Lackluster sounds right. Way too few quality ABs and Mikolas settled in a little too late. It's hard to beat a team 3 games in a row. Flush it and move on to the next series.
So the offense was fine this series. Just couldn’t get anything going today which sucked. And Jacob Young becoming a power hitter was NOT on my bingo card for this season.
But the Mikolas experiment needs to end. This is so painful.
Onto the Mets. Hopefully we saved some wins for this series.
Nice series win. Against Baltimore, if you don’t bludgeon their pitching (which is better than it’s looked so far this season), you have to keep their hitters in the ballpark. Their offense is mostly 3 true outcomes, so, if you give up multiple HR’s and only score 3, you’re probably going to be on the short end of the scoreboard.
Now, on to one of the Nationals’ real rivals - the Mets, who have been playing better lately. Beating them won’t be easy.
I have a theory on why Wood has so many incorrect ABS challenges. Bear with me for the explanation.
I have over 25 years experience as an amateur umpire. We were taught to track pitches by moving our eyes but holding our heads steady. Track the pitches all the way to the catcher’s mitt. It is a learned art to track pitches.
When I missed a pitch or two I found I sometimes I was making a decision too early when the pitches was still 20 feet or more from home plate. I was missing any late movement.
I believe that James Wood stops tracking the pitch when he decides not to swing. Therefore he is not seeing those pitches well. In today’s game in the 9th inning he challenged a pitch low under his hands near his knees. In watching the replay his head never moves to track that pitch.
Does anyone remember how Pete Rose use to track pitches all the way to the catcher’s mitt? I think JW needs to do develop his version on tracking pitches to improve his challenge %.
Thanks for sharing your perspective. Obviously the Nats are not good at this, which is concerning not just in the wasted challenges not being available when needed late in a game, but also because it shows a disconnect from what they think the see and what really is the SZ.
I was at the game and sat almost directly behind home plate. It seemed like CJ and Louie were pressing during their ABs. CJ was swinging like he wanted to hit a home run instead of just making contact. And Louie not even putting the ball in play with the bases loaded was inexcusable.
When Lovelady gave up the homer to Gunnar Henderson I knew we would be in for a long day.
A not completely unsatisfying day at the Park yesterday. Sure, we lost but it was the capper of a great weekend (went to 2 of 3 games) of fun baseball. It finally feels like legit baseball weather and the team is really impressive on the offensive side of the ball. I've always loved Sunday afternoon baseball.
A few notes:
Charlie Slowes really railed against the rule in question on the Nunez play in the 7th. He went off during the broadcast and on the post gamer saying the rule stinks and should be changed. Pretty direct scorn from the usually upbeat Charlie. I keep score religiously and the stadium board initially had it as 2-U. I think the correct scoring is 2-3. But they also called Nunez out on batter's interference. So, I note it as 2-3 BI.
Lovelady takes the loss. Sure, that's per rule but it also fails to take into account that he was "more effective" than Mikolas. Sort of the reverse situation of Official Scoring, Rule 10.19 when assigning a win to a reliever when the starter can't qualify for the W. If that make sense.
How about JY. I think I heard that homer (#5) is a new high for him.
Mikolas becomes the first guy to use the bullpen cart this year. No comment.
26k+ in the house. A little surprised after the bigger crowds Friday and Saturday.
Mets coming in for four. Hope to get down there Tuesday evening and possibly for the Thursday getaway.
The rule was change in 2024 so a batter runs out of the lane if he steps on the grass. HOWEVER, the batter has to interfere with the fielder receiving the throw. To me it looked like Nas was already on 1B when (?) Alonzo received the throw, so in my opinion Nas should have been safe. So if the play was close then Nasim should be called out. But the play didn’t even seem close. Hence Butera spoke with the Ump. BUT this is based on the home plate umpire’s judgment and it’s nonreviewable.
On the positive side it looks like Nas is improving on his bunting. The nitpick I have is that Nas should have bunted down 3B since Mayo is a bad fielder, the pitcher is veering toward 1B side after the pitch , and if Basallo -who is also a bad fielder —fielded the bunt he’d have to twist around to make the throw to first.
Question: Am I just a cranky old man (i.e. "get off my lawn") when I wish Charlie and Dave called the TV games. Dan is a nice guy and Franny is knowledgeable but I am tiring of the inside jokes, mumbled asides and general lack of sticking to the game and informing the viewers. Again, maybe I am showing my age, but listening the radio yesterday I learned a whole lot more than I usually do during a TV broadcast.
Totally agree. I much prefer the radio guys. That's why I listen to them even when I'm at the game like yesterday. Use one of those ear pieces that gets the 106.7 feed.
