off-season is going to be a rather long one. We will have months to debate these topics.
The Nats will face Peter Lambert in this finale on the road this season. The team will fly back to Washington after the game and enjoy a day-off on Thursday.
Trea Turner has continued his hot pace. At the same time Juan Soto has cooled off to the point that Nick Castellanos is back in the race for the NL lead.
The first table below shows the only combinations of up to 5 ABs would allow Soto to take the MLB BA lead from Turner.
The second table shows what Bryce Harper and Nick Castellanos would have to do to pass Soto for the NL BA lead. Given Turner’s lead in the MLB race, comparing Soto to AL hitters is moot for today’s game.
Washington Nationals vs. Colorado Rockies
Stadium: Coors Field, Denver, Colorado
1st Pitch: 3:10 pm EDT
TV: MASN2, ATT SportsNet Rocky Mountains, MLB.TV
Nats Radio: 106.7 FM The Fan; SiriusXM® ( Streaming Internet 869)
Line-ups subject to change without notice:
1. Lane Thomas CF
2. Alcides Escobar SS
3. Juan Soto RF
4. Josh Bell 1B
5. Yadiel Hernandez LF
6. Luis García 2B
7. Riley Adams C
8. Carter Kieboom 3B
9. Paolo Espino RHP
