Havent give up but traded a lot of their slugging and an ace pitcher . So far little in return and thier big HR hitter is out . Also Crews, Ford , House , Nunez , Tena and Vivas can't hit
I think it’s safe to say that Jackson Kent isn’t the savior of this depleted pitching rotation and neither will CJ Abrams at 2B net many wins this season,maybe one?
The lineup is anemic without Wood and diminished after trades even when/if he does return for the season’s final 30 games.
That was a Dillon Gee Special, as Danny likes to say on 106.7. I gotta say, I don't love that this August is looking like all of the last six Augusts with zero fight and barely watchable baseball. Hard to eradicate that from your team culture when it starts in the ownership suite. They need something or someone(s) to snap them out of this now.
I have high school volleyball practice starting on Monday. It's going to be real easy to stop watching and just listen to you and Al in the morning if they're going to be totally lifeless except when Cavalli pitches (apparently).
1) why pinch hit for House with runners on second and third. If he’s the future, Tena is certainly the past
2) time to call up Lipscpmb. He has 24 freakin home runs! Batting .299. How is that possible?
The posts already entered are all downers. I encourage everyone to share thoughts on the games (I.e. strategy); what you’d do if you were GM; the farm teams. Enough whining.
For a front office that likes developing guys with loud tools, I don't know what they see in Vivas - he has the ceiling akin to the crawl space of a house built in an earthquake zone. He's a mid-bad utility infielder who is regularly playing over House (who is frustrating but has MUCH more promise) and hitting in the middle of the order. I would jettison him or Tena - or both, because how valuable is a platoon DH with one skill (bat speed) who despite youth and athleticism already can't be trusted to play the field except in an emergency? Give Lipscomb (older than both, it should be noted) the second (third?) chance that he has earned this year - he's found something of a power stroke and can cover all four spots on the dirt in a pinch. Vivas and Tena are a road to nowhere at this point, as Al likes to say.
More important than rearranging the deck chairs, however, is the need for the staff to get these guys grinding out plate appearances again, spitting on or spoiling pitches that they can't do damage on, getting into deeper counts, and moving the line more. They can't rely on Wood to carry them while he's in a t-shirt, and Abrams can't go it alone. The only guys who have been consistently giving pitchers fits since the deadline are the first base tandem. There isn't a history of taking this part of the season seriously that anyone currently in the clubhouse can remember in Washington, and they need more people than just Trevor Williams to step up and be professionals every day.
if he's not on the 40 man then he would need to be added back to that list first, which means someone else has to be dropped. That's not a problem if Vivas is DFAd.
My take on watching what they're doing is that they think that having hitters mostly work with the platoon advantage when they're starting out helps cement them in good habits by giving them some success. It did seem to work with Garcia and Mead. So I think that's why they're giving some at-bats to non-prospect players -- to protect their developing players from unfavorable platoon advantage at-bats that they believe will hurt their development.
I agree with @TheWerthWhisperer. I used to follow a Twitter/X hashtag during Nats games, which amounted to real-time whining. Happy to be off that platform. I like (and pay for!) Nats Journal because Mark provides valuable insights and the community is more knowledgeable, and mostly positive. 🙂
Hope Jackson Kent has got his bus ticket back to Rochester. At this point, it’s pretty obvious that he’s not ready for the big leagues.
Tonight’s game represents yet another gut punch to Nats fans from the management: not just a poor pitching staff, but the spirited team with the best offense in baseball is gone as well.
Who are you bringing up in his place? Let him learn in the majors - he hit the wall when he got promoted to Rochester in the first place and quickly got better. He can miss bats, despite not having elite stuff or velocity - there's something there.
He has shown something as you mention. For me, whether he stays or goes depends on his mental state of mind after last night. The first game he was composed and effective till he wasn’t. Last night he really lost it when he not only loaded the bases but threw a 4 pitch walk with the bases loaded. Tough to watch him go through that and pulling for him to rebound wherever he pitches next time.
We won't likely see him in the majors this season, but he is still under team control for 2027. He will likely make the OD 2027 roster even if its in the BP as a long reliever.
