The Nationals have had a very interesting start to the season. There are things that we knew would be issues with a few weak links in the bullpen and lack of consistency in the lineup. However what has been pleasantly surprising in this 1-5 team is how solid the starting pitching has looked so far. Through the first turn in the rotation,the starters gave you everything you could have possibly asked for.
First and foremost, MacKenzie Strasb- I mean MacKenzie Gore, lived up to the pressure of being an Opening Day starter in a major way. His 13 Ks set a Nationals record for most strikeouts on an opening day. That record was previously held by the likes of Max Scherzer and Stephen Strasburg, which is elite company for the Nationals' young lefty. From the first two batters it was clear that something special was going to happen, as it seemed like all of his pitches were working. While he didn't quite fare as well on Wednesday, Gore is making me look very good right now as I had him as a Cy Young candidate during my spring superlative article. Hopefully he continues his success.
The Game 2 starter was Jake Irvin, who some even expected to be the Opening Day starter. This may have put a chip on his shoulder as he had a solid start, giving up only 2 earned runs in 5 innings. While you might wish Irvin could've gone another inning or two which might have helped avoid the bullpen, you have to be impressed at how he attacked that stacked Phillies lineup. Irvin will continue to be a leader on the front 1/2 of this rotation and hopefully will get his first win of the year during his next start today against the Diamondbacks.
Next, we have the only one out of the starting rotation with something in his win column, Mitchell Parker. He is lined up to pitch on Saturday this weekend, and it will be interesting to see if he can continue the momentum that was created from his phenomenal start last Sunday against the Phillies. He has a great pitch mix that he was able to put on display to throw a scoreless outing last weekend. Parker will definitely have a future with this team and the fans will notice that he was able to start off the season so well.
Michael Soroka was not bad in his Nationals debut before leaving with an injury, but he was not great either. We will see how he looks on Sunday against Arizona, as he is scheduled to make his start as planned as of right now.
The final starter, Trevor Williams, did what he did all of last year before getting injured and missing the majority of the season, in that he made it through 5.0 innings and pitched well enough to keep the Nationals in the game.
Unfortunately for no pitcher outside of Mitchell Parker last Sunday, the run support has been lackluster, and the pitchers haven't really left games in line for a win outside of Gore on Opening Day and Parker on Sunday. Hopefully, the off day gave this team a chance to figure some things out and bounce back in a big way this weekend.