The Washington Nationals, at 10-12, have been a pleasant surprise, in Year 1 of the rebuild of the rebuild that Mike Rizzo flubbed following the 2019 World Series run.
The pitching has sucked, other than Foster Griffin, who’d spent the past four seasons in Japan – but the pitching sucking was expected.
New GM Ani Kilambi tore the pitching staff down to the studs.
The offense has been shockingly good – third in MLB in runs per game (5.50), fifth in OPS (.741).
CJ Abrams is hitting .320 with a 1.029 OPS and six homers; James Wood is only hitting .247, but has a .930 OPS and seven homers.
A rando named Joey Wiemer, a career .217 hitter, is hitting .341 with a .988 OPS, which may not last, but for now, is fun.
If the bullpen wasn’t 25th in MLB in ERA (5.37) and tied for eighth in losses (5), you know.
Game 1: Monday, 6:45 p.m. (MLB.TV)
- ATL: Bryce Elder (2-1, 0.77 ERA, 1.03 WHIP)
- WSH: Jake Irvin (1-2, 6.16 ERA, 1.47 WHIP)
Game 2: Tuesday, 6:45 p.m. (MLB.TV)
- ATL: Reynaldo Lopez (1-0, 2.18 ERA, 1.11 WHIP)
- WSH: Foster Griffin (2-0, 3.05 ERA, 1.26 WHIP)
Game 3: Wednesday, 6:45 p.m. (MLB.TV)
- ATL: Martin Lopez (1-1, 2.21 ERA, 0.93 WHIP)
- WSH: Zack Littell (0-2, 7.11 ERA, 1.74 WHIP)
Game 4: Thursday, 1:05 p.m. (MLB.TV)
- ATL: Chris Sale (4-1, 2.79 ERA, 1.00 WHIP)
- WSH: Cade Cavalli (0-1, 4.12 ERA, 1.73 WHIP)
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Chris Graham