I know he’s probably feeling the pressure and I’m not giving up on him like a lot of Nats fans seemingly have already, but man Crews has been extremely disappointing during this stretch. We really need someone to help Abrams with Wood out and the other big hitters traded and I was really hoping it would be him. Extremely short ABs, too much swing and miss, and can’t lay off the high heat. I’m pulling for him but I can’t help but feel even more disappointed lately.
He’s hitting less Groundballs ( GB% = 39, target zone is less than 40%). His problem is that he’s chasing pitches outside the zone ( ~33% desirable range is about 25%). And he’s not hitting enough line drives ( LD % =14, target range greater than 25%). He may never be able to stop chasing pitches (that’s a tough thing to coach up). There’s a decent chance that he could be coached up to hit line drives. He’s been up since June and Time is running out but they’ll probably give him some more leeway. If I were Dylan Crews I’d head over to DriveLine in the offseason.
Absolutely. DriveLine clearly helped Jacob Young. At this point, the playoffs are a non issue so I agree letting Crews work this out now is a better way to go. I would move him down in the lineup, maybe 7th and see if that helps him out.
That was Travis Fitta. He became an assistant hitting coach at ROC at the start of Spring Training. Fitta left ROC in June to become either a head coach or hitting instructor at, I think, Grand Canyon University. He worked with Crews while at ROC.
They’ve given up :(
Havent give up but traded a lot of their slugging and an ace pitcher . So far little in return and thier big HR hitter is out . Also Crews, Ford , House , Nunez , Tena and Vivas can't hit
Ford entered tonight with a 110 wRC+.
I'm not mad I'm just disappointed 😔
Yawn
Hopefully Cavalli throws a perfect game tomorrow night so the Nationals have a chance to win.
Oh, who am I kidding? They'd still manage to lose somehow.
I think it’s safe to say that Jackson Kent isn’t the savior of this depleted pitching rotation and neither will CJ Abrams at 2B net many wins this season,maybe one?
The lineup is anemic without Wood and diminished after trades even when/if he does return for the season’s final 30 games.
I’m thinking 72-90 is getting pretty darn likely.
Hate to say it but 72 may be optimistic. I feel like I’ve seen this movie before (too many times)!
They are playing like a bunch of lollygaggers.
That was a Dillon Gee Special, as Danny likes to say on 106.7. I gotta say, I don't love that this August is looking like all of the last six Augusts with zero fight and barely watchable baseball. Hard to eradicate that from your team culture when it starts in the ownership suite. They need something or someone(s) to snap them out of this now.
The culture has definitely regressed. If I was in team management, I would try something different than what they have been rolling out…
I have high school volleyball practice starting on Monday. It's going to be real easy to stop watching and just listen to you and Al in the morning if they're going to be totally lifeless except when Cavalli pitches (apparently).
If the culture regressed then the core to build a Championship is not there.
Williams is a keeper
He came through tonight.
Alvarez has given quality starts also
So true. He is a real gamer.
He's the one person on the team who definitely knows how to be a professional in mid-August, I'll give him that.
Coach ‘em up… get what you can… wait ‘til next year… get a few more prospects AND wait for a few more years!
Two thoughts
1) why pinch hit for House with runners on second and third. If he’s the future, Tena is certainly the past
2) time to call up Lipscpmb. He has 24 freakin home runs! Batting .299. How is that possible?
The posts already entered are all downers. I encourage everyone to share thoughts on the games (I.e. strategy); what you’d do if you were GM; the farm teams. Enough whining.
Are we not fanatics win or lose?
(Ok that’s really 3 or 4 thoughts…apologies)
Yes bring up Lipscomb, Yoyo . Sit Crews, play Pinkney . Thats what I'd try and DFA Vivas
Thanks for accepting my invite ⚾️
Try Yean again and if there is someone else that can pitch under pressure - bring them up too.
And give King a shot at SS
For a front office that likes developing guys with loud tools, I don't know what they see in Vivas - he has the ceiling akin to the crawl space of a house built in an earthquake zone. He's a mid-bad utility infielder who is regularly playing over House (who is frustrating but has MUCH more promise) and hitting in the middle of the order. I would jettison him or Tena - or both, because how valuable is a platoon DH with one skill (bat speed) who despite youth and athleticism already can't be trusted to play the field except in an emergency? Give Lipscomb (older than both, it should be noted) the second (third?) chance that he has earned this year - he's found something of a power stroke and can cover all four spots on the dirt in a pinch. Vivas and Tena are a road to nowhere at this point, as Al likes to say.
