The Washington Nationals Thread: The Future is Near!

[TheGoodBits]

8 hours ago, mammajamma said:

So... any move at 2nd for tomorrow? I love Cabrera, but that was pretty bad at the plate tonight

 

Didn't he get a hit last night? Zimm immediately grounded into a doubleplay, but pretty sure Cabrera singled. 

 

Not unexpected that he would take a bit to get going with the long layoff. I'd keep him in the lineup against Verlander. Good career numbers against him, good lefty-righty matchup. 

[Spaceman Spiff]

Nats have to feel amazing taking game 1 and beating Cole who's been unbeatable since May.  That's a huge, huge confidence builder.  They didn't back down an inch after the Astros got to Scherzer in the first.  

 

Scherzer didn't have his best stuff last night but the way he grinded and limited damage was awesome.  Obviously games where guys strike out 10 or 12 guys and go 7+ innings are great, but give me a performance like he had last night any day of the week.  That's true ace **** right there.  Made some big pitches when he absolutely had to, kept the Astros at bay after the first and ultimately gave his team a chance to win.

 

What I don't like, obviously, is that the Nats had to get to their bullpen last night and probably use a reliever or two more than they wanted to.   Strasburg has got to go 6+ tonight.  

 

But man, what a game.  That was awesome.  

Edited October 23, 2019 by Spaceman Spiff

[TheGoodBits]

2 minutes ago, Spaceman Spiff said:

 

What I don't like, obviously, is that the Nats had to get to their bullpen last night and probably use a reliever or two more than they wanted to.   Strasburg has got to go 6+ tonight.  

 

 

Pitch counts for everyone they used weren't horrible. Presumably Corbin isn't pitching again, so they'll fall back on Rainey, Doolittle, and Hudson again. I think Hudson threw the most pitches out of the three. Doolittle was pretty efficient. Rainey's been 50/50 with command so hopefully he doesn't have the same issues again tonight. 

 

But overall agree, with all of our bullpen having pitched last night, really need a strong lockdown performance from Strasburg tonight, ideally 7IP, and hopefully the offense delivers some runs for us as well. 

[Spaceman Spiff]

5 minutes ago, skinsfan_1215 said:

 

Pitch counts for everyone they used weren't horrible. Presumably Corbin isn't pitching again, so they'll fall back on Rainey, Doolittle, and Hudson again. I think Hudson threw the most pitches out of the three. Doolittle was pretty efficient. Rainey's been 50/50 with command so hopefully he doesn't have the same issues again tonight. 

 

But overall agree, with all of our bullpen having pitched last night, really need a strong lockdown performance from Strasburg tonight, ideally 7IP, and hopefully the offense delivers some runs for us as well. 

 

Yep.  I think the Nats can win this Series if Fernando Rodney (is he on the WS roster?) doesn't make an appearance.  If Rodney is getting into games, it's most likely not a good sign.

Edited October 23, 2019 by Spaceman Spiff

[Riggo#44]

12 minutes ago, Spaceman Spiff said:

 

Yep.  I think the Nats can win this Series if Fernando Rodney (is he on the WS roster?) doesn't make an appearance.  If Rodney is getting into games, it's most likely not a good sign.

 

I think he'd be fourth behind Rainey. Suero is not one I want to see, at all.

[tshile]

29 minutes ago, Spaceman Spiff said:

What I don't like, obviously, is that the Nats had to get to their bullpen last night and probably use a reliever or two more than they wanted to

yeah but they did it for a win on the road.

 

if they lost and did this, i'd be concerned. 

 

(note: i know zero baseball strategy)

 

[Forehead]

I wouldn't expect more than six tonight out of Stras.  The Astros lineup is a lot like ours, they're good at taking pitches and working counts, you saw it last night.  I'd still expect some strikeouts, but they aren't going to weakly swing at every changeup Stras throws, the way the Cardinals did.

