The Washington Nationals won in a blow-out last night as the Nats’ offense pushed across two touchdowns in a 14-3 final in St. Louis. Today wraps up this part of the road trip as the team will head to Arizona next. The Nats go for a bookended sweep here today to go with the sweep from last weekend against the Reds that began the post-All-Star game action.
With last night’s win, starter Jake Irvin improved to 8-8 on the season, and finally got some big run support from his teammates. Late in the game, ESPN’s Jeff Passan broke the news that Jesse Winker was traded. That trade is now official.
That Winker trade was in-division with the Mets, and general manager Mike Rizzo got back 6’9″ 250 pound right-hander, Tyler Stuart. He was the №23 prospect according to Baseball America‘s update on Friday. Stuart is older at 24 and playing in Double-A for the Mets with a 3.69 ERA. He’s a starter now, but has pitched as a reliever in college. He was originally selected by the Mets in the sixth round of the 2022 Draft out of the University of Southern Mississippi.
To take Winker’s spot on the active roster, the Nats called up outfielder Alex Call. While that takes a lefty off the roster with Winker’s departure, expect at some point in the next 2-3 weeks that Joey Gallo will return from the IL. The Nats also opened up a 40-man roster spot. With Call’s excellent defense and his ability to play all of the outfield positions, the Nats’ could finally give James Wood and Jacob Young some days off from playing in the field to get some DH time.
We are just 2-days to the trade deadline, and the 48-hour countdown starts at 6pm EDT tonight. Expect reliever Dylan Floro to be traded, and two of the most coveted players rumored to be in demand are closer Kyle Finnegan and outfielder Lane Thomas. Everyone continues to be on hug-watch and scouring their social media for news breaking on trades.
Nats’ manager Dave Martinez‘s bullpen is in good shape as he rested all of the relievers who worked on Friday. Jose A. Ferrer took the bulk of the work last night, with Eduardo Salazar, and Tanner Rainey closing out the game.
The Nationals are slight underdogs today, at +125 to win on the moneyline. That means if you bet $100 you would win $125. Bet $10.00 and you win $12.50.
This is what the Nats schedule looks like going forward:
- Sunday: DJ Herz vs. St. Louis
- Monday: Mitchell Parker vs. Arizona
- Tuesday: Patrick Corbin vs. Arizona (Trade Deadline)
- Wednesday: MacKenzie Gore vs. Arizona
- Thursday: Day-Off
- Friday: Jake Irvin vs. Brewers
- Saturday: Herz vs. Brewers
- Sunday: Parker vs. Brewers
Your top Washington Nationals on the FanGraphs’ WAR leaderboard has CJ Abrams on the top at +2.0 for position players and the team’s All-Star. He is behind MacKenzie Gore at +2.2. Jake Irvin is at +1.9. Luis Garcia Jr. is at +1.9 as the second best position player, and Jacob Young is at +1.8. In total, 24 Nats’ players are in positive WAR and another seven are at a neutral 0.0 WAR.
“The energy that [Winker] brought every day … just a fun guy. His preparation, his routine. He came ready to play every day, and it showed. He did really well for us. I wish him luck, until he plays us.”
— Nats’ manager Dave Martinez said after yesterday’s game
The Nats starting pitchers have a combined ERA of 4.31 and 20th in MLB.
Here is how they rank:
No. 5 Starter: Patrick Corbin 5.26
No. 4 Starter: DJ Herz 4.95
No. 3 Starter: MacKenzie Gore 4.51
No. 2 Starter: Mitchell Parker 4.34
No. 1 Starter: Jake Irvin 3.44
Washington Nationals vs. St. Louis Cardinals
Stadium: Busch Stadium, St. Louis, Missouri
1st Pitch: 2:15 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 186 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 106:
The Nationals won on 07/29 at home against the Braves in a record of 57-49. They won’t drop below .500 the rest of the season. The Nats are in second place in the NL East. But you knew this already. Box Score / Standings
The Senators lost on 08/06 on the road against the St. Louis Browns resulting in a record of 57-49. The Senators were in possession of 2nd place. Box Score / Standings
