I submit to you the stat lines of three starting pitchers in their age-26 season through their first fourteen starts:

Pitcher A: 68.0 IP, 76 H, 18 BB, 75 K, 8 HR, 4.76 ERA, 3.38 FIP, 1.38 WHIP

Pitcher B: 84.0 IP, 91 H, 30 BB, 76 K, 12 HR, 4.39 ERA, 4.22 FIP, 1.44 WHIP

Pitcher C: 81.1 IP, 69 H, 22 BB, 114 K, 9 HR, 2.88 ERA, 2.58 FIP, 1.12 WHIP

Based on the picture and the number of strikeouts, you should pretty quickly surmise that Pitcher C is MacKenzie Gore this season on the heels of yet another strong start last night in which he gave up an RBI single to Jeff McNeil and a solo shot to Juan Soto (lefty hitters both) but was otherwise dominant (the streak without a three-run inning continues!). He’s been better across the board at the same age as those other two starters…who are 2015 Stephen Strasburg (Pitcher A) and 2011 Max Scherzer (Pitcher B). Gore has been terrific this year, and I for one believe there is still more juice to squeeze there.

When it comes to evaluating starting pitchers for a team that has visions of being competitive, the first thing I consider is “am I comfortable with this guy starting a playoff game?” With Gore the answer is obviously yes - although the only other guys on the active roster for whom that is true are Jake Irvin and possibly Michael Soroka. Then you can get into #1/ace conversations, which Gore also belongs in. How many starters - right now - would you rather have in your rotation than MacKenzie Gore? Given what he’s done thus far plus the fact that he’s been pretty durable over his three full seasons in a Nats uniform (no arm issues to speak of), the answer is probably “not that many.”

Well, that was a gut punch. Nathaniel Lowe staked the Nats to an immediate 2-0 lead with a home run and they added another run in the second thanks to a CJ Abrams double (although the would-be fourth run, José Tena, was thrown out at the plate by Soto on a bad send - even on Soto’s noodle arm - by Ricky Gutierrez over at third base). Gore departed after six with a 4-2 lead and Brad Lord, taking over for the seventh, threw a clean inning on just twelve pitches. Jose A. Ferrer then came in for the eighth - after the Nats had stranded multiple runners in both the seventh and the eighth - and proceeded to wipe out the first two Mets with strikeouts before getting Starling Marte down 0-2 with filthy changeups. He then tried to bust Marte up and in with a fastball and missed (badly)…and then continued to miss, walking Marte in front of Soto. Soto hit a line drive that right fielder Robert Hassell III got a terrible read on and misplayed to make the score 4-3. Davey Martinez then summoned Kyle Finnegan for a four-out save, but Pete Alonso hit Finnegan’s second pitch off the left field wall, scoring Soto to tie the game before he was thrown out at second trying to stretch his single.

The game made it to extra innings, with the Nats in what should have been an ideal position - CJ Abrams as the courtesy runner, James Wood leading off the inning. Wood moved Abrams to third with a grounder to second, but then Lowe whiffed and Andrés Chaparro flied out off the end of the bat to strand Abrams 90 feet away. In the bottom of the frame, McNeil hit Cole Henry’s first pitch into right field, and that was that.

It was a shame to waste a game that not only featured another excellent Gore start but potentially an Abrams breakout game (more on that below), with the best bullpen arms rested and lined up to take care of business. But if you give good teams an opening - and the Mets have the best record in the National League - they will usually take advantage. The Nats have some talent but are not a very deep team (Hassell was absolutely dreadful on both offense and defense today, and Keibert Ruiz and Josh Bell continue to be unwatchable at the plate, to name three examples), and clearly still have many lessons to learn about how to finish wins.

After a funk that lasted several weeks, Abrams doubled twice last night and homered to the opposite field the day after his appearance on MLB Network. It was the kind of performance that often presages Abrams going on a heater, and nothing could be more welcome to the Nats right now. Wood has also gotten into a mini-slump, and the Nats only just called up Chaparro in advance of this series (he doubled in his first at-bat). Even though he is far, far from an ideal leadoff hitter, Abrams is the Nats’ igniter, and they need his energy and presence to get back to anything remotely close to the offensive performance they showed in Seattle and Arizona. Here’s hoping that CJ is heating up again.

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