Nats Chat

The Nats avoided the sweep on Thursday afternoon as they shutout the Cubs 7-0. Mark & Al have plenty of flowers to throw at Cade Cavalli as he took a no-hitter into the 7th inning. Cavalli ultimately pitched eight innings and struck out ten along the way.  Cavalli is now up to 151 strikeouts on the season, which is the 7th highest in the NL.

(10:00) Blake Butera says he will not stand in the way of a no-hitter unless the pitch count situation is egregious.

(14:00) Cavalli is sporting a 3.36 ERA for this season and has improved mightily since he struggled against the Cubs on Opening Day.

(17:00) Cavalli has seven consecutive starts that have lasted at least six innings.

(22:00) Abimelec Ortiz continues his red-hot stretch as his 3-run homer made it 5-0 Washington.  Ortiz only has 30 at bats this season in the majors, but his OPS is at 1.122.

(25:00) Dylan Crews had a RBI single in the bottom of the 4th to begin the scoring.

(27:00) The Nationals open a nine game road trip on Friday night as they will go the Mets, Rangers, and Marlins.  Brad Lord will start on Friday in New York as he is taking Miles Mikolas' now vacated spot in the starting rotation.

(33:00) Josh Whetzel, the Voice of the Rochester Red Wings, provides an update from AAA. Hear the latest about Seaver King, Yo Yo Morales, Riley Adams, and Trey Lipscomb.

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The Nats were beaten 12-6 by the Cubs on Wednesday night to drop to four games below .500. Al & Tim dig into the defeat that saw Alex Bregman go deep three times against three different relief pitchers.

(05:00) Jackson Kent made his MLB debut as he was called up from AAA. Kent struck out six Cubs, but issued five walks as he pitched into the top of the 5th.

(08:30) Four relievers were need to pick up the slack, but no one fared that well.  Trevor Williams ate up the final three innings to avoid having to pitch a position player in the top of the 9th.

(14:00) Abimelec Ortiz crushed a third deck HR late in the game while pinch-hitting for Andres Chaparro.  Ortiz was inserted into the lineup once Chicago put a righty on the mound.

(17:00) Should CJ Abrams be in the leadoff spot instead of Dylan Crews while James Wood is on the IL?  Crews went 0 for 5 on Wednesday night while Abrams was in the cleanup spot.

(25:00) Cade Cavalli will start on Thursday afternoon as he has 141 strikeouts so far this season.

(27:30) Tim shares his conversation from last month with Miles Mikolas following the benches clearing brawl in Fenway Park.  Mikolas shares insights on what sometimes actually happens in those situations.  Mikolas was officially DFA'd on Wednesday after Kent was called up. 

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The Nats lost 8-6 on Tuesday night against the visiting Cubs.  Mark begins by relaying to Al that he saw Miles Mikolas saying goodbye to teammates in the clubhouse following the defeat and likely will be released in the near future. Mikolas pitched the final three innings in Tuesday's loss and his ERA is at 5.82 for the season. Jackson Kent is expected to get called up from AAA and make his MLB debut on Wednesday evening.

(07:30) Will Brad Lord get moved back to the starting rotation?

(14:00) Jake Irvin struggled as he gave up five runs in just over three innings of work.  Irvin's spot in the rotation is in jeopardy as his ERA is at 5.79 for this season.

(21:00) CJ Abrams hit a 2-run homer in the bottom of the 1st.  Abrams is now up to 29 homers on the year; just one behind James Wood.

(24:00) The offense went deep three times off of Chicago starter Shota Imanaga who has a ERA under 4.00 on the season. The other two taters came off the bats of Jacob Young & Dylan Crews.

(30:00) Jackson Kent will make his MLB debut on the mound on Wednesday night.  Kent is a lefty who began the season at AA and has a 4.38 ERA at AAA in 13 starts. 

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The Nats swept the Reds on Sunday afternoon with a 7-1 win in the series finale.  Al & Mark recap the unusual victory that was led by the bullpen for all 27 outs. Brad Lord pitched into the 3rd before handing the ball off to the recently acquired Will Dion. The pitching was good all weekend as Cincinnati only scored six combined runs in the three games.

(09:00) Trevor Williams recorded seven outs and has been impressive in his five appearances since being activated off of the IL.

