Washington Nationals: Big Test For Tanner Roark Against Japan

Tonight, Washington Nationals starter Tanner Roark takes the mound for Team USA against Japan in the semifinals of the World Baseball Classic at Dodger Stadium. We get you set for the matchup.

During this World Baseball Classic, the Washington Nationals on Team USA haven’t gotten much playing time. Tonight, that will change for Tanner Roark at least as he takes the mound for the United States against Japan in the semifinals at Dodger Stadium (9 p.m ET, MLB Network). The winner will take on Puerto Rico in Wednesday’s championship game.

This will be Roark’s first appearance for Team USA since his relief appearance on March 11 against the Dominican Republic. On that night, he came in for Marcus Stroman with the U.S up 5-0 and he wasn’t sharp. Roark went 1.1 innings and gave up three runs on three hits and walked two on 41 pitches (24 strikes).

While some might debate Roark getting a chance to pitch this important of a game, manager Jim Leyland told the media yesterday that he has earned that opportunity for sticking around the team and he hasn’t gotten a chance to start in a game yet:

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In the championship round, starters have a pitch count of 95. However, it doesn’t sound like Roark will even be allowed to go up that far with his pitch count tonight because he hasn’t thrown in a while:

Now, team Japan has played two exhibition games since their last WBC game on March 15. In the first two rounds, Japan had a lot of power in their lineup. En route to going 6-0 in pool play (all games in Tokyo), the team had a combined ten home runs. This includes three home runs from two players (Sho Nakata and Yoshitomo Tsutsugo).

In addition to the three home runs, Japan has scored 46 runs in the first six games of this tournament. But, the competition they had was not as strong as what Team USA had to face in the second round (Venezeula, Puerto Rico, Dominican Republic).

The key for Roark in this start is going to be his offspeed pitches. If you go back to that appearance he had against the D.R., he struggled to command his breaking ball (3 strikes on 11 pitches). Due to the lack of command, he relied on the two-seam fastball, which both runs ended up being scored due to contact on that pitch.

One of the things that might help Roark in this start is that the Japanese hitters have not faced him before. The only hitter on team Japan that has Major League experience is Nori Aoki, but he has never faced the Washington Nationals right-hander.

This start tonight doesn’t make or break Roark’s 2017 season by any means. However, if he has a great game in one of the biggest games he’s pitched (the other being Game 2 of last year’s NLDS), it could be a big stepping stone to the regular season. If he struggles again, it’s fair to ask if he can get the job done in a big spot.

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Regardless of whether or not Daniel Murphy starts as the designated hitter, Washington Nationals fans will finally get the chance to see one of their starting pitchers start a big game this tournament. This tournament has been fun to watch and you should expect USA-Japan to be a great game tonight.