Nats rank 1st in runs scored (255), 1st in doubles (91), and 2d in RBIs (240). They are 7th in HRs (57), 7th in hits (393), 10th in triples (6), 13th in walks (173), and 12th in SO (399). They are 6th in OPS (.738), and have the 3rd most at-bats (1,610). They are 5th in SLG%.
Their season series record is now 7-7-1. Their offensive prowess has been the defining difference to date compared to recent seasons, which is stating the obvious. What a difference good hitting makes! But pitching will have to improve to get them into true playoff contention.
Fangraphs currently ranks Nats 24th in team defense overall. They have a -11 DRS (27th), a -12 OAA (27th), and a -5 FRV (22nd).
On the bright side, their catchers are #1 in framing! They score +3.1 in this metric, after being dead last a season ago! Way to go catching coach, Bobby Wilson! What a turnaround.
It is an amazing turnaround. Great coaching, clearly. But Ruiz and Millas are doing the heavy lifting. I'm a fan of both. The Nats success will depend in part on their play. Cursory glance... I don't see any catching help coming from Rochester in the near future. Go Ruiz and Millas!
In ex-Nats news, Lucas Giolito finally made a start with his new club, San Diego. He picked up the W.
"Giolito pitched five scoreless innings, allowing the Mariners’ only hit. He was sent back out for the sixth after the Padres exploded for six runs in the top half of the frame. It’s forgivable that he wasn’t his sharpest, and walked three before giving way to the San Diego bullpen. This was his first start of the season, after all."
Lackluster sounds right. Way too few quality ABs and Mikolas settled in a little too late. It's hard to beat a team 3 games in a row. Flush it and move on to the next series.
GO NATS!!
Liked Mikolas settling down and ending with 90+ pitches. BP appreciates it
Cole Henry pitched today also on rehab
One of those days. Disappointed in the ABs with men in scoring position. garcia’s AB especially. But it’s baseball. It happens.
So the offense was fine this series. Just couldn’t get anything going today which sucked. And Jacob Young becoming a power hitter was NOT on my bingo card for this season.
But the Mikolas experiment needs to end. This is so painful.
Onto the Mets. Hopefully we saved some wins for this series.
Agree. Even when Mikolas is getting people out, there is so much hard contact.
I’m hoping they DFA Mikolas when they call up Beeter and slot Alvarez or Lord into the rotation….prefer Alvarez as Lord is good in long relief.
Probably not yet. We'll see. Most likely later in the season.
I'm very interested in what happens when DJ Herz and Trevor Williams come off the DL. That will probably be when Mikolas is released.
Hell…Littell too. Having a fly-ball pitcher as a starter is stressful.
Nice series win. Against Baltimore, if you don’t bludgeon their pitching (which is better than it’s looked so far this season), you have to keep their hitters in the ballpark. Their offense is mostly 3 true outcomes, so, if you give up multiple HR’s and only score 3, you’re probably going to be on the short end of the scoreboard.
Now, on to one of the Nationals’ real rivals - the Mets, who have been playing better lately. Beating them won’t be easy.
A little bit of over managing today.
These things happen because when these things happen people say "these things happen"
I have a theory on why Wood has so many incorrect ABS challenges. Bear with me for the explanation.
I have over 25 years experience as an amateur umpire. We were taught to track pitches by moving our eyes but holding our heads steady. Track the pitches all the way to the catcher’s mitt. It is a learned art to track pitches.
When I missed a pitch or two I found I sometimes I was making a decision too early when the pitches was still 20 feet or more from home plate. I was missing any late movement.
I believe that James Wood stops tracking the pitch when he decides not to swing. Therefore he is not seeing those pitches well. In today’s game in the 9th inning he challenged a pitch low under his hands near his knees. In watching the replay his head never moves to track that pitch.
Does anyone remember how Pete Rose use to track pitches all the way to the catcher’s mitt? I think JW needs to do develop his version on tracking pitches to improve his challenge %.
Thanks for sharing your perspective. Obviously the Nats are not good at this, which is concerning not just in the wasted challenges not being available when needed late in a game, but also because it shows a disconnect from what they think the see and what really is the SZ.
Could the difference between a live pitcher and the simulator be confusing them?
Good question.
If the hitter does not track the pitch all the way into catcher’s mitt he is not seeing where the pitch crosses the zone.
Remember when we were at 500? Seems like just yesterday…
I was at the game and sat almost directly behind home plate. It seemed like CJ and Louie were pressing during their ABs. CJ was swinging like he wanted to hit a home run instead of just making contact. And Louie not even putting the ball in play with the bases loaded was inexcusable.