(14:00) Andres Chaparro continued his hot stretch with a 2-run double to put this game out of reach in the bottom of the 8th.  Abimelec Ortiz homered to give Washington the lead in the bottom of the 3rd.

(19:00) Keibert Ruiz had three hits on Sunday and his OPS this season sits at .762.

(25:00) There is a chance that the Nats could call up a AAA starter this week against the Cubs.  The series begins on Tuesday and Chicago is currently in the top NL wildcard spot. 

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The Nats topped the Reds 8-2 on Saturday night for their second straight win.  Mark & Al begin with the offense getting to Chase Burns this time, unlike when they faced him three months ago. Washington tagged Burns with five runs and knocked him out during their rally in the bottom of the 6th.

(07:00) Andres Chaparro pinch-hit for DH Josh Tena with the bases loaded and delivered.  Chaparro's 2-run double in the 6th made it 5-2 Nationals and he later added a RBI single in the bottom of the 8th. Blake Butera got the better of Reds Manager Terry Francona when he inserted Chaparro right after the call to the bullpen.

(15:00) Andrew Alvarez out-pitched Burns and took a shutout into the top of the 6th.  Alvarez ran into trouble and was replaced by Max Kranik, who immediately saw Cincy tie the affair at two. Why didn't they leave Alvarez in the game to handle the jam himself?

(25:00) Yovanny Cruz impressed again as he tossed a scoreless top of the 7th. Cruz was part of the package that came from the Yankees for Luis Garcia Jr.

(28:00) The Nationals are 4.5 games behind the Philles for the final wildcard spot.

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The Nats opened the homestand with a 5-3 victory over the Reds on Friday night.  Tim & Al begin by wondering if the team is still considered part of playoff contention as they trail the Phillies by 5.5 games for the final wildcard spot.

(06:00) Cade Cavalli struck out out eight Reds and pitched into the 7th inning.  Cavalli is up to 141 strikeouts for the season and the question will be how many starts does he get down the stretch. He did struggle a bit though as he gave up seven hits and three of them were solo Cincinnati homers.

(12:00) Yovanny Cruz rescued Cavalli in the top of the 7th to keep the two run lead intact.  Cruz, who came over as part of the Luis Garcia Jr. trade, has shown high velocity and a lot to like thus far.

(17:00) All of the offense came off of a pair of homers hit by Daylen Lile & Harry Ford. Lile has now moved back ahead of Jacob Young in the OPS department (.717 vs. .706).

(21:00) Tim points out an aspect to the Curtis Mead trade that has been bothering him during this pivotal stretch.

(25:00) Andrew Alvarez will take the mound on Saturday night vs. Chase Burns as Washington looks to lock up the weekend series. 

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The Nats ended their difficult road trip with a whimper as they fell 7-3 in Philadelphia on Thursday night.  Mark (From Philly) & Al convene after the 1-7 trip that saw the season's fortunes change significantly for the worse.  

(03:00) Miles Mikolas reached ten years of MLB service time with the start on Thursday, but allowed twelve hits during the outing. Mikolas is in jeopardy of being DFA'd in the near future just like Zack Littell was on Wednesday. Mikolas' numbers are quite grisly as his ERA sits at 5.89 in 24 appearances.

(07:00) Connelly Early has forearm tightness after facing hitters this week in West Palm Beach.

(15:00) Quick updates on Josiah Gray & DJ Herz.

(16:30) Trevor Williams tossed a scoreless bottom of the 8th and Al poses to Mark the question of whether or not Williams rejoins the rotation.

(21:00) Andrew Pinckney homered for the first time since getting called up this week from AAA.  Pinckney showed bouts of power in Rochester as he homered 20 times last season.

(25:00) Jacob Young's OPS (.707) is slightly ahead of Daylen Lile (.705).

(29:00) Washington was one game over .500 when they began this road trip on Thursday July 30th in Atlanta and they return from Philadelphia one week later at five games under .500. 

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The Nats ended their seven game losing streak with a hard fought 10-4 victory over the Phillies in extras on Wednesday night.  Mark (From Philly) & Al begin with the very unusual moment in the top of the 11th when Miles Mikolas of all people laid down a RBI single to give the team a 3-run lead. The offense erupted in the 11th with six runs off the back-end of the Philadelphia bullpen.  Washington lost the DH when Andres Chaparro took over at 1B for Abimelec Ortiz.

