The Washington Nationals are back home and have the Marlins for the weekend. Tonight is Mike Rizzo bobblehead night, and the first 20,000 fans will snag one of those. Tonight’s starter, MacKenzie Gore, is pitching on extra rest due to a fingernail problem. Gore pitched to a Nats win over Atlanta on June 8.
The Marlins activated RHP Shaun Anderson for this game. They got him from Texas, and the rumors of Miami going with fireballer Max Meyer turned out to be false. Anderson was originally drafted by the Nats in the 40th round out of high school in 2013. He had a strong commitment to the University of Florida where he ended up going. He re-entered the draft three years later and was taken in the third round by Boston and has been a journeyman ever since with his seventh different MLB team, and his 10th organization which includes two separate times with the Texas Rangers.
Manager Dave Martinez went to his “B” bullpen yesterday and the game blew up. That gave him the chance to rest closer, Kyle Finnegan, who had pitched on Tuesday and Wednesday, logging 2⅓ innings and 34 combined pitches. Hunter Harvey pitched 2⅔ innings and 48 max-effort pitches on Tuesday and Wednesday, and you can bet he could use another day-off. Derek Law entered in a tie game and gave up a run, then the Nats tied it again, and then Law gave up three more runs. He pitched another 1⅓ innings yesterday on 23-pitches. Dylan Floro got a rest day yesterday. Robert Garcia threw 22-pitches on Wednesday and added to the misery while retiring no batters on Thursday. Jacob Barnes pitched just 1/3 of an inning, and Tanner Rainey pitched his most promising inning of the season — albeit in a 7-2 blowout low lev inning. Jordan Weems did not pitch at all in the Detroit series.
With Trevor Williams on the 15-day IL, he pitched last on May 30. When he was placed on the IL, Martinez told the media that he would be shutdown for a period of tw0-week. We are at the two-week mark today. Do we get an update today? Will that shutdown be extended?
Pitching tonight in a rehab start with Double-A Harrisburg is Josiah Gray. The team is cautiously building him back up and Rizzo said on Wednesday to expect 4.0 innings and approximately 60-pitches. That could mean one-to-two more starts after this one if Gray pitches well. Here’s what we think the starting rotation could look like going forward without Gray, Williams, and Cade Cavalli:
- Friday: MacKenzie Gore vs. Marlins
- Saturday: DJ Herz vs. Marlins
- Sunday: Mitchell Parker vs. Marlins
- Monday: Day-off June 17
- Tuesday: Jake Irvin vs. Diamondbacks
- Wednesday: Patrick Corbin vs. Diamondbacks (Josiah Gray rehab start)
- Thursday: Gore vs. Diamondbacks
- Friday: Herz vs. Rockies
- Saturday: Parker vs. Rockies
- Sunday: Irvin vs. Rockies
- Monday: Corbin vs. Padres
- Tuesday: Gore vs. Padres
- Wednesday: 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, and Trevor Williams at +1.7 WAR, and MacKenzie Gore is at +1.5 WAR. CJ Abrams reclaims the top spot with +1.3 for position players with Jacob Young right behind him at +1.2 WAR. Mitchell Parker is at the +1.0 mark. In total, 20 Nats’ players are in positive WAR and another four are at a neutral 0.0 WAR. Eddie Rosario drops to -0.8 WAR and Keibert Ruiz is at -1.1 WAR.
“Look, we rely on these [bullpen] guys throughout the whole year, and they’ve done really well. It just didn’t happen today. … It’s just one game. We won the series, and start a fresh one.”
— manager Dave Martinez said after yesterday’s game
The Nats starting pitchers have a combined ERA of 3.92 and 14th in MLB. The Nats are 17 points from being the 12th best starting rotation by ERA.
Here is how they rank:
No. 5 Starter: Patrick Corbin 5.84
No. 4 Starter: MacKenzie Gore 3.44
No. 3 Starter: Mitchell Parker 3.21
No. 2 Starter: Jake Irvin 3.00
No. 1 Starter: Trevor Williams 2.22
Washington Nationals vs. Miami Marlins
Stadium: Nationals Park, Washington, D.C.
1st Pitch: 6:45 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, tune to Channel 176 for the home broadcast and the road team is 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 69:
The Nationals won on 06/14 at home against the Diamondbacks resulting in a record of 32-37. But you knew this already. Box Score / Standings
The Senators won on 07/02 at home against the Red Sox resulting in a record of 41-28. Box Score / Standings