When Lovelady gave up the homer to Gunnar Henderson I knew we would be in for a long day.
A not completely unsatisfying day at the Park yesterday. Sure, we lost but it was the capper of a great weekend (went to 2 of 3 games) of fun baseball. It finally feels like legit baseball weather and the team is really impressive on the offensive side of the ball. I've always loved Sunday afternoon baseball.
A few notes:
Charlie Slowes really railed against the rule in question on the Nunez play in the 7th. He went off during the broadcast and on the post gamer saying the rule stinks and should be changed. Pretty direct scorn from the usually upbeat Charlie. I keep score religiously and the stadium board initially had it as 2-U. I think the correct scoring is 2-3. But they also called Nunez out on batter's interference. So, I note it as 2-3 BI.
Lovelady takes the loss. Sure, that's per rule but it also fails to take into account that he was "more effective" than Mikolas. Sort of the reverse situation of Official Scoring, Rule 10.19 when assigning a win to a reliever when the starter can't qualify for the W. If that make sense.
How about JY. I think I heard that homer (#5) is a new high for him.
Mikolas becomes the first guy to use the bullpen cart this year. No comment.
26k+ in the house. A little surprised after the bigger crowds Friday and Saturday.
Mets coming in for four. Hope to get down there Tuesday evening and possibly for the Thursday getaway.
The rule was change in 2024 so a batter runs out of the lane if he steps on the grass. HOWEVER, the batter has to interfere with the fielder receiving the throw. To me it looked like Nas was already on 1B when (?) Alonzo received the throw, so in my opinion Nas should have been safe. So if the play was close then Nasim should be called out. But the play didn’t even seem close. Hence Butera spoke with the Ump. BUT this is based on the home plate umpire’s judgment and it’s nonreviewable.
Lindsay does a good job explaining it here:
https://youtu.be/mrdtdEjpsiQ?si=vw3j8_1kgmkC9y5O
On the positive side it looks like Nas is improving on his bunting. The nitpick I have is that Nas should have bunted down 3B since Mayo is a bad fielder, the pitcher is veering toward 1B side after the pitch , and if Basallo -who is also a bad fielder —fielded the bunt he’d have to twist around to make the throw to first.
Right. And you could see by Butera's body language that he was just making a cursory "go talk to the ump" visit. No theatrics.
Question: Am I just a cranky old man (i.e. "get off my lawn") when I wish Charlie and Dave called the TV games. Dan is a nice guy and Franny is knowledgeable but I am tiring of the inside jokes, mumbled asides and general lack of sticking to the game and informing the viewers. Again, maybe I am showing my age, but listening the radio yesterday I learned a whole lot more than I usually do during a TV broadcast.
Totally agree. I much prefer the radio guys. That's why I listen to them even when I'm at the game like yesterday. Use one of those ear pieces that gets the 106.7 feed.
Nats rank 1st in runs scored (255), 1st in doubles (91), and 2d in RBIs (240). They are 7th in HRs (57), 7th in hits (393), 10th in triples (6), 13th in walks (173), and 12th in SO (399). They are 6th in OPS (.738), and have the 3rd most at-bats (1,610). They are 5th in SLG%.
Their season series record is now 7-7-1. Their offensive prowess has been the defining difference to date compared to recent seasons, which is stating the obvious. What a difference good hitting makes! But pitching will have to improve to get them into true playoff contention.
Definitely fits into the, "...if you had told me before the season started..." category.
Nats’ season defensive woes:
Fangraphs currently ranks Nats 24th in team defense overall. They have a -11 DRS (27th), a -12 OAA (27th), and a -5 FRV (22nd).
On the bright side, their catchers are #1 in framing! They score +3.1 in this metric, after being dead last a season ago! Way to go catching coach, Bobby Wilson! What a turnaround.
Wilson is doing a phenomenal job. As for that defense? Maybe Davey was right….its not on the coaches! 😂
It is an amazing turnaround. Great coaching, clearly. But Ruiz and Millas are doing the heavy lifting. I'm a fan of both. The Nats success will depend in part on their play. Cursory glance... I don't see any catching help coming from Rochester in the near future. Go Ruiz and Millas!
In ex-Nats news, Lucas Giolito finally made a start with his new club, San Diego. He picked up the W.
"Giolito pitched five scoreless innings, allowing the Mariners’ only hit. He was sent back out for the sixth after the Padres exploded for six runs in the top half of the frame. It’s forgivable that he wasn’t his sharpest, and walked three before giving way to the San Diego bullpen. This was his first start of the season, after all."