Photo by Sol Tucker for TalkNats
The Washington Nationals might be happy to see any team other than the Miami Marlins, and the team is in Philadelphia for a three-game series against the Phillies. While Juan Soto‘s status is unknown at this hour, we do know that the Phillies best player, Bryce Harper, won’t be playing for several weeks — to possibly months after a fractured thumb had to be surgically repaired.
As it was, Harper was not playing in the outfield due to a partial tear of his UCL that kept him from throwing, and if not for the designated hitter put into the rulebook in the NL this year, Harper might not have played at all this season.
Interestingly enough, the last time the Nats were in Philly was last year before the trade deadline when we took photos of all of the players like the picture above of Josh Bell who could be traded any day now.
CITIZENS BANK PARK: The last time Max Scherzer was seen in a Nats uniform; Photo by Sol Tucker for TalkNats
The Nationals have a chance to really put a further hurting on the Phillies who are just just four-games above the .500 mark at 42-38. But with a 3-team field in the Wild Card this year, the Phillies are just one-game outside of the picture right now. The Braves, Padres, and Cardinals would all be Wild Card teams as of now if the season was over. Well, we are just at that mid-point now in the season, and the Phillies already fired their manager, Joe Girardi, to light a fire under their team. They are 6-7 in their last 13 games after that nine-game winning streak that started when Girardi was fired.
But seriously, the Nats need to start taking care of their own business as they have dropped five in a row, including the last four to the Miami Marlins with two games in extra innings. Since the draft for 2023 is in a lottery and no team shoukd be trying to tank, we will make the assumption that the Nats were really trying to win, although at times you would wonder. The Nats seem to have the lock on last place in the NL East, and are only barely ahead of the Oakland and Cincinnati for the worst record in the big leagues. Questionable infield defense, bad baserunning, and poor situational hitting were once again on display. As someone said, it isn’t easy these days to be a Nats fan.
This team has not had a walk-off win since Ryan Zimmerman retired. They’ve had dozens of chances to win via the walk-off, or better yet, get a lead and hold to a lead! Yep, that’s a great idea, especially since the Nats are now on the road where the visiting team cannot win via a walk-off.
Washington Nationals vs. Philadelphia Phillies
Stadium: Citizens Bank Park; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
1st Pitch: 7:05 pm EDT
TV: MASN; NBC Sports Philadelphia; MLB App (out-0f-market only)
Nats Radio: 106.7 The Fan and via the MLB app
Lineups (subject to change without notice):
Juan Soto is on the bench again nursing that injured calf muscle. https://t.co/hZF76Rjuyo
— Talk Nats ⚾ (@TalkNats) July 5, 2022
