Washington Nationals 2025 Season

THE LEAD

“UCL sprain” is a phrase that you never want to hear, even if it is preceded by the words “grade one” (the weakest). Alas, over the weekend we were told that a grade one UCL sprain is exactly what 21-year-old flamethrower Jarlin Susana (currently in AA Harrisburg) has. Susana has been shut down for two weeks, after which the organization will reevaluate things. Still, it’s hard to see a scenario where this doesn’t eventually end with Tommy John surgery for Susana. Even if it does come to that, the Nationals do not have to add him to the 40-man roster until next winter, which would theoretically be enough time for him to recover from the procedure should it turn out to be necessary. Regardless of whether or not Susana gets zippered, this is a blow for an organization that has a lot of ailing pitchers at all levels right now.

 Washington Nationals 2025 Season

Game Recap

Hitting the road after a five-game losing streak, the Nationals needed both a strong pitching performance from Jake Irvin and for their bats to wake up. They did get a quality start out of Irvin, who threw six innings of three-run ball…but of notable concern was that he gave up seven hits and two walks while striking out only one batter (one start after failing to strike out a single batter for the first time in his career). The offense, meanwhile, did little before the ninth inning apart from a solo home run by James Wood. In the ninth the Nats got a pair of one-out singles from Keibert Ruiz and Luis García Jr., who moved up to second and third on the second out, a grounder by Josh Bell. Dylan Crews then put pressure on the defense, forcing a double-clutch and then a bad throw on his infield grounder that allowed both runners to score and tie the game. In the bottom half of the frame, the Barves got a single and a sacrifice bunt against Jackson Rutledge before Davey called for new fireman Andrew Chafin (all of his appearances thus far have come with men on base)…and Alex Verdugo promptly singled home the winning run. And now the losing streak is at six.

 STORY TYPE

Losing the Middle Innings

One thing that has been greatly frustrating about the Nationals’ offense this year is their seeming inability to make hay against opposing starters the second and third time through the order. It certainly has felt that the middle innings have featured a bunch of quick outs, perhaps around a hit or two (or a walk), but that the offense has had no semblance of a disciplined approach to chase starters early (or at least drive up their pitch counts) and get into the opponent’s bullpen before the sixth inning. Let’s look at what happened against starters the second and third time through the order on the recent homestand to see if this is just anecdotal complaining or perhaps a trend:

Monday: 14 PA, 4-for-14, HR, 47 pitches

Sunday: 11 PA, 2-for-9, HR, BB, SAC, 42 pitches

Saturday: 18 PA, 4-for-18, HR, 64 pitches

Friday: 18 PA, 4-for-18, 57 pitches

Wednesday: 14 PA, 4-for-10, 4 BB, 66 pitches

Tuesday (G2): 9 PA, 1-for-8, HR, BB, 28 pitches (!!!)

Tuesday (G1): 16 PA, 4-for-14, HR, 2 BB, 56 pitches

Over those seven games, the Nationals are seeing just 3.6 pitches per plate appearance (360 pitches over 100 PA) when seeing a pitcher for the second or third time. They’re hitting .253 with the five home runs, which is…fine, I guess? You would really hope that they would be hitting thirty-odd points higher with even more power, and that there would be a plan of sorts to make pitchers work. But there is not - in only the first two of those games did the opposing starter not finish the sixth inning (at least). That is a process fail, and that is on the manager and the coaching staff. If the batter is someone other than Wood, Lowe, or Call, the odds are pretty good that the at-bat will be quick.

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 WHAT WE THINK THE NATIONALS FRONT OFFICE IS READING

Speed Reads

📌 Rockies Behind the Times - Sound Familiar? (The Athletic)

📌 Rox Have Been Unwilling To Adapt (Yahoo!)

📌 Trade Deadline X Factors (ESPN)