Nationals (Irvin) vs Brewers (Miley): 9/15/23, 7:10pm

[Brock Beauchamp]

Unless I hallucinated it, the Nationals were competent for a stretch of the season not all that long ago. That appears to have ended, as they're back into free fall. Time to take advantage of a bad team and whittle down that magic number.

[treego14]

[RobertCrawley]

Let's sweep these guys.

[treego14]

Cubs getting desperate… https://www.bleachernation.com/cubs/2023/09/15/why-the-cubs-winning-the-nl-central-is-fundamentally-better-than-taking-the-top-wild-card-spot/

[BruisedCrew]

5 hours ago, Brock Beauchamp said:

Unless I hallucinated it, the Nationals were competent for a stretch of the season not all that long ago. That appears to have ended, as they're back into free fall. Time to take advantage of a bad team and whittle down that magic number.

It’s not a hallucination. 
 

Since the ASB the Nats are 29-28, which is better than all of the 4 teams fighting for the last wild card spot. But, after winning 25 of their first 40 games after the break (very competent) they have now lost 13 of 17.

Without being greedy, looking at the state of the teams and the pitching matchups, this looks like a golden opportunity for a sweep. Anything less than 2 of 3 would be a major disappointment. 

It would be helpful to get Yelich and Canha back and producing ASAP. I was at yesterday’s game and that lineup (missing what should be their 1, 3, and 4 hitters) was not too encouraging. Yelich, Santana, and Canha replacing Wiemer, Tellez, and Turang (at least against LHP) would look a lot better. 

I would be looking for a way to keep Taylor in the lineup in the short term. Has anyone had more big hits than he has this month?

[kestrel79]

Taylor has stepped up HUGE these past couple months. Great to see that, especially with these other guys out. Joey has been tough to watch at the plate this week.

[markedman5]

Canha back too!

 

[treego14]

[Outlander]

Canha has to represent #21 on Roberto Clemente Night.

[Sugarrayray]

I like Andruw batting 9th to get on base for the heart of the batting order. But at this point I’d much rather see Canha at DH and Tyrone playing the field after how solid he’s been instead of Rowdy. Also, I just don’t get Frelick batting 4th. Small sample size but he has been terrible batting 4th and good in pretty much every other spot he’s hit in. It’s not a natural fit there and puts extra RBI pressure on a rookie.

[Jim French Stepstool]

53 minutes ago, markedman5 said:

Canha back too!

 

I'm pleasantly shocked. I thought no way we'd see him for at least another couple days.

[willie key]

Rowdy better do something

[RobertCrawley]

Garrett Mitchell assigned to AAA rehab.

[mtsportsfan]

Maybe just a brewer fan in me , but it seems like Washington always plays us tough ! Would love us to jump all over them from the beginning and not let up , save the bullpen during this stretch of games !

[HarveysWBs]

24 minutes ago, Sugarrayray said:

[…]I just don’t get Frelick batting 4th. Small sample size but he has been terrible batting 4th and good in pretty much every other spot he’s hit in. It’s not a natural fit there and puts extra RBI pressure on a rookie.

He has by far his most appearances at 4th, so the other lineup spot appearances are very low sample sizes, but you are right. His worst OPS by a wide margin is when he’s 4th.  If I had to guess, the thinking by CC is that he doesn’t hit into a lot of double-plays and he doesn’t K much, either.  That batted ball profile could, over time, play better in run-producing situations than guys who have been striking out there a lot (anecdotally, I’d point to Adames and Tellez as major culprits on this front, but I’m too lazy to check the stat page to confirm).

[Sugarrayray]

5 minutes ago, HarveysWBs said:

He has by far his most appearances at 4th, so the other lineup spot appearances are very low sample sizes, but you are right. His worst OPS by a wide margin is when he’s 4th.  If I had to guess, the thinking by CC is that he doesn’t hit into a lot of double-plays and he doesn’t K much, either.  That batted ball profile could, over time, play better in run-producing situations than guys who have been striking out there a lot (anecdotally, I’d point to Adames and Tellez as major culprits on this front, but I’m too lazy to check the stat page to confirm).

No need to check you’re absolutely right. I guess I’m just thinking someone like Canha makes so much more sense. And that kind of pressure is real and something I think the average long term vet may be more equipped to handle than a late season called up rookie amidst a playoff race. I obviously have no data or proof to back that up it’s just how I feel. That said, you’re also right about the sample size being tiny for the other places in the batting order but adding them all up, you get like 72 plate appearances compared to the 98 or so he has batting 4th. 
 

I didn’t do the math but scanning over the numbers I’m  sure his obp is at least slightly over 400 in all the other 72 appearances combined.

[BruisedCrew]

1 hour ago, willie key said:

Rowdy better do something

It seems like they are trying to give him a chance to show that he can be a significant contributor, but he really hasn’t done that yet. 

[HarryDoyle]

A last place team trending downward. This has series loss written all over it.

[markedman5]

After scoring 5 runs in 4 games against the Crew……the Marlins have scored 4 runs in 3 innings against the Braves tonight.

[Sugarrayray]

Ohhh didn’t Lane Thomas do really good against the Brewers in the last series they played or was that somebody else?

[Sugarrayray]

I shouldn’t have said that sorry 

[Brewcrew82]

Brewer killer.

[Sugarrayray]

Boy the are seeing Miley very well tonight.

[Sugarrayray]

Ump is giving him a ton of room below the zone and he keeps leaving it up.

[willie key]

We really should pitch an opener.      We give up first inning runs all the time