Nats Chat

For the second time in three days, the Nats rallied late for a comeback win. Mark (From Baltimore) & Al gather after the Nationals 5-4 victory at Camden Yards to open the weekend series. 

(05:45) James Wood tied the game twice and the first came following a curious decision by Orioles Manager Brandon Hyde to pitch to Wood with a base open in the top of the 6th. Wood went deep in the top of the 8th for his 12th home run of the season. Nathaniel Lowe also homered in the affair in the the top of the 2nd. 

(08:00) Nasim Nuñez had by far the best game of his Big League career. Nuñez most importantly beat out an infield single for the go-ahead run in the 9th, but also flashed some leather in the outfield of all places. The only reason that Nuñez started was due to a fluky injury on Thursday night by Amed Rosario in his hotel room as he suffered a laceration. 

(16:00) A bizarre outing for MacKenzie Gore as he recorded nine strikeouts, but gave up ten hits on over 100 pitches in less than four innings of work. Hear Mark explain why this is one of the strangest starts he has ever seen. 

(22:30) A good night for the bullpen as they teamed up to only allow one run in over five innings of work. Jorge Lopez earned his 6th win of the season, which in a major statistical oddity has him tied for the most wins this season in all of MLB.

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The Nats lost 5-2 in the Atlanta series finale on Thursday afternoon. Al Galdi hosts solo and begins with a wide angle lens look at CJ Abrams' future, as it is growing more appropriate to talk about Washington signing him to an extension ahead of his Free Agency after the 2028 season.  Abrams homered in the 8th inning, his second dinger this week, and his average currently sits at .317.

(11:35) Trevor Williams only lasted 4.1 IP and fell apart once he faced the Braves lineup for a 3rd time.  Williams' ERA is now up to 5.91 and it is fair to wonder if he should flip places with Brad Lord in the bullpen.

(14:40) Davey Martinez explains why Jose Tena got the start at 3B while Amed Rosario was at 2B.  Luis Garcia Jr. has been out all week after just having a child.

(18:00) Al reads an email from an exasperated fan, who is asking for a purge of veterans that are not playing well.

(23:00) Jim Callis, senior writer MLB Pipeline, gives Nats Chat an exclusive look at who the Nationals might pick at #1 overall in July's Draft. **** (This is a replay from earlier this month)

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The Nats were on their way to another loss, but rallied for a 5-4 victory on Wednesday night in Atlanta. Al & Mark hop on after the losing streak ends at seven games; their longest of the season.

(04:00) Offensive contributions came from the youthful trio of CJ Abrams, James Wood, and Dylan Crews.  Wood's RBI double in the top of the 8th gave Washington the lead for good. Abrams had a pair of hits and is hitting .311 so far on the season.

(11:30) Jose Tena got another start at 2B while Luis Garcia Jr. is on Paternity Leave.  Tena was then moved to 3B late in the game when Nasim Nunez took over at 2B.

(16:45) Mitchell Parker started off well, but ultimately gave up four runs in 4.2 IP. Parker was removed from the game after taking a come backer in the knee and was relieved by Jackson Rutledge.

(23:50) Brady House & Robert Hasell III both homered on Wednesday night in AAA Rochester.  It is time to keep House on your radar as there is a decent chance that he is called up by next month.

(30:00) Mark reacts to Tuesday's breaking news that Pete Rose and others have been removed from the Permanent Ineligible List.  Mark gives insight to what the upcoming process will be for Rose to determine whether or not he gets inducted into the Hall of Fame. 

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The Nats lost 5-2 in Atlanta on Tuesday night for their 7th consecutive defeat. Al & Tim run through the rotten state of affairs and wonder if any big changes are on the horizon as Washington is now nine games below .500 (17-26) through 43 games.

(09:30) CJ Abrams homered on the first pitch of the game, his 5th of the season, and his OPS is up to .880.

(10:45) Dylan Crews struck out to end the game on a questionable call. Crews' struggles at the plate are continuing as his batting average currently sits at .181.

