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May 2, 2024 / Nat Anacostia

‘It’s nice to win games in April’: Nats’ April in review

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Expectations were low as the Nationals entered the 2024 season. For example, the final Fangraphs forecast before the start of the season saw the Nats winning 65 games, placing them below every other team but the Rockies and giving them a 0.2% chance of making the playoffs. Nevertheless, with several major prospects, such as James Wood and Dylan Crews, expected to make the team later in the season, things felt more hopeful than they had the last couple of seasons.

The season opened in Cincinnati on March 28 (this “April in review” article also covers the three games the Nats played in March), and the Nats fell to the Reds, 8 to 2. During batting practice before the game, Nick Senzel, who had been in the lineup to debut for the Nats against his former team, suffered a broken thumb and would go on the injured list rather than playing. Trey Lipscomb, age 23 and the Nats’ third round draft pick in 2022, was called up to replace Senzel and made his major league debut playing third base in game 2. The Nats rallied from a 6 to 4 deficit in the top of the ninth and won game 2, 7 to 6, with the go-ahead run scored by another Nats player making his major league debut, Rule 5 draftee Nasim Nuñez, who came into the game as a pinch runner. Lipscomb and Nunez both stole bases, which was only the third time in MLB history that two players debuting in the same game both stole bases. In game 3, Lipscomb homered in the seventh inning to give the Nats the lead, but the bullpen was unable to hold it, so the Nats lost the series two games to one.

Back in Washington for their home opener against the Pirates, the bullpen again failed them, and they lost the game 8 to 4. They split the next two games to lose the series two games to one. Victor Robles strained his left hamstring in game 2 and would spend the rest of the month on the injured list. They next hosted the Phillies, and the series began inauspiciously when Aaron Nola and the Phillies’ bullpen shut out the Nats. They lost the second game but came back to win game 3 in a 3-2 squeaker. They were 2-4 for the homestand.

On April 6, word came that the Nationals and Stephen Strasburg had reached an agreement that allowed him to retire from baseball, and he issued a note of appreciation to fans and team. For a retrospective appreciation of his career, I really like this article by Michael Baumann from Fangraphs.

The Nats then traveled to the west coast for 9 games. They opened the road trip in San Francisco, where they trounced the Giants 8 to 1 in the first game. Josiah Gray went on the injured list, but Joan Adon pitched well as his replacement, and the Nats won the second game, before falling to the Giants in the third. They then crossed the Bay Bridge to Oakland for their next series. They lost two games to the A’s (both by one-run margins) and won one. The final series of the road trip was against the Dodgers in Los Angeles. When Gray’s slot in the rotation rolled around again, this time 24-year-old left-hander Mitchell Parker got the call to make his major league debut in Dodger Stadium on Jackie Robinson day. The Nats had drafted Parker in 2020 in the fifth round and he had not been highly touted on the prospect lists. But Parker became the first Nationals starter to win his major league debut since Strasburg in 2010, with 17 Nats starters having made winless debuts over that time. While doing so, he struck out Betts twice, as well as Ohtani. The Nats lost the second game but shut out the Dodgers the third, giving the Nats their second series win and a 5-4 record on the road trip.

Returning home, the Nats had a 5-year anniversary celebration for the 2019 championship team taking place during their next series against their World Series foes, the Astros. Twelve players from the team were in attendance, and several who were now playing for other teams sent greetings. The Nats lost the first game but won the last two, with Parker and the bullpen shutting out the Astros in the finale. They next hosted the Dodgers, who swept the three-game series from the Nats. The Dodgers trounced the Nats 11 to 2 in the second game, but the Nats managed to keep the third game close in a 2 to 1 loss. Lane Thomas went on the injured list with an MCL sprain in his left knee.

The Nats finished the month on the road. They had a four-game series against the Marlins in Miami and managed to sweep it. In the third game, they fell behind 7 to 0 early before starting a comeback in the fourth inning. (The game came exactly nine years after the “Dan Uggla game” when the Nats came back from a 10 to 2 deficit to beat the Braves on Uggla’s home run.) On the last day of April, the Nats opened a series in Texas against the Rangers and lost the game.

They finished the month with a 14-15 record, in fourth place in the NL East, 5½ games behind the division-leading Braves. It was their best April record since 2017 (the last time they had a winning record in the month of April). The pitching was better than expected, with a 4.31 team ERA (22nd of 30 teams) and a 3.47 fielding independent pitching (FIP), which ranked 4th in MLB. On the offensive side, they ranked second in stolen bases with 53, and 20th in wRC+ with 96.

In addition to the players we’ve already mentioned, several other players made their debut with the Nationals during March and April. On opening day, Jessse Winker, Joey Gallo, Eddie Rosario, Dylan Floro, and Matt Barnes made their debuts. Derek Law made his debut in game two, while Nick Senzel‘s injury delayed his debut until April 15. All of these players are discussed in my article on the off season. Also joining the team (on April 23) was Jacob Barnes, a 34-year-old right-handed reliever who had signed a minor league contract. He had 8 previous years of major league experience with the Brewers, Royals, Angels, Mets, Blue Jays, Tigers, Yankees, and Cardinals, with a 4.76 ERA in 265 games.

