Washington Nationals Rapid Reaction: Joe Ross Loses Command In Loss To Dodgers
Mandatory Credit: Jayne Kamin-Oncea-USA TODAY Sports
After scoring 32 runs in their previous five games, the Washington Nationals were held off the scoreboard by Zack Greinke and the Los Angeles Dodgers by a final score of 5-0. It appeared to be a mismatch on paper as the Nats’ 22-year-old rookie, Joe Ross was trying to hold his own against one of the favorites, if not the favorite, for the NL Cy Young award.
While it wasn’t good news for the Nationals on the field last night, the fans had a slight scare and held their collective breaths before the game. A couple hours before first pitch, manager Matt Williams scratched Bryce Harper’s name out of the lineup due to soreness in his left knee. Harper’s spot out in right field would be filled by Clint Robinson, who did go 2-for-4 last night. As for Harper, his knee is still swollen and it is still unknown as to when Harper will return to the lineup.
More from Nationals News
- Latest DraftKings Sportsbook Promo Code in Maryland: Bet $5, Win $200 Guaranteed
- Nationals Claim Jeter Downs Off Waivers
- Washington Nationals Tuesday Q&A
- A Washington Nationals Christmas Wishlist
- Robots in Baseball? The Possibility of an Automated Ball/Strike System in the MLB
On the mound, Ross did pitch well at times, but he did not have the same pinpoint command as he usually does. Ross had four walks in his first seven starts of the season coming into last night. Agianst the Dodgers, he walked four batters and he was not able to get Yasiel Puig out. The Dodgers’ right fielder hit a two-run homer in the fourth inning and drove in all five runs in the win.
With 50 games left in the regular season, the Nats are now 2.5 games behind the New York Mets in the NL East and they can ill afford to have Harper miss any more games as the team tries to make their final push towards the postseason.
Before Jordan Zimmermann takes on Clayton Kershaw tonight (10:10 PM ET, MASN) in the rubber game of this three game series, here are my takeaways from last night’s 5-0 Nats loss:
Next: Ross' Control Takes Step Back
Mandatory Credit: Jayne Kamin-Oncea-USA TODAY Sports
Ross’ Control Problems Eventually Cost Him
Through the first seven starts of his career, Joe Ross was best known for being a pitcher that would pound the strike zone and not give up too many free passes. Last night, Ross had one of his worst starts of his career.
The 22-year-old right-hander went 4.2 innings, gave up five runs on six hits, struck out one, and walked four on 89 pitches (52 strikes). He was not able to establish strike one as frequently as he wanted to as only 12 of 24 first pitches ended up being strikes.
Early on, Ross was able to escape trouble in the second inning. After back-to-back walks to Andre Ethier and Yasmani Grandal, Ross got out of the inning unscathed by getting Puig to fly out to center, Joc Pederson to foul out behind the plate, and Enrique Hernandez to ground into a fielder’s choice.
Two innings later, Ross would run out of luck. Ethier led off the inning with a triple to deep center field. Two batters later, Ross was looking to get a strikeout of Puig to take the sacrifice fly out of play. He tried to get him to chase the slider, but it stayed out over the plate and Puig crushed it to left center for a two-run homer. That home run was the first extra-base hit Ross has given up to a right-handed hitter this season.
In the bottom of the fifth, Ross gave up back-to-back singles to begin the frame and the Dodgers eventually loaded the bases. Matt Williams made the decision to leave Ross in to face Puig, but Puig blooped the ball past a diving Clint Robinson for a bases clearing triple.
It was the right decision by Williams to leave Ross in, but the 22-year-old definitely did not have his best command last night. The question now is how Ross will handle his next start Sunday against Madison Bumgarner after facing his first bit of adversity?
Next: New Strategy, Same Results Vs. Greinke
Mandatory Credit: Jayne Kamin-Oncea-USA TODAY Sports
Nats Strategy Vs. Greinke Doesn’t Pay Dividends
Back on July 19, the Nationals’ offense was unable to get anything going against Zack Greinke at Nats Park. In that outing, Greinke went eight innings, gave up no runs on three hits, struck out 11 batters, and walked one on 119 pitches.
Last night, while Greinke shut out the Nats again, they did take a different approach against him and worked up his pitch count. Greinke went six innings, gave up no runs on six hits, struck out six, and walked one on 109 pitches (71 strikes).
Out of the 25 batters Greinke faced, only 15 of them saw first pitch strikes. Plus, the Nationals made Greinke throw 19 or more pitches in four of those six innings. Give the Nats credit for working up the pitch count, but they didn’t have many chances to drive in runs.
The Nats’ best chances came in the early stages of the game. In the second inning, Washington had two on and one out thanks to singles by Clint Robinson and Ian Desmond. However, Wilson Ramos struck out on a foul tip and Michael Taylor lined out to third on a full count to end the inning.
Then, one inning later, Yunel Escobar and Ryan Zimmerman singled to set the team up for another scoring chance with two outs, but Robinson swung at the first pitch and flew out to left.
As a team, the Nats went 1-for-4 with men in scoring position and left eight men on base. While the team didn’t put a run, they at least chased Greinke out earlier than expected, but they were not able to get back in the game against the Dodgers’ bullpen.
Next: Defense Struggles In Key Spots
Mandatory Credit: Jayne Kamin-Oncea-USA TODAY Sports
Loss Of Harper Felt On Defense Last Night
Anytime you do not have a player like Bryce Harper in your lineup, the margin for error becomes less and less because you know it might be a tough night for the offense. Washington’s defense let them down on a couple of critical occasions last night.
Let’s start by looking at the bottom of the fourth inning. Andre Ethier started the inning by hitting a ball that Michael Taylor misjudged both on the initial read off the bat and on the bounce off the wall.
Taylor did make up for it when he made a great throw to third base and it appeared Yunel Escobar made the tag for the out, but on the replay, Escobar missed the tag and the Dodgers won their challenge.
One inning later, with the bases loaded, Yasiel Puig hit a ball to right field that Clint Robinson made a good play on, but he could not make the sliding catch. It ended up being a bases clearing triple and Los Angeles would break the game open with a 5-0 lead.
Robinson has not been horrible out in the outfield, but he is definitely not the defender that Bryce Harper is. Could Harper have made that catch? I would think so, but it would be a tough play nonetheless.
One thing for certain, this team’s playoff hopes would be severely diminished if Harper is out for an extended period of time. While the 22-year-old hasn’t hit a home run this month, he is still hitting .361 and has walked eight times. Robinson is a nice fill-in, but with 50 games left, the loss of Harper long-term would impact the Nats both at the plate and in the field.
Next: Recap: Nats Shut Out By Zack Greinke