(17:30) Michael Soroka only lasted four innings on 81 pitches. Brad Lord relieved him and didn't do well as he allowed the Braves to take the lead for good, but also did not get much help from the defense behind him.

(22:05) Cole Henry tossed a scoreless inning and has not given up a run in the month of May.  Henry only has one bad outing this season, when he gave up 5 runs in the series finale vs. the Mets in late April.

(28:00) Pete Rose was removed from MLB's Permanently Ineligible list by Commissioner Rob Manfred and this could lead to him eventually getting into Cooperstown.

(34:00) The weekly AAA report from Josh Whetzel, the voice of the Rochester Red Wings.

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The Nats rallied in the top of the 9th, but couldn't make it to extras in Monday night's 4-3 loss in Atlanta.  Mark & Al dig into the decision to not use Kyle Finnegan in the bottom of the 9th, where it was tied 3-3. Jackson Rutledge initially stayed in the game, but then was relieved by Andrew Chafin as opposed to Finnegan.  The All-Star closer has not pitched since Game 1 of last Tuesday's doubleheader.

(15:30) Jake Irvin gave up three runs off of seven hits in six innings of work.  Al points out the troubling trend regarding Irvin's strikeouts, as he only had one on Monday night.

(20:35) James Wood chopped his 1th homer of the season, but it was another quiet day at the plate for his teammates.  Washington went 0 for 7 with RISP and struggled against Braves starter Grant Holmes.

(27:10) The six game losing streak is now the longest in MLB and it seems that they are playing form behind every game. Michael Soroka takes the mound against his original team on Tuesday night.

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The Nats were swept by the Cardinals on Mother's Day Sunday as they lost the series finale 6-1. Mark & Al address the growing elephant in the clubhouse after the 5th straight loss: Is the seat getting hotter for Manager Davey Martinez?

(12:05) Nathaniel Lowe's solo homer was the only source of offense in defeat.  The bats were so quiet this weekend, that the only other Washington runs scored in the entire series were off of Dylan Crews' 2-run HR on Saturday. Hear Mark point out how much better Cardinals pitcher Miles Mikolas is against the Nationals than he is against most other opponents in the past few seasons.

(17:30) Dylan Crews made a beautiful diving back-handed catch in the top of the 9th and it is an example of his great outfield defense since getting called up.

(23:10) MacKenzie Gore gave up a 1st inning homer and four runs overall in just shy of seven innings of work.  Gore's exit was a tad curious as it seemed like he asked out of the game with two outs and about to face the 9th hitter.

(31:00) Jarlin Susana, the highly rated AA pitcher , has been placed on the 7-day IL due to a Grade 1 UCL sprain. Susana was part of the trade package in the 2022 Juan Soto trade to the Padres.

(35:00) Cade Cavalli has been optioned to AAA and was pulled in the 3rd inning on Saturday.  Mark explains the ramifications of Cavalli's roster status and most importantly when he might take the mound for the Nationals this year. 

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The Nats rallied late with the bases loaded, but a CJ Abrams pop up resulted in a 4-2 loss on Saturday afternoon to the Cardinals. Al discusses the 4th consecutive defeat for Washington just after winning three in a row earlier in the week.

(04:20) Davey Martinez was critical of the team after the game for issuing too many walks and conversely not drawing enough of them. Abrams swung on the first pitch against embattled St Louis closer Ryan Helsley with bases jammed in the bottom of the 9th with two outs and down two runs.

(09:00) Dylan Crews slugged his 5th homer of the season to put the Nationals on the board in the bottom of the 8th.  His OPS currently sits at .571.

(11:30) Trevor Williams gave up all four runs in the top of the 2nd.  Williams is currently staying in the rotation as Brad Lord is being moved back to the bullpen.

(15:00) The 'pen was unscathed in three innings of work and Al highlights how well Cole Henry has mostly been performing.

(16:30) Al reads some of the plethora of emails we received for feedback on the new MASN+ streaming app.