 

I'd prefer to get a game where it isn't close, like five runs or more.  I'd even be okay with it being the Astros if it was in game 4 and we're up 3-0.  But a game where we can use some of the other bullpen arms and give Hudson and Doolittle a break.  The Astros lineup is too patient for us to expect seven out of the starter as if it is a given.

[Warhead36]

Yeah expecting 7 is tough from any starter this series. I'd be happy with 6 IP and 3 ER or less.

[StillUnknown]

Doolittle brought up that the  adrenaline of the world series moment compensates for arm fatigue. He was more concerned with missing spots due to overthrowing as opposed to having a tired arm

 

Delicate balance indeed. This Astros offense is hell because they dont chase pitches. High pitch counts will likely be the norm for this series. Go down with your best arms. If we reach the suero/guerra portion of the pen, the game is likely a lost cause by that point anyway

Edited October 23, 2019 by StillUnknown

[TheGoodBits]

14 minutes ago, Riggo#44 said:

 

I think he'd be fourth behind Rainey. Suero is not one I want to see, at all.

 

Agree. Rodney can be called upon in spots. Probably high leverage ones at that. He's not a *great* pitcher at this late stage of his career, but he seems to do much better when he's well rested. And right now he's VERY well rested. IIRC he had a good appearance in the NLDS. 

[StillUnknown]

Getting game 1 was huge man. All the pressure is on the astros tonight. Tight asses will be out in abundance tonight, particularly if we can grab an early run or two

 

On the nats talk podcast, Dybas mentioned that judging by the nats pregame workouts, they are still pretty loose and having fun. They're not letting the magnitude of the moment weigh them down

Edited October 23, 2019 by StillUnknown

[Forehead]

1 minute ago, StillUnknown said:

Getting game 1 was huge man. All the pressure is on the astros tonight. Tight asses will be out in abundance tonight, particularly if we can grab an early run or two

 

There's a lot to like here.  The fact that we took down Cole, that Max didn't have his best stuff, that Rendon and Kendrick were a combined 0-8 but we got contributions from the bottom of the order.  I'm hoping it all has a ripple effect and we can come home with two games in hand.

[PleaseBlitz]

11 minutes ago, Forehead said:

I wouldn't expect more than six tonight out of Stras.  The Astros lineup is a lot like ours, they're good at taking pitches and working counts, you saw it last night.  I'd still expect some strikeouts, but they aren't going to weakly swing at every changeup Stras throws, the way the Cardinals did.

 

I'd prefer to get a game where it isn't close, like five runs or more.  I'd even be okay with it being the Astros if it was in game 4 and we're up 3-0.  But a game where we can use some of the other bullpen arms and give Hudson and Doolittle a break.  The Astros lineup is too patient for us to expect seven out of the starter as if it is a given.

 

I really expect a good game out of Stras tonight.  Scherzer struggled because he was missing his target and pulled a lot of pitches.  Luckily, a slightly off Scherzer is still pretty freaking good.  If Stras is regular Stras, he has a lot of swing and miss stuff that ends up in the zone or just off of it.  

 

And also agree that the only way the Nat's bullpen (i.e., Doo and Hudson plus whatever starter they are thinking about using that night) gets a rest is if the game is out of hand, either way, and they can send in Rodney et al without worrying too much about it.  

[TheGoodBits]

1 minute ago, Forehead said:

 

Rendon and Kendrick were a combined 0-8 

 

On that note, both of those guys are gonna have to step the **** up the rest of the series because I don't think Soto is going to get a single good pitch to hit from now until April. 

[PleaseBlitz]

4 minutes ago, StillUnknown said:

Getting game 1 was huge man. All the pressure is on the astros tonight. Tight asses will be out in abundance tonight, particularly if we can grab an early run or two

 

Yep.  The game tonight is like playing with house money for the Nats.  With Strasburg on the bump.

[Spaceman Spiff]

28 minutes ago, Riggo#44 said:

 

I think he'd be fourth behind Rainey. Suero is not one I want to see, at all.

 

I haven't liked what I've seen from Suero at all.  

