The Washington Nationals just completed a 17-game consecutive game marathon. They could have given their five starting pitchers an extra rest day — but instead they decided to skip Patrick Corbin‘s turn in the rotation, and will keep the other four starters on normal rest for their fourth time through the rotation. There is another day-off in five days, so another chance at an extra rest day is coming up.
Tonight, Mitchell Parker takes the mound for his 11th start of this season. The lefty is coming off another good start last week against the Braves in which he had thrown 6.0 scoreless innings, and just like the week before, he gave up a 2-run homer to Adam Duvall in an unfortunate case of history repeating itself.
Currently, the Nationals have won 3-games in a row, and today they could match their season-high, 4-game winning streak (April 26-29), with a win tonight in Detroit. These games in Detroit will have a little nostalgic managerial matchup going as the two 2019 World Series managers face-off again. Maybe you will see these managers move their chess pieces aggressively as A.J. Hinch stares over at Dave Martinez.
With the day-off yesterday, the entire bullpen got a rest day. Martinez had to use his closer, Kyle Finnegan, on Sunday with a 6-run lead that evaporated quickly to 3-runs. He was also able to stay off of Hunter Harvey and Derek Law. Both Dylan Floro and Robert Garcia pitched on Saturday and Sunday. Jacob Barnes should be rested, and for now you have to think that Jordan Weems and Tanner Rainey are both relegated to the “C” bullpen. That’s not a good situation, and Martinez thinks that Weems is dealing with mechanical issues.
With Patrick Corbin‘s downs and ups this season, you have to wonder what his future is in this rotation — and with DJ Herz up now, and Trevor Williams injured, there is nobody to step in until Cade Cavalli and/or Josiah Gray are ready. Gray will pitched a rehab game with Single-A Fredericksburg on Sunday and gave up 3-runs in 3.0 innings. The team definitely needs to see more. Cavalli will do some bullpen work after his rehab start with Wilmington High-A did not go too well. It appears that Gray will be ready first, but you have to hope that Gray earns a spot.
The Nats announced they are skipping Corbin’s next start and moving him to Saturday against Miami. Of course you could certainly see Gray getting seeded into this rotation if he shows he is ready. Williams pitched last on May 30. He could be ready to pitch again before the end of June. Here’s what we think the starting rotation could look like going forward without Gray and Williams:
- Tuesday: Mitchell Parker vs. Tigers
- Wednesday: Jake Irvin vs. Tigers
- Thursday: MacKenzie Gore vs. Tigers
- Friday: DJ Herz vs. Marlins
- Saturday: Patrick Corbin vs. Marlins
- Sunday: Parker vs. Marlins
- Monday: Day-off June 17
- Tuesday: Irvin vs. Diamondbacks
- Wednesday: Gore vs. Diamondbacks
- Thursday: Herz or Corbin vs. Diamondbacks
- Friday: Corbin or Herz vs. Rockies
- Saturday: Parker vs. Rockies
- Sunday: Irvin vs. Rockies
- Monday: Gore vs. Padres
- Tuesday: Herz or Corbin vs. Padres
- Wednesday: Corbin or Herz vs. Padres
- Thursday: Day-off June 27
Your top Washington Nationals on the FanGraphs’ WAR leaderboard has Jake Irvin on top with a +1.8 WAR, Trevor Williams at +1.7 WAR, and MacKenzie Gore is at +1.5 WAR. Jacob Young is at the top spot with +1.2 for position players, and Mitchell Parker is at the +1.0 mark. In total, 20 Nats’ players are in positive WAR and another five are at a neutral 0.0 WAR.
“… then we started taking our walks, and good things happen. We preach all the time, hey, the little things help us win games. Part of the little things on offense is taking your walks. We did that on [Sunday], and we had a big [7-run] inning.”
— manager Dave Martinez said after Sunday’s game
The Nats starting pitchers have a combined ERA of 4.07 and 15th in MLB.
Here is how they rank:
No. 5 Starter: Patrick Corbin 6.15
No. 4 Starter: MacKenzie Gore 3.57
No. 3 Starter: Mitchell Parker 3.47
No. 2 Starter: Jake Irvin 3.12
No. 1 Starter: Trevor Williams 2.22
Washington Nationals vs. Detroit Tigers
Stadium: Comerica Park, Detroit, Michigan
1st Pitch: 6:40 pm EDT
TV: MASN2
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 opposing team will be online and the Nats broadcast will be on Channel 176.
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 66:
The Nationals won on 06/10 on the road against the White Sox resulting in a record of 31-35. But you knew this already. Box Score / Standings
The Senators won on 06/30 at home against the Red Sox resulting in a record of 38-28. Box Score / Standings
