On Sunday, the Washington Nationals at one time had a 3-1 lead over the Miami Marlins, and were seemingly putting the home team and NL East division rival on their heels. After an RBI single from Paul DeJong and another RBI single from Alex Call, the Nationals appeared to be in the driver's seat for the rest of the contest.
MacKenzie Gore clearly did not have his best stuff, but the Nationals had the game in their hand to escape out of South Beach with a series win. Instead, Gore continued what was probably his worst outing of the season so far, and ended taking the loss after going 6.0 innings, allowing 4 earned runs on 8 hits, and walking 3 while striking out 7 Marlins hitters.
Of course, Davey Martinez would turn to his bullpen, and offseason addition Jorge López was tagged for 3 earned runs in the 7th inning, before giving way to Lucas Sims in the 8th. Sims would fail to retire a single batter, allowing 4 earned runs on 3 walks and 2 hits. It was another nightmare outing from Sims, who unfathomably continues to earn himself opportunities despite a ghastly 12.79 ERA. He is getting very close to being off the roster with another few poor performances, as he has already proven he is what he is at this point.
The game was then 10-3, and despite a game from the Nationals in which they were able to get 10 hits, they were blown out with an 11-4 final score. However, if there was one lone bright spot, it's that righty Cole Henry, who had been called up before the game today as the corresponding move to righty Orlando Ribalta going on the injured list, looked pretty sharp in what would be his MLB debut.
It has been a very long road for Henry to find his way to the big leagues, as after being a 2nd round draft pick by the Nationals out of LSU back in 2020, he has dealt with a slew of injuries in his professional career, including undergoing thoracic outlet surgery, the same operation that effectively ended Stephen Strasburg's professional career. Thankfully, Henry was able to bounce back, and after being transitioned into a reliever full time, was able to make his debut on Sunday. I had identified Henry as a guy who could make his debut sometime soon after his solid start in the minors, and thankfully my prediction came to fruition sooner than I had anticipated.
He pitched a clean inning, allowing 1 inherited run to score on a single from Griffin Conine, but was not tagged for any damage of his own. He also struck out 2 Marlins batters, and hopefully for Henry he will be able to stay with the big league club for awhile, as it was extremely refreshing to see a young pitcher not named Lucas Sims be able to come in and get guys out.
Overall, the series in Miami was not ideal, but for Cole Henry, neither was the road to the big leagues, but the destination is what matters in the long run. Henry is a big leaguer, and I am excited for him to continue to earn opportunities.
What did you think of Cole Henry's debut? As always, please let me know on X, @DCBerk.