The Washington Nationals find themselves tied for second place in the competitive NL East, and a half-game out of first place. If this was the end of July we would be ecstatic with that news, however we are at the second game of the season, today. This game features the debut of Trey Lipscomb who takes over for Nick Senzel after he broke his thumb fielding a baseball in pregame warmups on Thursday.
Lipscomb is from the DMV and graduated from Urbana High School. He was drafted in the third round of the 2022 MLB Draft out of the University of Tennessee. As a senior in 2022, he led the SEC as a run producer with 80 RBIs. Last year in the entire Minor Leagues, Lipscomb won the Gold Glove for third base. Only one player at each position in the Minors can win a Gold Glove over all levels. Also to note, Lipscomb is represented by the CAA agency.
After a red hot Spring Training in which he led Major League Baseball in batting average (.400) and ranked in the Top-10 in OBP (3rd, .455), hits (T5th, 20) and OPS (9th, .995), Lipscomb was the final cut on Tuesday and was assigned to Triple-A Rochester after the Future’s exhibition game on March 26. He was Washington’s №16 prospect by Baseball America, and MLBPipeline.com, and №15 on the TalkNats rankings.
The Nats finished Spring Training with a winning record, and some optimism on their final roster. But after a miserable first game, some of the early fears were exposed — the good news is that was just one game. Patrick Corbin gets this start and will go up against the Reds’ fireballer Hunter Greene who has had his struggles and inconsistencies.
“We chased a lot of pitches. We didn’t do that in Spring Training. We’ve got to get the ball in the zone — and hit the ball hard.”
— manager Dave Martinez said after Thursday’s game
The Nats chose Josiah Gray to start this opener followed by Corbin today, and Jake Irvin for Sunday’s series finale in the Queen City. The Nats’ home opener on Monday has MacKenzie Gore on the mound, and the Nats can choose to pitch Gray on Wednesday on one day of extra rest or go with their №5 starter Trevor Williams.
Game time temperature for first pitch is forecasted to be around 75 degrees which should feel like some Florida weather before chillier weather heads into the region after midnight and bringing in some rain.
The Nats will go with the same lineup as they had on Thursday with the addition of Lipscomb and Eddie Rosario again in center field.
Washington Nationals vs. Cincinnati Reds
Stadium: Great American Ball Park; Cincinnati, Ohio
1st Pitch: 4:10 pm EDT
TV: MASN2
Radio: 106.7 The Fan radio and via the MLB app; Sirius/XM Online for the Nats with Channel 181 for the opposing team
Line-up subject to change (without notice):
TalkNats is Celebrating the 5 and 100 year anniversaries of World Series Wins by providing Game-by-Game Summaries.
Game 2:
The Nationals lost on 03/30 at home against the Mets by the score 8-11 resulting in a record of 0-2. Box Score / Standings
The Senators lost on 04/16 at home against the Athletics by the score 1-6 resulting in a record of 1-1. Box Score / Standings
