Foster Griffin gets the ball for the Nationals in the series finale against Houston, and this one carries a little extra weight. It’s his last chance before the All-Star break to make one more impression, and with three All-Star spots opening up yesterday, he still wasn’t included.
That left plenty of room for the kind of reaction that followed, including the blunt take from Nats.Talk: “Is the goal to get the All-Star team stacked with more Phillies? How does Luzardo get in over Foster Griffin just based on the stats?”
Washington also has a busy stretch of pitching decisions looming beyond this game. The club has a scheduled off day Thursday before opening a weekend series with the New York Yankees at Nationals Park.
Zack Littell pitched Saturday and is lined up to start that Friday opener. Cade Cavalli is serving a suspension and is expected to pitch Sunday.
Miles Mikolas still hasn’t heard the result of his appeal from yesterday, leaving his Saturday status uncertain. Nate Eaton, the position player Mikolas scuffled with, had his suspension cut to two games yesterday.
The bullpen picture doesn’t appear to be changing much right now. Matt Krook made his Nationals debut last night, and the team is waiting to see how things settle after tonight with the off day coming tomorrow.
There was also some encouraging news on Jake Irvin, who threw to live batters today, an important step before a minor league rehab assignment. The expectation is that Irvin could be back before the end of July.
Manager Blake Butera also addressed Cole Henry’s rough second inning on Monday, and he didn’t try to dodge it. “Look, I will 100 percent wear Cole Henry ’s poor second inning [on Monday.
To be very transparent and truthful, I think we did Cole a disservice because we didn’t have him throw multiple innings at Triple-A. A lot of times when we bring a player up from Triple-A, it’s because our bullpen’s thin and we’re going to need them to throw multiple innings.❞
Offensively, Washington has been piling up runs at a pace that stands out across the league. The Nationals lead MLB with 500 runs scored, which works out to 5.37 runs per game.
Their pitching has allowed 4.80 earned runs per game, and the gap has been shaped heavily by those extra unearned runs tied to errors. As a team, the Nationals sit at a plus-7 run differential.
Butera’s bullpen chart is also part of the picture as the club moves through this stretch, and the FanGraphs WAR numbers now have enough volume to start carrying real weight for full-season evaluation. The OAA defense stat is beginning to show what this Nationals group has - and what it doesn’t.
Houston visits Washington with Griffin on the mound, and for the Nationals, the night comes with more than just one game attached to it.
In Other News...
Nationals Prospect Is Making This Decision Impossible To Ignore
Yohandy Morales has done enough at Triple-A to keep forcing the issue, and the numbers are starting to look like those of a hitter who is no longer just knocking on the door. The Nationals prospect is batting .303 with 21 home runs and a .930 OPS, production that stands out even with the usual caveats about contact rate and a ground-ball profile that still need watching.
What has made the conversation harder to ignore is that Morales has also shown signs of tightening up the parts of his game that had been holding him back. His recent strikeout rate has improved, his ball flight has trended in a better direction, and with his Rule 5 eligibility coming this offseason, Washington may soon have to decide how much longer it can keep waiting before making room for him. [Read more 🡒]
Nationals Make Another Bullpen Move Fans Saw Coming
The Nationals are turning to another left-handed arm for the bullpen, selecting Tom Cosgroves contract and giving him a chance to join the active roster. The move comes after Brad Lord landed on the 15-day injured list, a shuffle that had been easy to anticipate once Washington needed another healthy option in the relief mix.
Cosgrove is a recent pickup from the Astros and has barely had time to settle in with the organization, making just one appearance for Triple-A Rochester since arriving. With the roster picture changing quickly, Washington is giving itself another look at a pitcher it brought in to provide depth and flexibility as the bullpen keeps evolving. [Read more 🡒]
Nationals Made A Pitching Move That Could Reshape Their Depth Chart
The Nationals pitching pipeline took another turn this week, with the organization making a move that could ripple through the depth chart as the big league club keeps sorting out its relief picture. It comes against the backdrop of a busy minor league slate, where Rochester dropped a tight 8-7 game at Worcester, Harrisburg kept rolling with an 8-3 win over Erie, and Fredericksburg and the FCL Nationals also turned in wins that offered a snapshot of how much arms and bats are being tested across the system.
For Washington, the larger question is less about one box score than about how the club balances immediate needs with long-term depth. The minor league results show a system with some momentum in spots and some frustration in others, but the pitching shuffle is the part that matters most at the top level. However the next round of decisions plays out, it figures to say plenty about which arms the Nationals trust to help now and which ones they want to keep close for later. [Read more 🡒]