Washington Nationals News: Nats call up Koda Glover, who makes his big league debut
By Pablo Roa
Today’s District Daily features stories on the latest roster move for the Washington Nationals and some interesting notes about starter Stephen Strasburg.
Good evening DoD readers, and welcome to today’s District Daily. Get caught up on the latest Nats news and opinions with some great Washington Nationals articles from around the web below.
In today’s Daily, MLB.com’s Bill Ladson discusses the Nationals’ latest roster move, and one of the more surprising moves they’ve made all season. As Ladson notes, the Nationals have optioned Reynaldo Lopez back to Triple-A Syracuse and called up pitching prospect Koda Glover, whom the team drafted just last year.
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It’s not surprising that the team sent Lopez back down after his not-so-great debut last night, but not many people expected Glover to join the big league club this quickly. After all, Glover started the 2016 season with Class-A Potomac.
Glover didn’t have much time to soak it in, either, as manager Dusty Baker threw him into the action right off the bat on his first day. The right-hander delivered, pitching a scoreless ninth inning in tonight’s win against the Dodgers.
Here’s what Glover had to say about his promotion, via Ladson’s article:
"“I’m running on fumes right now, but it’s all good,” Glover said. “Luckily, I’ve been blessed with opportunities the Nationals have given me. … It’s been a fantastic journey. I couldn’t be happier about it.”"
Also in today’s Daily, the Washington Post’s Scott Allen discusses some interesting statistical benchmarks Stephen Strasburg could reach this season.
Be sure to check out both articles below, they’re definitely worth a read. And as always, stay tuned to DoD for all your Washington Nationals needs.
Nationals call up Glover from Triple-A Syracuse
WASHINGTON — The Nationals on Wednesday made their second roster move in as many days, selecting the contract of reliever Koda Glover from Triple-A Syracuse and optioning right-hander Reynaldo Lopez to Syracuse. In addition, the Nationals designated left-hander Nick Lee for assignment.
The Nationals needed an extra reliever after using most of their bullpen in an 18-inning affair against the Pirates on Sunday. Enter Glover, who was taken in the eighth round of the 2015 Draft and rose quickly through the Minor League system. Glover, the 19th-best prospect in the Nationals’ system according to MLBPipeline.com, started the season with Class A Potomac, then went to Double-A Harrisburg before being promoted to Syracuse. He had a combined 2.18 ERA and struck out 52 batters in 45 1/3 innings. His fastball has been clocked between 93 mph and 99 mph. Read full article here.
Stephen Strasburg is chasing a pair of seemingly unreachable marks
(Scott Allen, Washington Post)
Disclaimers: Wins are a silly stat for pitchers and jinxes aren’t real.
Stephen Strasburg enters Thursday’s start against the Dodgers with a 13-0 record. He is the first National League pitcher to win his first 13 decisions as a starter since Rube Marquard started an MLB record 18-0 with the New York Giants in 1912. (Marquard won his first 19 decisions that year, with one of his wins coming in relief.)
Next: Washington Nationals Reaction: Reynaldo Lopez, Like Lucas Giolito, Needs To Improve Control
Strasburg has been terrific this season; he ranks seventh in ERA (2.51), sixth in strikeouts (138) and fifth in WHIP (0.99). He’s also received an MLB-best 6.71 runs of support per start. If that continues for the rest of the year — odds are it won’t — it would mark the highest run support for a pitcher over a full season since Curt Schilling received 7 runs per game in 2004 and went 21-6. Read full article here.