From a scheduling nightmare in the first dozen games of the season, the Washington Nationals had to face in NL succession the past three NL World Series teams plus the tough Toronto team in their home stadium. The Nats finished at 5-7 to take us to this 10 day road trip in Miami.
The team arrived Wednesday night just before midnight from their American Airlines AA9721 charter jet, and the players bonded over day-off activities and a dinner with teammates. This is a work trip, and the work begins today.
The Nats had a four game winning streak going into Wednesday’s game until the bullpen blew the one-run lead they had. As they say, time to start the beginnings of a new streak.
With yesterday’s day-off, Kyle Finnegan received three rest days, and Jackson Rutledge and Orlando Ribalta could probably use another “spa day.” You can see the recent bullpen usage here:
These day-offs have really allowed the Nats to keep the arms fresh, but now the Nationals have 10 straight games without a scheduled day-off until April 21.
With defense as a main focus, Paul DeJong took the MLB lead with his +4.0 OAA, and that is for all fielders. His value, much like Jacob Young, goes far beyond what they do with their bats. Truth be told, Wednesday’s game felt like it was won/lost on defense. The Dodgers made key plays, and the go-ahead run for the Dodgers scored because Nats’ second baseman, Luis Garcia Jr., could not glove a bouncer that was ruled a hit for Shohei Ohtani.
“The [two] constants have been the starting pitching has been solid, and our defense has been solid.”
— said Mike Rizzo on The Sports Junkies radio show on 106.7 The Fan
Last year, TalkNats brilliantly spoke about moving in the direction of fixing the broken defense, and that in turn would make the pitching perform better — and we are already seeing that happen in real-time.
Here are your Nats’ WAR leaders with MacKenzie Gore on top. Paul DeJong is your OAA leader, and here are your stats leaders on BBRef. There are certainly some surprises on there — good and not so good.
This week’s star would be James Wood who leads the team with 10 RBIs and a .941 OPS. We will see if Wood gets Wood more time at the DH on manager Dave Martinez‘s lineup card.
“[Wood] is totally engaged when it comes to hitting. He has a plan every time he goes up there, every at-bat. He understands the strike zone. He really does, and he’s continuously getting better.”
— Martinez said
The Nats starting pitchers have a combined ERA of 3.69 and 11th best in MLB. The reliever’s ERA sits at a poor 5.90 and must improve.
Here is how the starters rank by ERA:
No. 5 Starter: Trevor Williams 5.40
No. 4 Starter: Michael Soroka 7.20
No. 3 Starter: Mitchell Parker 0.73
No. 2 Starter: Jake Irvin 5.63
No. 1 Starter: MacKenzie Gore 2.65
Washington Nationals vs. Miami Marlins
Stadium: Nationals Park, Washington, D.C.
1st Pitch: 7:10 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 179 for the home broadcast and the road team is online only.
Line-up subject to change (without notice):
