Lets hope $210M man isn’t out for much longer. Photo via sportingnews.com
Scherzer hurting, Strasburg out (well, maybe out), Ross done, Jackson up and down, our “spare” starter situation a sh*tshow. And now suddenly the bats go quiet, scoring just 7 runs in three games against Miami (who has punted on yet another season), getting shut out in the process by a guy (Vance Worley) who looks like he literally ATE another human being inbetween the time we cut him after Spring Training and last night.
Not exactly awe-inspiring heading into a Cubs series that pretty clearly is a preview of the NLDS that we’re going to have come October.
And then just to add insult to injury, we hear that Enny Romero is out with a “forearm” issue … which half the time turns into an “elbow” issue, which half the time turns into a “Tommy John” issue.
Are you worried yet?
Right now our announced starters for this series are Roark, TBD and TBD. To go up against two of Chicago’s 3 best starters and their excellent offense. It could get ugly if we’re calling back Fedde or throwing Jackson to the wolves.
You forgot that Gio will probably be on paternity leave.
We just arranged all of this to make the Cubs overconfident for October.
In the grand scheme of things, what happens this weekend really doesn’t matter that much. It does only insofar as the current Nat six-game lead over the Cubs for NLDS home field.
This also matters: Roark needs to start pitching better. The team showed confidence in him by not trading for someone who might bump him in the playoff rotation. But it’s time for him to step up, all the more so back in his native state.
KW
3 Aug 17 at 10:08 am
The only time a regular season series is “big” is when it’s against a division rival close in the standings or if a playoff spot is potentially on the line. That’s not the case here.
Playoff positioning is potentially on the line, but a) is it really? and b) even if it is, does it matter? The Nats are 6 games up on the Cubs. The Cubs would have a hard time being 7 games better than the Nats ROS, so a sweep would go a long way toward making it a close race. Anything short of a sweep though, and I like the Nats’ chances. So that’s the task: don’t get swept. And count me as not afraid of the Cubs’ starters: Lackey’s ERA is pushing 5, and Hendricks’ and Lester’s are pushing 4. As for the NLDS, it’s always better to have homefield advantage (especially for someone like me who will attend all the games), but it’s a minor advantage. The Nats of course are 0-3 with HFA in the NLDS.
So, in my humble opinion, this isn’t a big series, not even close. It will be fun, as any series at Wrigley tends to be, and it certainly could get ugly. But it won’t be big unless somebody important gets hurt.
Derek
3 Aug 17 at 10:14 am
Yeah, I agree with KW and Derek. I’ve never been under the impression that regular season matchups make a damned bit of difference in the postseason. Winning the series would be tons of fun, and losing it would be annoying. But it’s hard to say that it would send much of a message with the Cubs’ three best pitchers lined up against (charitably) the Nats’ 4th, 5th and 6th starters. The Nats are going to wake up Monday morning with a double-digit NL East lead no matter what goes down in Chicago.
John C.
3 Aug 17 at 12:35 pm
Forgot about Gio and paternity leave (I knew there was one more rotation gotcha). Who exactly is going to pitch this weekend again? Maybe we bring up some guys from high-A.
Todd Boss
3 Aug 17 at 2:23 pm
Here’s hoping for rain. Bryce and Zimm both look like they need a break.
old guy
3 Aug 17 at 3:26 pm
Aside from Gio, could the Nats have possibly looked more lifeless. Talk about sleepwalking through some games.
We’ll find out soon if they were just saving it all for the Cubs.
Mark L
3 Aug 17 at 9:29 pm
The Cubs used six pitchers today (Thurs.) while giving up 10 runs and losing to the Snakes. The great Quintana gave up six runs in five innings. Wilson threw 24 pitches and Davis 30, including two gopher balls to lose the game. Wilson also threw 22 pitches on Wed., so odds are he’s not available for Harper and Murphy on Friday. The dynastic Cubs are back to only 1.5 games up on the Brewers.
To paraphrase Todd’s quote from above, the Cubs ain’t exactly roaring into this series, either.
KW
3 Aug 17 at 9:42 pm
FWIW, and taken with a dump truck full of salt considering the source, Heyman says that the Padres seemed willing to take Kieboom for Hand, but the Nats said no to that. We’ll see how that works out.
KW
4 Aug 17 at 8:02 am
Spencer Kieboom or Carter Kieboom? I’d give up the catcher in a heartbeat – the SS, not just no, but HELL no. Hand isn’t that much of an upgrade.
John C.
4 Aug 17 at 11:14 am