Washington Nationals: Several positives emerge from Cubs series
In a possible playoff preview, the Washington Nationals won a three-game series against the Chicago Cubs. Although it wasn’t always pretty, there are several positive takeaways.
The Washington Nationals entered their weekend series in Chicago as an underdog due to a plethora of injuries, but managed to win the series anyways.
The Nats began the series with a bang, scoring two runs in the first inning of the first game. Daniel Murphy was the MVP of game one, going 3-for-4 with two homers. Tanner Roark also continued his resurgence, allowing just two runs over 6.1 innings.
Winning the first game of the series was huge for the Nats, considering their probable starters for the second and third games were Edwin Jackson and Erick Fedde. The Nats were dealing with several injuries, so winning the first game appeared to be a reasonable goal.
The second game did not go quite as well. Jackson got off to a rough start, allowing four runs in the first inning. He managed to settle in after the rough first, but the damage was done. Although the Nats put up a fight and remained in the game, they were never able to take the regain lead and lost 7-4.
The rubber match on Sunday afternoon appeared to be a severe mismatch, with Erick Fedde being opposed by Jon Lester, but it turned out to be a good game. Fedde looked much better in his second career start, allowing four runs over 5.1 innings. Lester also pitched well, allowing three runs over 6.2 innings, but his bullpen let him down.
Mike Montgomery, Carl Edwards, and Koji Uehara combined to allow six runs over just 2.1 innings, which allowed the Nats to erase their early deficit and win the game 9-4. With this win, the Nats won the series, which is an immense positive in itself.
Upon further analysis of the series, there were many more positives. Without further ado, let’s take a look at a few of those positives.
A solid series from Matt Wieters
After getting off to a blistering start in April, Matt Wieters has been largely unspectacular. He has hit .227 since April and has looked lost at the plate at times.
On top of not producing at the plate, he hasn’t done much defensively. Lots of Gio Gonzalez‘s success has been attributed to Wieters’ leadership, but he has struggled in the quantitative areas (pitch framing, blocking, throwing out runners).
Wieters’ season may have turned around on Saturday against the Cubs. John Lackey was the Cubs’ starting pitcher, a pitcher Wieters has seen 39 times throughout his career. Lackey appeared to be just what the doctor ordered to get Wieters straight and he hit him well, recording a hit in each of his first two at-bats before getting ejected.
Wieters’ bat remained hot upon his return to the lineup on Sunday. He finished the day 1-for-3, but his one hit was a big one. He came up in the eighth inning with the bases loaded and the score tied and delivered in a big way, crushing a grand slam to dead center field.
Although Wieters only recorded one hit on Sunday, he came extremely close to a second. With Anthony Rendon on third and one out in the seventh inning, Wieters hit a ball hard to deep right center field, but Jon Jay ran it down at the warning track to rob Wieters of extra bases. Despite the fact that he didn’t get a hit, he drove in his first of five runs for the game.
In addition to displaying some long-awaited offensive prowess, Wieters was solid defensively. He called a good game, helping Erick Fedde navigate his way through his second career start, but finally produced in a quantitative area as well.
Jon Lester came up to the plate with Javier Baez at first and Jason Heyward at second with one out, so he was attempting to get down a sacrifice bunt. Lester whiffed on the first pitch, but Heyward wandered a bit too far off of second base, assuming Lester would get the bunt down. Wieters noticed this and made a nice heads-up play to throw behind Heyward, who was eventually run down and tagged out.
The Nationals’ pitching staff has been notoriously bad at holding runners, so Wieters must take it upon himself to control the running game. He has struggled with this tall task thus far, but showed improvement on Sunday.
The Nats had high hopes for their new catcher, especially after an outstanding April, but he has been a bit of a disappointment for most of the season. Wieters showed signs of improvement on both sides of the ball this weekend against the Cubs, which is potentially a huge development. Wieters will likely return to the team next year, so any improvement will be welcomed with open arms.
