The Washington Nationals got back home late on Wednesday from their west coast road trip, and they had all of yesterday to rest up and catch up on their sleep. Today, they have the Cleveland Guardians in town. The last time the Nats had them in D.C. was for their Wild Card clinch, and we all know how that went. Can the Nats repeat that success again? The 4-9 team from D.C. must start to win some series or this could get ugly quickly in the early parts of this 2023 season.
The pitching staff overall did much better on the road trip with the exception of Chad Kuhl. It would be a great time for Trevor Williams, Kuhl and Patrick Corbin to take advantage of a struggling Guardians’ offense while they are vulnerable. Not that Williams’ two career starts against the Guardians means much, he does sport a microscopic 0.90 ERA against them, and Williams in Nats Park has a 3.38 ERA in a slightly larger sample size.
The Nats starters ERAs are a combined 5.32. Here is how they rank:
No. 5 Starter: Chad Kuhl 8.10 ERA
No. 4 Starter: Patrick Corbin 7.71
No. 3 Starter: Trevor Williams 4.35
No. 2 Starter: Josiah Gray 4.32
No. 1 Starter: MacKenzie Gore 3.00
Manager Dave Martinez‘s issue has mostly been inconsistency from his starting pitchers and his offense that must either start hitting for power or start manufacturing runs. With 48 runs scored, the Nats are 25th in all of baseball. They have to do better, especially when they get great starting pitching.
Here is your Baseball Savant Statcast link for the game.
Cleveland Guardians 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):
