Some were calling MacKenzie Gore‘s win “crucial” as an early season test for this Washington Nationals’ team. Maybe not all salvage wins are created equal to others. After two consecutive poor starts by Patrick Corbin and Josiah Gray to begin this 2023 season, yesterday’s win calmed fans down. We all knew this team was not going to be great, but why panic when you knew going into the season that the Braves had the upper hand pitching Max Fried and Spencer Strider in those first two games to start the season.
Now we are up to the fourth game of the season, and we will get to see the Nats’ debut of Trevor Williams, who was perhaps the team’s biggest free agent acquisition on a two-year deal. Of interest to some, Chad Kuhl is listed as tomorrow’s starter which means that Corbin will start Thursday’s getaway game with an extra day’s rest. Manager Dave Martinez could have pitched Corbin on regular rest and skipped Kuhl’s start.
Today’s lineup has CJ Abrams back in there at shortstop, and Ildemaro Vargas will get the start in left field to give his manager another batter who can swing from the left-side. We saw a little bit of that preview in Spring Training. Now with Corey Dickerson on the 10-day IL, this is now a test for the team to see if this works out over going with Alex Call.
Here is a Baseball Savant Statcast preview for this game.
And the Statcast livestream is also available.
Tampa Bay Rays vs. Washington Nationals
Stadium: Nationals Park, Washington, D.C.
1st Pitch: 7:05 pm EDT
TV: MASN
Radio: 106.7 The Fan radio and via the MLB app
Line-up subject to change (without notice):