Record:
14–15 (.483)

Pythagorean Record:
13–16 (4.07 R/G – 4.45 RA/G)

April MVP:

  • CJ Abrams (.295/.373/.619, 7 HR, 22 R, 17 RBI, 7 SB, 2 CS, 119 PA, 171 wRC+, 1.4 fWAR). Abrams is starting to get recognized as one of the best shortstops in baseball.

Pitcher of the month:

I’m calling this one a tie between:

  • Trevor Williams (2-0, 2.70 RA/9, 5 GS, 26⅔ IP, 6.4 K/9, .277 opp OBP, 0.9 RA9-WAR)
  • MacKenzie Gore (2-3, 3.19 RA/9, 6 GS, 31 IP, 11.0 K/9, .332 opp OBP, 0.9 RA9-WAR
  • Honorable mention goes to Mitchell Parker (2-0, 1.69 RA/9, 3 GS, 16 IP, 7.9 K/9, .242 opp OBP, 0.8 RA9-WAR)

Relief pitcher of the month:

  • Dylan Floro (0-0, 0.64 RA/9, 13 G, 14 IP, 7.7 K/9, .273 opp OBP, 6.30 RE24, 0.40 WPA, 2 shutdowns, 0 meltdown, 0.5 RA9-WAR)

Worst month:

  • Eddie Rosario (.088/.137/.162, 1 HR, 4 R, 3 RBI, 2 SB, 1 CS, 73 PA, -17 wRC+, -0.9 fWAR)

Best start this month:

  • Mitchell Parker (April 21, 6–0 win over the Astros at home) pitched 7 scoreless innings, giving up 3 hits and no walks while striking out 8 for a game score of 79. And he did it while only throwing 73 pitches! It was a highest game score by a Nats pitcher since June 13, 2021, when Joe Ross pitched 8 scoreless innings against the Giants.

Worst start:

  • Jake Irvin (April 24, 11–2 loss to the Dodgers at home) gave up 6 runs on 12 hits and 1 walk in 4⅔ innings with 3 strikeouts for a game score of 18.

Tough losses:

  • Jake Irvin (April 6, 5–2 loss to the Phillies at home) pitched 6 innings, giving up 4 runs on 5 hits and 1 walk while striking out 5 for a game score of 50.
  • MacKenzie Gore (April 25, 2–1 loss to the Dodgers at home) pitched 6 innings, giving up 1 run on 7 hits and 2 walks while striking out 4 for a game score of 56. He had the bad luck to be pitching against Yoshinobu Yamamoto.
  • MacKenzie Gore (April 30, 7–1 loss to the Rangers in Arlington, Texas) pitched 5 innings, giving up 2 runs on 5 hits and 1 walk while striking out 7 for a game score of 55.

Cheap wins:

  • None

Biggest shutdown:

  • Kyle Finnegan (April 20, 5–4 win over the Astros at home). The Nats had tied the game in the bottom of the 9th, and Finnegan got the call to keep Jose Altuve, the automatic runner, from scoring. Yordan Alvarez grounded out to second while advancing Altuve to third. Then Bregman hit a short fly ball into foul territory down the right field line. Making a gutsy decision, Lane Thomas caught the ball rather than letting it drop, then threw a perfect strike to the plate to get Altuve by a couple of steps. Okay, maybe Finnegan should share this honor with Thomas. (Win probability added/WPA +.314).

Worst meltdown:

  • Kyle Finnegan (March 31, 6–5 loss to the Reds in Cincinnati). The Nats were ahead 5 to 3 when Finnegan got the call to get the last three outs in the bottom of the ninth. He got the first two outs on a lineout to right field followed by a lineout to third base. Then he gave up a double to India, followed by a home run to Benson, tying the game. The next Reds batter, Encarnacion-Strand, then hit a home run for the walk-off win. (WPA –.891).

Walk off:

  • Joey Meneses (April 20, 5–4 win over the Astros at home) led off in the bottom of the tenth with the score tied 4 to 4 and Nasim Nuñez on second as the designated runner. Joey hit the first pitch into the right-center gap, driving in Nuñez for the walk-off win.

Clutch hits:

  • Jesse Winker (April 12, 2–1 loss to the A’s in 10 innings in Oakland). Winker led off the top of the ninth with the Nats trailing 1-0. He launched a 3-2 slider over the right-field fence to tie the game. (WPA +.347) It turned out not to be enough, as the A’s won it in the bottom of the 10th.
  • Nick Senzel (April 28, 12–9 win over the Marlins in Miami). Senzel had already hit a two-run homer in the fourth inning to bring the Nats within two runs. When he came to bat in the top of the fifth, there were two outs, the Nats were trailing 7–6, and the Nats had runners on first and third. Jacob Young stole second, and then Senzel blasted a sinker into the center field stands. (WPA +.338)

Choke:

  • CJ Abrams (April 12, 2–1 loss to the A’s in 10 innings in Oakland). In the top of the 10th with the game tied at one run apiece, Abrams led off with Trey Lipscomb as the automatic runner. Abrams grounded to first for a 3–5 double play, as Lipscomb imprudently tried to advance to third. (WPA –.254)

Memorable fielding plays:

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Filed under Month in review