The Washington Nationals returned from the All-Star break on a high-note for the MLB players, and the organization that crushed it in the MLB Draft. Josiah Gray pitched a perfect 1-2-3 inning in the actual All-Star game, and top prospects James Wood and Brady House impressed during the All-Star Futures game. The Nats have won 4-of-their-previous-5 series, and started off the traditional second half of the baseball season in St. Louis, and of course it rained.
This suspended game will continue from the bottom of the third inning with two outs, a runner on first base and a 3-2 count. Who will take the mound when this game continues? We know Paul Goldschmidt will be the batter.
The break was busy for the front office as they endured three days of the MLB Draft and walked away with the highest rankings from several evaluators of A+. Now they need to get their first five draft picks signed including Dylan Crews, Yohandy Morales, and Travis Sykora. Get that done, and it will be celebration time.
Speaking of celebrating, Patrick Corbin is on paternity leave for the birth of his second child. In his place is Paolo Espino.
The starter for this game was Trevor Williams, and Jake Irvin will pitch the second game tonight at 7:15, and Gray on Sunday to wrap up this three game series against the Cardinals.
By next weekend, there will be over 100 games completed in the season — and you know what that means, the trade deadline will be in full throttle. The rumors are already going as sources told us that GM Mike Rizzo is getting most of the calls about closer Hunter Harvey, and corner infielder Jeimer Candelario. Rizzo, we were told, is also getting calls for other players, and that makes this some difficult times.
But perhaps the biggest news is that Candelario has a bone bruise on his thumb, and removed himself from the start of Friday night’s suspended game.
“We’ve got so many young [starting pitchers], and want to make sure we keep their innings where they need to be. We don’t want to tax them, and some of these guys, especially our younger guys, are coming off arm injuries. We want to make sure they’re on schedule to do what we think they’re going to do, and build them up. …
— manager Dave Martinez said
It’s going to be a little chaotic. What I don’t want to do is shut them down. I want them to finish the season, so when they go into the offseason they have a plan, and they’re ready to go. We’ll have to see how that happens.”
The Nats starting pitchers have a combined ERA of 4.57 for 20th best in MLB.
Here is how they rank:
No. 5 Starter: Patrick Corbin 4.89
No. 4 Starter: Jake Irvin 4.60
No. 3 Starter: Trevor Williams 4.42
No. 2 Starter: MacKenzie Gore 4.42
No. 1 Starter: Josiah Gray 3.41
Here is your Baseball Savant Statcast Link for the game.
Washington Nationals vs. St. Louis Cardinals
Stadium: Busch Stadium, St. Louis, Missouri
1st Pitch: 2:15 pm EDT
TV: MASN
Radio: 106.7 The Fan radio and via the MLB app