The three-headed monster
After inactivity throughout much of the off-season, the Nationals had the worst bullpen in the league throughout the first half. Mike Rizzo knew he had to do something to address the gaping hole that was the bullpen, and he did just that.
Rizzo made his first big trade a few weeks before the deadline, acquiring Ryan Madson and Sean Doolittle from Oakland. The two formed a dynamic duo in the back-end of the Nats’ bullpen, but Rizzo wasn’t done just yet.
Shortly before the trade deadline, Rizzo went out and acquired Brandon Kintzler from Minnesota, bolstering the back-end of the Nats’ bullpen. While Kintzler was a closer in Minnesota, he is expected to primarily fill a set-up role with the Nats.
The three-headed monster that is the back-end of the Nats’ bullpen came out in full force against the Cubs this weekend. On Friday, Kintzler relieved Roark in the seventh inning, pitching two-thirds of an inning without allowing a hit. Madson relieved Kintzler to pitch the eighth, striking out two en route to a perfect inning. Finally, Doolittle closed the game out, working around a hit to pitch a scoreless ninth.
This was the first game that Dusty Baker was able to use each of his three elite relievers, and it worked wonderfully. Roark left the game with a lead after 6.1 innings, and the three-headed monster was able to come in and completely shut down the Cubs’ offense over the final three innings.
Each member of the three-headed monster pitched again on Sunday, locking down another win. Kintzler came in to pitch a scoreless seventh, Madson pitched a scoreless eighth with two more strikeouts, and Doolittle pitched a scoreless ninth.
After all was said and done, Kintzler, Madson, and Doolittle combined to pitch 5.2 shutout innings with seven strikeouts this weekend. This series provided the first look at the revamped bullpen, and they blew everyone away. What at one point was a glaring weakness, may now be a strength. Rizzo did an unbelievable job of rebuilding the back-end of the bullpen while also not parting with any of the Nats’ top prospects.
If this series was a preview of what’s to come, the three-headed monster in the back-end of the Nats’ bullpen is outstanding and should do an excellent job of holding down games.
Nats dealing with plethora of injuries
The Nats were the underdog in this series, largely due to the fact that they were playing at half-strength. Thanks to injuries to Max Scherzer and Stephen Strasburg, and Gio Gonzalez being on paternity leave, the Nats were forced to start Tanner Roark, Edwin Jackson, and Erick Fedde.
With the Nats’ top three starting pitchers all unavailable for a series against the defending World Series champions, it looked as if this may be a series to forget. The three surpassed all expectations and pitched well, excluding Jackson’s four-run first inning on Saturday.
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Unfortunately for the Nats, the rotation isn’t the only department currently dealing with injuries. The bullpen is also missing a few significant members, with Koda Glover, Enny Romero, and Shawn Kelley all on the disabled list.
Finally, several position players are inactive. Trea Turner, Michael Taylor, Jayson Werth, Stephen Drew, and Ryan Raburn are all on the disabled list. With so many injuries, Adrian Sanchez and Andrew Stevenson are getting opportunities at the major league level, not to mention Wilmer Difo and Brian Goodwin, who have been filling in for most of the season.
The Nats were forced to play the Cubs while at half-strength and still managed to win the series. Meanwhile, Addison Russell is the only member of the Cubs on the disabled list. With the Nats seemingly at a severe disadvantage, they won the series.
This is a huge positive moving forward, as the Nats will most likely be opposed by the Cubs in the National League Division Series. While guys like Adam Eaton and Joe Ross won’t return in time for the playoffs, most of the currently injured players should be back. If the Nats are able to win a series in Chicago without most of their starters, they should definitely stand a good chance while at full-strength.
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All things considered, this was an extremely encouraging series for the Nats in what was also a possible playoff preview. Matt Wieters’ resurgence, the three-headed monster in the back-end of the bullpen, and the Nats winning the series despite a plethora of injuries are all positives and should give the Nats confidence if they face the Cubs again come October.