(22:15) A special interview with Perry Giannis, President of Expos Fest, an annual gala in Quebec, that is to support a great cause.  Perry tells Tim why he thinks there needs to be more momentum for Felipe Alou to get inducted into the HOF and why Jose Vidro's number was retired at the event.

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Erick Fedde, a former 1st Round pick for the Nats in 2014, shutout his old club on Friday night in D.C in the Cardinals 10-0 victory. Mark & Al evaluate Fedde's masterpiece, where he only gave up six hits on 109 pitches. This is the second time Fedde dominated his original team as he did so last May in a seven inning effort for the White Sox.

(12:05) While we are here, Patrick Corbin threw a good outing on Friday night for Texas. Corbin has a ERA of 3.13 for the Rangers this season and Mark tries to lend an explanation for the better numbers this season.

(17:30) Mitchell Parker had a third consecutive poor start as only has lasted four innings. Parker had immediate trouble as he walked the first two St. Luis batters he faced and both came across to score that frame.

(26:40) The relief pitching struggled again and after the game Lucas Sims was released. Sims only recorded two outs in the top of the 8th and issued four walks that led to three Cardinal runs. He leaves his brief time with the organization with a 13.86 ERA. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See https://pcm.adswizz.com

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The Nats led 3-0 entering the top of the 6th, but in less than a half hour they yielded eight Guardian runs on their way to an 8-6 loss. Mark & Al evaluate Michael Soroka, who initially seemed to have an excellent outing coming off the IL, but his scoreless effort turned into being tagged with four Cleveland runs. Soroka took the mound in the 6th after needing only 67 pitches prior to that frame. 

(9:25) Jorge Lopez & Andrew Chafin each struggled mightily in the nightmare inning, including a run scoring wild pitch. The low key positive came from Cole Henry, who tossed three scoreless innings to keep the game in striking distance. 

(13:30) The offense scored six runs off of 13 hits, but Davey Martinez was critical of their 4 for 19 effort with RISP in his postgame press conference. 

(23:00) What is swirling in GM Mike Rizzo's head regarding the state of the bullpen? 

(31:30) Washington hosts St. Louis & Erick Fedde on Friday night. Fedde has made seven starts this season and is sporting a 4.78 ERA.

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The Nats opened the doubleheader vs. Cleveland with their 3rd straight win, but that momentum was halted just a few hours later. Mark & Al reluctantly begin again with the bullpen, who overall had an awful Tuesday at the ballpark.  They inherited a 6-2 lead in Game 1, but the Guardians immediately scored six runs in the top of the 7th.  The offense bailed them out and then Kyle Finnegan notched his 100th career save.

(7:10) The Nationals were trailing when Brad Lord departed Game 2, but the 'pen still managed to give up five runs in only three innings of work. Lucas Sims allowed three runs and his ERA is now up to 12.34.

(14:30) Jake Irvin continued his season long trend of having his roughest inning in the top of the 1st. Irvin was pulled in the 6th and Al offers a suggestion of how the organization should consider handling his future starts.

(17:30) Lord had a good outing, but all signs are pointing to him moving back to the bullpen once Michael Soroka returns from the IL on Wednesday.  Lord began the season as a reliever before he was thrust into the rotation due to surrounding injuries.

(27:00) The offense came through with ten hits in the Game 1 victory.  James Wood went deep with a 2-run shot for his 10th homer of the year.  Dylan Crews had a RBI double to tie the game in the bottom of the 7th; shortly after the bullpen coughed up the lead.

(29:30) The bats were quiet in Game 2, Riley Adams solo HR was the only source of scoring.  Josh Bell returned to the lineup after missing three straight games and went hitless in the cleanup spot.  The bright spot came from CJ Abrams as he drew a trio of walks in the leadoff spot. Abrams has played at a level where he might return to the All-Star Game this summer.

(36:40) Josh Whetzel, the Voice of the Rochester Red Wings, gives Nats Chat an exclusive report on what is happening at AAA.

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