The Washington Nationals finish their final road game of the season today as the Nats go for a split in Chicago. The team will fly back to Washington, D.C. after the game and have a day-off tomorrow. Yesterday, the team had a decisive win with MacKenzie Gore on the mound in the backdrop of the news of the demotion of CJ Abrams for off-the-field issues.
Today, Jake Irvin will try to replicate his success of Monday when he had 7.0 scoreless innings but was brought back out for the 8th inning and the 1-0 lead turned into a tie game. Irvin will go up against the Cubs’ Shota Imanaga, and Irvin needs to control what he can control and put up zeroes on the board. By the way, the Cubs were officially eliminated from the playoffs by the Nationals yesterday. At 79 wins, the Cubs are trying to win to finish with a winning record.
The Nats need to go 3-4 or better to beat their 2023 win total. How great would that be to finish in the mid-70’s for a win total? The next series is against the Royals and the Nats finish the season against the Phillies, a team that is aiming for the best record in the NL.
The Nats are big underdogs today at +165 to win on the moneyline. That means if you bet $100 you would win $165. Bet $10.00 and you win $16.50.
Nats’ manager Dave Martinez finally had a situation to use his closer Kyle Finnegan yesterday after a week off. Finnegan looked rusty but had his defense working behind him and that helped secure a low drama 9th inning. The only other reliever who saw action was Jose A. Ferrer, and that made it crystal clear that Finnegan and Ferrer are the back of the bullpen with Derek Law and Robert Garcia taking on the other set-up duties when needed. Of note, Zach Brzykcy was optioned back to Triple-A on Friday and the bullpen goes back to 8 relievers since the Nats currently have a 6-man rotation.
The offensive star yesterday was Joey Gallo who crushed another 3-run homer, and Gallo is getting hot at the right time for a possible free agency. Dylan Crews can’t buy a hit and is teetering just above the Mendoza line and needs some hit(s) today. The good news is that Jacob Young is back in the lineup after a few days off after he jammed his shoulder in a head first slide. The injury looked serious at the time, and turned out to be just a stinger. Without Abrams, the Nats lineup looks like a 2024 Spring Training travel roster to the Gulf Coast of Florida.
Here is a look at the matchups:
- Sunday Jake Irvin vs. Cubs
- Monday: Day-off September 23
- Tuesday: Mitchell Parker vs. Royals
- Wednesday: DJ Herz vs. Royals
- Thursday: Patrick Corbin vs. Royals
- Friday: Trevor Williams vs. Phillies
- Saturday: MacKenzie Gore vs. Phillies
- Sunday: Irvin vs. Phillies (Final Game of the Season)
Your top Washington Nationals on the FanGraphs’ WAR leaderboard has MacKenzie Gore at the top at 2.9 and just ahead of Luis Garcia Jr.. Jacob Young is at +2.6. CJ Abrams whose season has ended is at +1.9 WAR. There are 30 Nats’ players in positive WAR with another 7.
“I thought they did really well. We kept it together. They went out there, and it all really started with MacKenzie. MacKenzie got out to a good start, and the guys were just very comfortable.”
— said manager Dave Martinez that he had a team meeting before yesterday’s game to discuss the demotion of CJ Abrams
The Nats starting pitchers have a combined ERA of 4.42 and 23rd in MLB.
Here is how they rank:
No. 5 Starter: Patrick Corbin 5.58
No. 4 Starter: Mitchell Parker 4.44
No. 3 Starter: DJ Herz 4.30
No. 2 Starter: Jake Irvin 4.07
No. 1 Starter: MacKenzie Gore 4.04
Washington Nationals vs. Chicago Cubs
Stadium: Wrigley Field, Chicago, Illinois
1st Pitch: 2:20 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 185 for the home broadcast and the road team is online only.
Line-up subject to change (without notice):
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