Photo by Steve Mears for TalkNats
For some fans who have been out of it for a while they might be wondering why Josh Bell and Juan Soto are in Padres jerseys, and C.J. Abrams is in a Washington Nationals jersey. That blockbuster trade has propelled the Nationals farm system into a top-half of the Majors’ farm system. It is much better than the Nats’ preseason rankings of bottom of the barrel — that’s for sure. The Nats have Abrams starting at shorstop tonight, and MacKenzie Gore is on the 15-day IL and will do some throwing this week as he recovers from some arm soreness.
Speaking of the IL, Erick Fedde threw 63- pitches yesterday in a tidy 4-inning scoreless outing in Triple-A, and can either get activated to pitch early next week for the Nats or stay with Rochester and get stretched out further.
With top pitching prospect Cade Cavalli, Fedde, and Gore as possibilities for the starting rotation, fans would certainly like to see a glimpse of the future. Who stays, and who goes, is the million dollar question or even the 23.3 million dollar question with Patrick Corbin who was out-pitched in the Cubs series this week by former reliever Cory Abbott. Actually Abbott out-pitched both Corbin and Josiah Gray. Abbott pitched 6.0 innings of 2-run baseball yesterday with just one pitch (a 2-run homer) that bit him. This does not imply that Abbott is some ace in the waiting, just that he pitched better than Corbin and Gray.
Washington Nationals vs. San Diego Padres
Stadium: Petco Park, San Diego, California
1st Pitch: 9:40 pm EDT
TV: MASN; Bally Sports Network; MLB App (out-of-network only)
Nats Radio: 106.7 The Fan and via the MLB app
Lineups (subject to change without notice):
