The Nats began their road trip with a 7-3 victory in Milwaukee on Friday night. Al & Mark have more praise for James Wood, who came through with four hits in the win. Wood had a pair of singles and a couple of doubles to lift his OPS to .930. (04:00) Wash
Mr. Wood is certainly locked in right now. He is back to being that guy that pitchers have no safe spot. In the month of April he is slugging at least .500 on 5 different pitches. He's HR'd on a 4 seam, a sinker and a slider.
Since April 3, over 7 games and across 29 at-bats, James Wood has 12 hits, 3 doubles, 3 homers, 8 RBI, 5 walks, 8 K and a stolen base. That’s a slash line of:
Danielle Allentuck has an interesting piece on WaPo this morning:
“The Nationals’ new coaching staff, led by hitting coach Matt Borgschulte, has made “preparation” a keyword this season. While this is typical for a lot of teams across the league, the Nationals didn’t have the same focus on pregame work under the previous staff. Now, staffers want players to arrive at the ballpark already familiar with that day’s starting pitcher and ready to explain to the group how they plan to approach him.
Preparation pairs well with accountability, another popular phrase from the new coaching staff this season. The responsibility is now on the players to do their own work.
“It’s almost like school,” infielder Nasim Nuñez said. “It’s like we are in a class. Everyone is learning. You write it down, and you have a better expectation and can go out there and do it better.”
So far, it appears to be working. The Nationals are one of the highest-scoring teams in baseball and have scored six or more runs in seven of their first 12 games. Entering Friday, they ranked near the top of MLB in multiple offensive categories, including total runs (third, 71), home runs (third, 16) and batting average (fourth, .266). Last season, Washington ranked in the bottom third in each of those.”
As a believer in life-long learning, I applaud the Nats “new” approach. Whether it’s academics, a profession, a relationship — you never know it all and there is always room for improvement.
As for accountability - heck, yes! In every aspect of life!
I like the way this team is playing! Sure, there are areas to improve upon, most notably pitching; with starters needing to be more pitch efficient and going deeper into games. And the 🐂🖋 pitching like they did last night more often. Most nights the 🦇🦇🦇 are smokin'!!
Mr. Wood is certainly locked in right now. He is back to being that guy that pitchers have no safe spot. In the month of April he is slugging at least .500 on 5 different pitches. He's HR'd on a 4 seam, a sinker and a slider.
How about this Murderers Row of a lineup?
Joey Wiemer: .429 avg/ 1.243 ops
CJ Abrams: .311 avg/ 1.015 ops
James Wood: .268 avg/ .930 ops
Curtis Mead: .300 avg/ .914 ops
Brady House: .277 avg/ .814 ops
Jorbit Vivas: .333 avg/ .777 ops
Luis Garcia Jr.: .289 avg/ .771
Jacob Young: .250 avg/ .732 ops
Daylen Lile: .263 avg/ .627 ops
James Wood:
Since April 3, over 7 games and across 29 at-bats, James Wood has 12 hits, 3 doubles, 3 homers, 8 RBI, 5 walks, 8 K and a stolen base. That’s a slash line of:
.414/.500/.828 and 1.330 OPS
Don't look now, but the Nats currently have the fourth highest OPS in MLB.
Danielle Allentuck has an interesting piece on WaPo this morning:
“The Nationals’ new coaching staff, led by hitting coach Matt Borgschulte, has made “preparation” a keyword this season. While this is typical for a lot of teams across the league, the Nationals didn’t have the same focus on pregame work under the previous staff. Now, staffers want players to arrive at the ballpark already familiar with that day’s starting pitcher and ready to explain to the group how they plan to approach him.
Preparation pairs well with accountability, another popular phrase from the new coaching staff this season. The responsibility is now on the players to do their own work.
“It’s almost like school,” infielder Nasim Nuñez said. “It’s like we are in a class. Everyone is learning. You write it down, and you have a better expectation and can go out there and do it better.”
So far, it appears to be working. The Nationals are one of the highest-scoring teams in baseball and have scored six or more runs in seven of their first 12 games. Entering Friday, they ranked near the top of MLB in multiple offensive categories, including total runs (third, 71), home runs (third, 16) and batting average (fourth, .266). Last season, Washington ranked in the bottom third in each of those.”
As a believer in life-long learning, I applaud the Nats “new” approach. Whether it’s academics, a profession, a relationship — you never know it all and there is always room for improvement.
As for accountability - heck, yes! In every aspect of life!
Go, Nats!
I like the way this team is playing! Sure, there are areas to improve upon, most notably pitching; with starters needing to be more pitch efficient and going deeper into games. And the 🐂🖋 pitching like they did last night more often. Most nights the 🦇🦇🦇 are smokin'!!
GO NATS!! ⚾️⚾️⚾️⚾️⚾️⚾️⚾️⚾️⚾️