More important than rearranging the deck chairs, however, is the need for the staff to get these guys grinding out plate appearances again, spitting on or spoiling pitches that they can't do damage on, getting into deeper counts, and moving the line more. They can't rely on Wood to carry them while he's in a t-shirt, and Abrams can't go it alone. The only guys who have been consistently giving pitchers fits since the deadline are the first base tandem. There isn't a history of taking this part of the season seriously that anyone currently in the clubhouse can remember in Washington, and they need more people than just Trevor Williams to step up and be professionals every day.
Lipscomb was outrighted to Rochester last year, so how can the Nats call him up? Maybe I'm misunderstanding the rules involved with that move.
if he's not on the 40 man then he would need to be added back to that list first, which means someone else has to be dropped. That's not a problem if Vivas is DFAd.
My take on watching what they're doing is that they think that having hitters mostly work with the platoon advantage when they're starting out helps cement them in good habits by giving them some success. It did seem to work with Garcia and Mead. So I think that's why they're giving some at-bats to non-prospect players -- to protect their developing players from unfavorable platoon advantage at-bats that they believe will hurt their development.
I agree with @TheWerthWhisperer. I used to follow a Twitter/X hashtag during Nats games, which amounted to real-time whining. Happy to be off that platform. I like (and pay for!) Nats Journal because Mark provides valuable insights and the community is more knowledgeable, and mostly positive. 🙂
PLEASE SELL THIS TEAM!
Guess we're on a collision course with 71-91 again
Hope Jackson Kent has got his bus ticket back to Rochester. At this point, it’s pretty obvious that he’s not ready for the big leagues.
Tonight’s game represents yet another gut punch to Nats fans from the management: not just a poor pitching staff, but the spirited team with the best offense in baseball is gone as well.
Who are you bringing up in his place? Let him learn in the majors - he hit the wall when he got promoted to Rochester in the first place and quickly got better. He can miss bats, despite not having elite stuff or velocity - there's something there.
He has shown something as you mention. For me, whether he stays or goes depends on his mental state of mind after last night. The first game he was composed and effective till he wasn’t. Last night he really lost it when he not only loaded the bases but threw a 4 pitch walk with the bases loaded. Tough to watch him go through that and pulling for him to rebound wherever he pitches next time.
Don’t know if we will see Gray again, but glad he didn’t re-injure himself. Took so much time and perseverance to get on that mound again.
We won't likely see him in the majors this season, but he is still under team control for 2027. He will likely make the OD 2027 roster even if its in the BP as a long reliever.
I know he’s probably feeling the pressure and I’m not giving up on him like a lot of Nats fans seemingly have already, but man Crews has been extremely disappointing during this stretch. We really need someone to help Abrams with Wood out and the other big hitters traded and I was really hoping it would be him. Extremely short ABs, too much swing and miss, and can’t lay off the high heat. I’m pulling for him but I can’t help but feel even more disappointed lately.
He’s hitting less Groundballs ( GB% = 39, target zone is less than 40%). His problem is that he’s chasing pitches outside the zone ( ~33% desirable range is about 25%). And he’s not hitting enough line drives ( LD % =14, target range greater than 25%). He may never be able to stop chasing pitches (that’s a tough thing to coach up). There’s a decent chance that he could be coached up to hit line drives. He’s been up since June and Time is running out but they’ll probably give him some more leeway. If I were Dylan Crews I’d head over to DriveLine in the offseason.
Absolutely. DriveLine clearly helped Jacob Young. At this point, the playoffs are a non issue so I agree letting Crews work this out now is a better way to go. I would move him down in the lineup, maybe 7th and see if that helps him out.
I believe one of their hitting coaches is from Driveline. The JY improvement was significant.
That was Travis Fitta. He became an assistant hitting coach at ROC at the start of Spring Training. Fitta left ROC in June to become either a head coach or hitting instructor at, I think, Grand Canyon University. He worked with Crews while at ROC.
Did they bring Crew up too fast? Would a full year in Rochester have helped him more than being thrown in the deep end of the pool?
I’ve never understood what they see in Kent, who had a career ERA of 4.22 in 44 minor league starts and had a 4.61 ERA in college.