(07:00) CJ Abrams 2-run triple began the rally in 11th, which led to Mikolas pinch-hitting opportunity. Abrams occupied the leadoff spot on Wednesday as James Wood was recently placed on the IL.

(12:00) Brady House homered off a lefty despite usually being far more productive against a right-hander.

(17:00) Jake Irvin pitched into the 6th and allowed only a pair of runs in his 2nd start back from the IL.

(18:00) Two pitchers who were acquired recently in trades took the mound on Wednesday in Philly. Will Dion came over for Foster Griffin and Yovanny Cruz was part of the package from the Yankees for Luis Garcia Jr.

(22:00) Brad Lord is back from the IL and only needed ten pitches to notch the final three outs in the bottom of the 11th.

(26:00) Zack Littell was Designated For Assignment in order to make roster space for Lord.  This is a clear suggestion of what the organizational approach will be in the final two months of the season. The veteran struggled in Washington as he had a 4.97 ERA in 23 appearances.

(34:00) Joey Wiemer, who had been in Rochester the past few months, was waived by the organization. Wiemer was struggling in AAA as his OPS was only .534. Wiemer had a great start of the season as he homered twice in Wrigley Field in late March. 

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The Nats' losing steak is now up a to season worst seven games after getting shutout 5-0 in Philadelphia on Tuesday night.  Mark (From Philly) & Al immediately address the sorry state of affairs as just one week ago they were two games above .500 and very much in the wildcard hunt.

(06:30) Prior to the game James Wood was placed on the 10-Day IL due to a left oblique strain.  Wood exited Monday's game shortly after he injured his side on a swing in the top of the 6th.

(11:00) The offense was 0 for 11 w/ runners in scoring position in the loss and collectively on this road trip they are a stunningly bad 3 for 45.

(14:00) Any chance that CJ Abrams becomes the leadoff hitter while Wood is on the IL?  Dylan Crews was first in the order in Tuesday night's defeat.

(17:00) Andrew Pinckney had a hectic Tuesday as he spent the morning riding the bus to Scranton with his Rochester teammates and ended it as a member of the Washington Nationals inside the visitor's clubhouse in Philadelphia. Pinckney was available off the bench after arriving in the middle of the 2nd inning and he occupied the roster spot vacated by Wood.

(21:00) Carson Palmquist's brief appearance as the Opener did not go well as he allowed one run after just facing four batters.  Palmquist has seen more action in that role, but it is not going well.

(23:00) Keep or cut Zack Littell and/or Miles Mikolas for the final two months of the season?

(26:00) Putting in perspective how many obstacles are facing the organization right now.

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It was a long Monday for the Nationals in Philadelphia as the Trade Deadline elapsed less than an hour before losing 6-3 for a a 6th consecutive defeat.  Mark (From Philly) & Al start with Blake Butera getting ejected for the first time as a major league Manager. It came in the 7th inning after Nasim Nunez made an out on the bases.

(06:00) The Nats made a pair of trades on Monday, but certainly of different magnitudes.  All - Star starting pitcher Foster Griffin was sent to Cleveland in exchange for four players and AAA outfielder Christian Franklin was dealt to the Orioles organization.  The Griffin trade on Monday afternoon cemented that the Nationals were ultimately "sellers" at the Trade Deadline.

(10:00) Did Washington and Griffin's extension talks get close at all before he was traded away?

(14:00) Analyzing the players coming over from the Guardians organization which were three pitchers and one outfielder. The Nationals overall acquired nine pitchers in their four recent trades before the deadline.

(22:30) The Nats led 3-0 entering the bottom of the 7th behind the left arm of Andrew Alvarez.  It went south that frame as Tom Cosgrove gave up to Grand Slam to Derek Hill.

(28:00) Abimelec Ortiz hit his first career homer right away as he was hitting 2nd in the order.  Ortiz was also called up from Rochester and started at 1B in place of Luis Garcia. Ortiz came over to the organization as part of the package from Texas from MacKenzie Gore.

(32:00) Daylen Lile put Washington ahead 3-0 with a 2-run shot in the top of the 2nd.

(33:00) James Wood exited the game early due to tightness in his side and he is getting a MRI on Tuesday.

(35:00) PJ Poulin was transferred to the 60-Day IL due to a left flexor strain.

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