Game 28: Nats at White Sox

Jake Irvin looks to put it all together today while a righty-heavy Nationals lineup tries to provide some much-needed run support

CHICAGO – Friday night’s series opener was difficult. Not necessarily because of the result, but because of the process that led to the result. It was tough to watch.

But it’s a new day, and the Nationals will try to get back on track this afternoon against the White Sox, with a new twist to their roster: After optioning Riley Cornelio back to Triple-A following Friday night’s loss, they’ve recalled Andrés Chaparro from Rochester for today’s game. That means they’ve got 14 position players and 12 pitchers for the moment. That alignment probably won’t stick, but that’s the way they’re going at least for today.

The Nats wanted some right-handed offense for this game against White Sox left-hander Noah Schultz. The 22-year-old rookie, a Chicago-area native drafted in the first-round in 2022, is 1-1 with a 3.86 ERA and 0.964 WHIP in his first two MLB starts. He cruised in Sacramento last time out, holding the Athletics to one run and one hit (a homer) over five innings. So today’s lineup includes not only Chaparro at first base, but Curtis Mead sliding over to second base for the first time this season. CJ Abrams also gets a rare day off, with Nasim Nuñez taking over at shortstop.

Jake Irvin gets the ball for the Nationals, looking to put it all together after showing glimpses of promise in recent starts. The right-hander retired the first nine Braves batters he faced Monday in D.C. before giving up a two-run homer to Matt Olson in the fourth and then departing after the first two batters reached in the sixth. Irvin’s task today: Avoid both first-inning struggles and the long ball.

WASHINGTON NATIONALS at CHICAGO WHITE SOX
Where: Rate Field
Gametime: 4:10 p.m. EDT
TV: Nationals TV (channel listings)
Radio: 106.7 FM
Weather: Sunny, 53 degrees, wind 15 mph out to right

NATIONALS
LF James Wood
2B Curtis Mead
1B Andrés Chaparro
3B Brady House
DH Daylen Lile
CF Jacob Young
RF Joey Wiemer
SS Nasim Nuñez
C Keibert Ruiz

RHP Jake Irvin

WHITE SOX
DH Andrew Benintendi
1B Munetaka Murakami
3B Miguel Vargas
SS Colson Montgomery
RF Everson Pereira
LF Sam Antonacci
2B Chase Meidroth
CF Tristan Peters
C Edgar Quero

LHP Noah Schultz

PREGAME NOTES

DAY-AFTER THOUGHTS ON CORNELIO
Blake Butera acknowledged the difficult spot he put Riley Cornelio in Friday night, making his MLB debut in the seventh inning with the Nationals leading 3-2, then sending him back to the mound for the eighth after giving up the tying and go-ahead runs. But the rookie manager also wanted the rookie right-hander to know something good can come from the experience.

“I think he was pretty frustrated that the debut maybe didn’t go the way he would like to, but it’s also not an easy spot for him to come into there,” Butera said. “And we told him there’s nothing he did yesterday that makes us feel worse about Riley Cornelio. I told him he’s going to pitch in the big leagues for a long time. He’s going to help us sooner rather than later. I think it’s a good experience for him to go through. Whether he pitched well or didn’t pitch well, to be able to come into a game there, seventh inning on the road with a one-run lead, that’s something I think he’s going to look back on 5-10 years from now and probably laugh about and tell a good story.”

Cornelio was fighting back tears after being told he was being optioned back to Triple-A following the game. That made Butera’s task of conveying the organization’s continued belief in him all the more critical in the moment.

“Maybe he doesn’t understand, but I’ll do everything I can to make sure he knows that,” he said. “I shot him a text as well to make sure he knows we’re in his corner. We love the way that he pitches. We love what he’s going to bring to us at some point, whenever that might be. But there’s a lot for him to be proud of. He’s a big leaguer. He’s pitched in the big leagues, which is not an easy task. He was 98 last night, and there’s a lot of stuff to like. Obviously, the strike-throwing was one thing he’d want to pull back. But we asked that kid to come into the seventh inning of a one-run game, something he hasn’t done before. It’s not an easy ask. And I think him getting his feet wet like that and seeing what it feels like in such a high-leverage situation … next time he is back up here, hopefully it feels a whole lot slower for him.”

NATS LAMENT ANOTHER OUT ON THE BASES
While Cornelio’s rough relief appearance became the story of Friday’s loss, the Nationals also knew they didn’t help their cause by making two more outs on the bases. James Wood was picked off first base following his leadoff walk in the top of the first. And Nasim Nuñez was caught straying too far off third base when Drew Millas pulled back a safety squeeze attempt in the top of the fifth, costing them a shot at a big rally.

On the botched squeeze, Butera placed the onus on the runner, saying Nuñez got “a little too aggressive.”

“We just got a little bit jumpy at third base, and they back-picked and made a good play on him,” he said. “It’s something we need to clean up.”

Millas, though, acknowledged he didn’t put his teammate in a good spot by pulling back his bunt attempt when he realized White Sox right-hander Erick Fedde had thrown him a breaking ball.

“I thought I could get something easier, like a sinker or a cutter,” Millas said. “If it came to worst, I would’ve bunted the sweeper probably with two strikes. But it’s hard to execute that play. Nas is so aggressive and so fast, maybe he feels like he can get off a little bit farther. But I did kind of leave him out to dry. I could’ve bunted the sweeper, but I was trying to get something hard that I could manipulate a little bit. Maybe I should’ve just gotten it down in the moment, but it just happened how it happened.”

Despite his team’s recent struggles on plays like that, Butera insists they’ll continue to call for bunts when the situation is right, stressing they should work if properly executed.

“That’s not the last time we’re going to try to do the safety squeeze,” he said. “We’ve seen it done well in Milwaukee (earlier this month). But also at the end of the day, it’s a play we need to be able to execute. And if we don’t get the bunt down there, or we take the pitch, the runner at third has to know what they’re supposed to do. There’s a lot going on with that play, and it’s not the last time it’s going to come up. So we’re going to correct it and make sure we’re better today.”