The Washington Nationals had chances on Friday and Saturday night for walk-offs, and then were blown-out on Sunday. That happens, and with a day-off yesterday — the team is back at work today in Miami. These are the final 25 games of the 2024 season. A sprint to the finish.
There was a roster move made after Sunday’s game, and another one early yesterday. Orlando Ribalta was optioned to Triple-A Rochester on Sunday, and Derek Law was activated off of the 15-day IL early Monday morning. One other notable move on Monday was the promotion of another top prospect, Robert Hassell III, to Triple-A Rochester. At one time, Hassell was a Top-100 prospect until wrist injuries cause him to slide down the prospect charts.
Based on last year’s win total of 71-games, the Nats need to go 11-14 or better to beat that total. To beat the 66-win total from FanGraphs, the Nats need to win 6 more games. There are just 25-games remaining in the season. The team needs to win 2 more games to avoid triple-digit losses.
The Nats are slight underdogs today, at +105 to win on the moneyline. That means if you bet $100 you would win $105. Bet $10.00 and you win $10.50.
Nats’ manager Dave Martinez had Monday’s day-off as a rest day for everyone. With Law back, and a 9-man bullpen, the Nats have a deep bullpen with another day-off on Monday. Kyle Finnegan sat again and he is obviously fresh.
This is what the Nats schedule looks like going forward:
- Tuesday: Patrick Corbin vs. Marlins
- Wednesday: MacKenzie Gore vs. Marlins
- Thursday: Jake Irvin vs. Pirates
- Friday: DJ Herz vs. Pirates
- Saturday: Mitchell Parker vs. Pirates
- Sunday: Corbin vs. Pirates
- Monday: Day-off September 9
- Tuesday: Gore vs. Atlanta
- Wednesday: Irvin vs. Atlanta
Your top Washington Nationals on the FanGraphs’ WAR leaderboard has Luis Garcia Jr. atop of the WAR rankings at +2.9, Jacob Young at +2.7 and CJ Abrams at +1.8. In total, 28 Nats’ players are in positive WAR and another seven are at a neutral 0.0 WAR.
“We’re going to pound the same message: We’ve got to catch the baseball. It was awful today. I can’t say nothing about it. Our defense was not there.”
— Nats’ manager Dave Martinez said after Sunday’s game
“I thought [Mitchell Parker] threw the ball really well. We’ve got to play defense behind him. You can’t drive in runs — and let in three or four more runs. You’ve got to catch the baseball. Defense is a big part of the game. I say that all the time. We’ve got to catch the ball.”
The Nats starting pitchers have a combined ERA of 4.43 and 22nd in MLB.
Here is how they rank:
No. 5 Starter: Patrick Corbin 5.50
No. 4 Starter: MacKenzie Gore 4.45
No. 3 Starter: Mitchell Parker 4.27
No. 2 Starter: DJ Herz 4.09
No. 1 Starter: Jake Irvin 4.08
Washington Nationals vs. Miami Marlins
Stadium: loanDepot park, Miami, Florida
1st Pitch: 6:40 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, 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 138:
The Nationals lost on 09/04 at home against the Mets with a record of 78-60. The Nats are in second place in the NL East. But you knew this already. Box Score / Standings
The Senators won on 09/11 on the road against the Philadelphia Athletics resulting in a record of 81-57. The Senators have sole possession of first place and ahead of the Yankees. Box Score / Standings
