Game 122: Cubs at Nats
Left-hander Jackson Kent makes his MLB debut, taking the mound for the Nationals against his hometown Cubs
No matter the state of the team as a whole, whether it’s a playoff contender or mired in last place, there’s always something special about a starting pitcher making his MLB debut. And tonight, Jackson Kent becomes the 35th to do it as a member of the Nationals. The track record of the previous 34 is not so great: They’ve gone a collective 6-18 with 10 no-decisions. But two of the last four actually won their debuts: Mitchell Parker in 2024 at Dodger Stadium and Andrew Alvarez last season against the Marlins.
Like those two, Kent is a left-hander who doesn’t exactly qualify as a blue-chip prospect. But like the others, he worked his way up the organizational ladder, and pretty quickly considering he was only drafted two summers ago out of the University of Arizona. The 23-year-old Chicago-area native faces a tough challenge tonight in facing his hometown Cubs, but we’ll find out how he’s able to handle the spotlight.
The Cubs are also starting a lefty for the second straight night. The Nationals fared pretty well in Tuesday’s series opener against Shoto Imanaga. Now they get a more familiar face in David Peterson, who is making his 14th career start against the Nats, all of those coming as a member of the Mets. That includes two starts already this season, one of which saw him give up seven runs in 3 2/3 innings, the other of which saw him allow just one run in five innings.
As seemed pretty obvious Tuesday night, the Nationals did cut ties with Miles Mikolas, officially designating the veteran right-hander for assignment to clear a spot for Kent to have his contract purchased from Triple-A Rochester.
I am not going to be at tonight’s game. As much as I love my job, I decided I would much rather spend my 50th birthday with family, as I hope you can all appreciate. (Special thanks to my press box colleagues who celebrated last night, and thanks to all of you who either sent me messages or even sang to me from the upper deck!) I’ll be back at the park for Thursday’s series finale before heading to New York for this weekend’s series at Citi Field.
CHICAGO CUBS at WASHINGTON NATIONALS
Where: Nationals Park
Gametime: 6:45 p.m. EDT
TV: Nationals TV/FOX 5 (channel listings)
Radio: 106.7 FM
Weather: Partly cloudy, 86 degrees, wind 6 mph out to center
CUBS
CF Pete Crow-Armstrong
RF Seiya Suzuki
DH Alex Bregman
C Carson Kelly
1B Michael Busch
2B Nico Hoerner
LF Tyrone Taylor
3B Pedro Ramirez
SS Dansby Swanson
LHP David Peterson
NATIONALS
RF Dylan Crews
1B Andrés Chaparro
3B Brady House
SS CJ Abrams
C Harry Ford
LF Andrew Pinckney
CF Jacob Young
DH Daylen Lile
2B Nasim Nuñez
LHP Jackson Kent
Happy birthday! And thanks for your ongoing terrific Nats coverage.
Look at Boswell column today!! He is so right. Lerners should fund or sell. It's tragic that they have wasted this awesome lineup just because they wouldn't spend a few dollars more last winter on some relievers and a starter of quality. We'd clearly be in playoffs but for their extraordinary cheapness. They deserve citywide condemnation. And their jerseys for the upcoming day are inappropriate.