Going Deep with The Nats

The Washington Nationals already had Joan Adon with the team yesterday. They said he was there as part of the taxi squad. Well, was that really the whole truth? Today we found out that Adon would be pitching tonight as Josiah Gray was scratched and placed on the 15-day IL with a right elbow/forearm flexor strain retroactive to April 6.

Has Gray been pitching through pain? His 14.04 ERA after two horrific starts was painful for anyone watching as well as worrisome that something was physically wrong with Gray. For a player who has never been on the IL before, he had been a model of consistency in taking the ball every scheduled start. We asked the question about Gray’s health, even though he did not indicate any physical issue after his last start. Health is always in the myriad of possibilities. But it’s also possible that the pain just came on suddenly. More to follow on this.

The Washington Nationals flew to San Francisco last night in their new American Airlines Airbus A321-253NX that is all decked out in first class luxury. San Fran is their first leg of this West Coast swing in Oracle Park. After this series against the Giants, the Nats will then go across the bay to Oakland, and next week on Jackie Robinson Day, the Nats will finish up in Los Angeles to play the Dodgers.

Depending on what happens in the Mets game and the Phillies game, we will see if the Nats are in second, third of fourth place later tonight in the NL East as the Nats enter play today with a 3-6 record. The Nats would like to win the opening game of a series, and tonight would be a good night for that. Once again, the team will be without CJ Abrams in the starting lineup after he jammed his hand on second base in a slide on Friday. He did take BP earlier today.

The Washington Nationals find themselves in the middle of the NL East in third place and a disappointing 2-6 record. They desperately needed some wins in this series, and lost the first two games of this series — leaving today as a salvage game. Once again, the team will be without CJ Abrams in the starting lineup after he jammed his hand on second base in a slide on Friday.

The Washington Nationals find themselves in the middle of the NL East in third place and a disappointing 2-5 record. They desperately need a win today, and they will have to play the start of the game without CJ Abrams who jammed his hand on second base in a slide yesterday. There is no telling if this is a serious injury or just a “rest day” for the hand.

While the rains that pounded the Washington D.C. region are leaving the area this afternoon, it brought in a cooler temperatures dropping into the mid-40’s by the late innings. This weekend series is against the Phillies, and the first NL East games for the Washington Nationals for the season.

The Nats are tied for second place in the NL East with the Phillies entering this second week of the season. The division is really struggling out of the gates with the Mets at one win and the Marlins still winless as of yesterday.

“I’m not a pitching coach…but” were not words spoken by Jim Hickey of the Washington Nationals. Those are words of my own confession. Hickey actually holds the title of pitching coach. We’ve heard his manager, Dave Martinez, say over and over that Josiah Gray must establish his fastball to be effective…and that is great in theory. But in reality, Gray has to pitch to zeroes, and be efficient in doing so with his best stuff. You also have to accept who you are as a player, and what you do well — and what you don’t.

The Washington D.C. rainforest weather cooperated yesterday to give almost enough of a window to play the game without precipitation. Today is a new day with some afternoon light rain expected after a sunny D.C. morning.

The Nats are in sole possession of second place in the NL East in this first week, and the division is really struggling out of the gates with both Miami and the Mets winless as of yesterday. With last night’s win by the Nats, they have a chance to win the series today.