The Washington Nationals have had their best rotation span this season with just four runs given up by the starters in their previous five games, and that equates to just0.80 runs per game. Unfortunately, the offense has been struggling with pushing runs across. The team has only scored a measly 81-runs over 22 games this season and that is 3.68 runs per game. Not good enough. Five Nats’ starters are batting well below the Mendoza divide.
On the mound for manager Dave Martinez tonight is Jake Irvin who faced these Dodgers a week ago in a game that the Nats were victorious by a 2-0 shutout. Last night, the Nats got a brilliant 5⅓ innings from Patrick Corbin in a scoreless start. Corbin, in his last start against the Dodgers, threw 29 sliders and only 6 were considered strikes by the umpire. Last night, he only threw 16 sliders and seven were in the strike zone and nine outside the zone — but the Dodgers swung at three outside the zone giving Corbin his best strike percentage on the slider in nearly a year at 62.5 percent.
The Nats had to make a roster move for today due to Lane Thomas sustaining an MCL Grade 2 strain. Instead of calling up an outfielder, general manager Mike Rizzo brought back infielder Trey Lipscomb. We will see how this works out.
Until Josiah Gray is ready to return from his forearm muscular strain, here’s what we think the schedule could look like going forward:
- Wednesday: Jake Irvin vs. Dodgers
- Thursday: MacKenzie Gore vs. Dodgers
- Friday: Trevor Williams vs. Miami
- Saturday: Mitchell Parker vs. Miami
- Sunday: Patrick Corbin vs. Miami
- Monday: Irvin vs. Miami
- Tuesday: Gore vs. Texas
- Wednesday: Williams vs. Texas
- Thursday: Parker vs. Texas
- Friday: Corbin vs. Toronto
- Saturday: Irvin vs. Toronto
- Sunday: Gore vs. Toronto
- Monday: Day-off May 6
- Tuesday: Williams vs. Orioles
- Wednesday: Parker vs. Orioles
- Thursday: Day-off May 9
- Friday: Corbin vs. Red Sox
Your top Washington Nationals on the FanGraphs’ WAR leaderboard has CJ Abrams at the top at a +1.0 WAR followed by Hunter Harvey, Jesse Winker, and Trevor Williams at +0.8. MacKenzie Gore, Luis Garcia Jr. and Mitchell Parker are all at +0.6 WAR. In total, 19 Nats’ players are in positive WAR and another six at a neutral 0.0 WAR.
“That’s a tough [Dodgers’] lineup. When we have a chance to put some runs on the board, we’ve got to capitalize.”
— manager Dave Martinez said yesterday
The Nats starting pitchers have a combined ERA of 4.55 and tied for 24th in MLB. Obviously sample sizes are miniscule at this point. The Nats have been slowly moving up in the rankings.
Here is how they rank:
No. 5 Starter: Patrick Corbin 6.51
No. 4 Starter: MacKenzie Gore 3.60
No. 3 Starter: Jake Irvin 3.13
No. 2 Starter: Trevor Williams 2.91
No. 1 Starter: Mitchell Parker 1.50
Los Angeles Dodgers vs. Washington Nationals
Stadium: Nationals Park, Washington, D.C.
1st Pitch: 6:45 pm EDT
TV: MASN
Radio: 106.7 The Fan radio and via the MLB app; In Spanish on DC 87.7 FM and La Pantera 100.7 FM/1220 AM. On Sirius/XM, the Nats will be on Channel 178, and the opposing team online only.
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 23
The Nationals lost on 04/24 on the road against the Rockies by the score 5-9 resulting in a record of 11-12. Box Score / Standings
The Senators won on 05/13 at home against the Tigers by the score 6-3 resulting in a record of 11-12. Box Score / Standings