[Dan T.]

41 minutes ago, skinsfan_1215 said:

 

Pitch counts for everyone they used weren't horrible. Presumably Corbin isn't pitching again, so they'll fall back on Rainey, Doolittle, and Hudson again. I think Hudson threw the most pitches out of the three. Doolittle was pretty efficient. Rainey's been 50/50 with command so hopefully he doesn't have the same issues again tonight. 

 

But overall agree, with all of our bullpen having pitched last night, really need a strong lockdown performance from Strasburg tonight, ideally 7IP, and hopefully the offense delivers some runs for us as well. 

 

It was pretty clear that the moment got to Tanner Rainey a little bit.  He looked just a bit overhyped and - not exactly panicked, but struggling to control the adrenaline. That said,  Davey got him out on time and with no damage from the walks. 

 

So he got thrown into the fire and got burned a bit, but came out largely unscathed.  With that under his belt, he'll be much more settled next time he's called upon.

[Riggo#44]

1 minute ago, Spaceman Spiff said:

 

I haven't liked what I've seen from Suero at all.  

 

He's got the stuff, but he just hasn't mastered the command yet.

[StillUnknown]

2 minutes ago, Spaceman Spiff said:

 

I haven't liked what I've seen from Suero at all.  

 

Only good thing about Suero is that you usually what you're getting after the first 2 pitches. He has rare moments of brilliance, especially when rested. Might be useful for a batter or 2 in a low leverage situation 

[Riggo#44]

 

[Dan T.]

19 minutes ago, Forehead said:

I wouldn't expect more than six tonight out of Stras.  The Astros lineup is a lot like ours, they're good at taking pitches and working counts, you saw it last night.  I'd still expect some strikeouts, but they aren't going to weakly swing at every changeup Stras throws, the way the Cardinals did.

 

The problem last night was that Max couldn't get anywhere close on his slider and breaking stuff, so it was way too easy to take pitches.  He went full count on something like 9 or 10 batters, and a big part of that was so many balls thrown 58 feet or way off the plate.  He was overthrowing his slider. Suzuki was like a hockey goalie back there for much of the game, blocking shots.

 

Stras' waste pitches will be tougher for the Astros to spit on.

[Forehead]

Yeah, on that note, Kurt's bat has been quiet this postseason, but his defense last night can't be understated, that kept us in the game multiple times early on.

[Bacon]

26 minutes ago, skinsfan_1215 said:

 

On that note, both of those guys are gonna have to step the **** up the rest of the series because I don't think Soto is going to get a single good pitch to hit from now until April. 

 

He's going to need to take walks, which would still be supremely useful against guys like Verlander. Anything that adds pressure or anxiety to the situation with the heart of the order up is a win for us. 

 

It could be advantageous to move Zimmerman up in the order, but I don't mind where he is now. 

[StillUnknown]

All in all, i thought the homeplate umpire had a good night last night. I dont remember any egregious misses, although Springer definitely should have been out in the first. We did benefit from a pretty blatant missed catcher's interference

 

Hopefully the rest of the umps will continue to play the background role.

[PleaseBlitz]

May be nothing, but per The Athletic regarding Carlos Correa:

 

Quote

In the first inning, the Houston shortstop ranged far to his right to try and snag a ground ball from Trea Turner. He got it, but wasn’t able to get the out. He touched the small of his back when he got up, almost reflexively.

 

Later in the game, he made the great defensive play.

 

But was there a cost? Again, when Correa got up, he touched the small of his back. That back cost him a chunk of this season, and there’s other evidence it’s hurting in these playoffs. He’s averaging 86.7 mph on balls in play this postseason, which would be a full three ticks below his average exit velocity for his career.

 

Correa has had dips in his exit velocity like this before in his career, and when asked about it, admitted that they pointed to an underlying injury.

 

“Some parts of the body are hurting, so you have to lay off some things and deal with some things,” he told me when I asked about it in 2016. “It’s something that people don’t know, but obviously you know.”