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July 4, 2024 / Nat Anacostia

‘We’re doing OK’: Nats’ June in review

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The Nationals opened June possessing a 26–30 record, in third place in the NL East. Their performance in June was streaky—they twice endured four-game losing streaks but also won 8 of 9 in the middle of the month. For the month as a whole, they went 13–14 and ended with a 39–44 record, returning to fourth place in the NL East after the Mets passed them in the standings on June 25. They trailed the division-leading Phillies by 15½ games. They were 4 games behind in the race for the last wild card slot, but that placed them behind four other teams that were just 2 to 3 games behind in the closely fought race. Fangraphs gave them only a 1.3% chance of making the playoffs.

The Nats opened the month in Cleveland where they played the last two games of their series against the Guardians (having lost the first game). They split the games and lost the series 2 games to 1, giving them a 4–3 record on the road trip.

At home, the Nats had three games against the Mets followed by four against the Braves. The Mets swept the Nats, with the home team getting blown out 9 to 1 in the final game of the series. Trevor Williams went on the injured list with a flexor muscle strain, and DJ Herz, a 23-year-old left-hander who had been acquired from the Cubs last year in the Jeimer Candelario trade, was called up to start the second game of the series and make his major league debut. Against the Braves, the Nats lost the first game (making four straight losses), then came back to win the last three, giving them a 3–4 record on their home stand.

The Nats next had a short, one-city road trip to Detroit. They won the first two against the Tigers, giving them five straight wins (their longest winning streak since June 2021), before losing the third game. Joey Gallo went on the injured list with a left hamstring strain.

Back home, they faced the Marlins and swept them, with the first game an 8 to 1 blowout and the second game a 4 to 0 shutout that is discussed below.  Next, the Nats faced the Diamondbacks. They lost the first game but won the second. At that point (June 19), the Nats’ record was 36–37 and they were tied with the Cardinals for the second and third wild-card slots. There were, however, a bunch of other teams, such as the Padres, Diamondbacks, Giants, Mets, and Cubs, within a game behind, so the Nats would be unable to hold their position in the wild card race. They lost game three to the Diamondbacks and finished their homestand with a 4–2 record.

Next came a long, three-time-zone road trip that began in Colorado against the Rockies. They split the first two games—wild, high scoring games of the type we have come to expect at elevation—before winning a 2 to 1 pitchers’ match in the third game. The Nats’ loss in the second game came in a unique manner, with MLB’s first-ever walk-off pitch clock violation charged against Kyle Finnegan.

Their next stop was San Diego, where the Nats faced the Padres in a three-game series. The Nats called up Harold Ramirez, a 29-year-old right-handed DH/1B who had played 6 seasons for Miami, Cleveland, and Tampa Bay before being released by the Rays in mid-June. The Nats suffered a heart-breaking loss in the 10th inning of the first game and went on to be swept by the Padres, though all of the games were competitive. They ended the road trip in Tampa Bay, where the Rays won two of the three games.

The month ended with anticipation as it became known that James Wood would make his major league debut on July 1. With Wood’s promotion came the release of the struggling Eddie Rosario.

Record:

13–14 (.481)

Pythagorean Record:

13½–13½ (4.37 R/G – 4.37 RA/G)

June MVP:

  • CJ Abrams (.373/.464/.663, 4 HR, 18 R, 16 RBI, 6 SB, 5 CS, 97 PA, 215 wRC+, 1.4 fWAR). CJ ranked third in MLB in wRC+ for June, third in OBP, fifth in SLG, and sixth in batting average.

Pitcher of the month:

  • Jake Irvin (4-1, 2.31 RA/9, 6 GS, 35 IP, 8.2 K/9, .287 opp OBP, 1.4 RA9-WAR)

Relief pitcher of the month:

  • Jacob Barnes (1-0, 2.77 RA/9, 11 G, 13 IP, 6.2 K/9, .294 opp OBP, 3.67 RE24, 0 shutdown, 1 meltdown, 0.2 RA9-WAR)

Worst month:

  • Eddie Rosario (.191/.200/.250, 0 HR, 5 R, 6 RBI, 70 PA, 22 wRC+, –0.7 fWAR). Rosario was the Nats’ worst player in April, their best position player in May, and back to their worst player in June (swapping places each time with CJ Abrams). On July 1 he was designated for assignment to make room on the roster for the promotion of James Wood, and two days later he was released.

Best start this month:

  • DJ Herz (June 15, 4–0 win over the Marlins at home) struck out 13 in 6 scoreless innings, allowing just one hit and no walks for a game score of 83 in his first career win (and third start). That’s the highest game score by a Nats pitcher since May 8, 2021, when Max Scherzer also had a game score of 83, having struck out 14 and given up 1 run in 7⅓ innings against the Yankees in a game that the Nats ultimately lost 4–3 in 11 innings. Herz and Stephen Strasburg are the only pitchers in modern baseball history to have pitched a 13-strikeout, zero-walk game as one of their first three games.

Worst start:

  • MacKenzie Gore (June 3, 8–7 loss to the Mets at home) gave up 6 runs on 7 hits and 4 walks in 4⅓ innings with 2 strikeouts for a game score of 23. Gore left the game in the top of the fifth with the Nats ahead 4 to 3, but the bases were loaded, and Dylan Floro allowed all three inherited runners to score along with one of his own.

Tough losses:

  • Mitchell Parker (June 1, 3–2 loss to the Guardians in Cleveland) pitched 5⅔ innings, giving up 3 runs on 4 hits and 4 walks while striking out 5 for a game score of 50.
  • Mitchell Parker (June 28, 3–1 loss to the Rays in Tampa Bay) pitched 5 innings, giving up 2 runs on 6 hits and 1 walk while striking out 5 for a game score of 51.

Cheap wins:

  • None

Biggest shutdown:

  • Kyle Finnegan (June 11, 5–4 win in 10 innings over the Tigers in Detroit). The Nats had tied the game at 4 runs apiece in the top of the 8th, and the game went to extra innings. With two outs in the bottom of the ninth and runners on first and second, Finnegan got the call to relieve Hunter Harvey. He struck out the pinch hitter, Colt Keith, to send the game to extra innings. The Nats scored the go-ahead run on a sacrifice fly in the top of the tenth, then Finnegan went back out to pitch the bottom of the tenth. He got a groundout to shortstop that didn’t advance the automatic runner followed by two strikeouts to win the game. (Win probability added/WPA +.559).

Worst meltdown:

  • Hunter Harvey (June 24, 7–6 loss in 10 innings to the Padres in San Diego). The Nats had battled back from a 3–0 deficit to tie the game in the seventh inning, and the game went to extra innings tied 3–3. In the top of the tenth, Keibert Ruiz hit a double and Nick Senzel hit a home run to give the Nats a 6–3 lead, and Harvey got the call to close it in the bottom of the tenth. He gave up a double and a single, and the Nats’ lead was down to a single run. That was followed by a walk and a sacrifice bunt, putting the tying and go-ahead runs on second and third with one out. A foul popup put Harvey one out away from closing it. He issued an intentional pass to Luis Arraez, then Jurickson Profar hit a line drive to the right-center gap for a walk-off 7–6 win. (WPA –.914).

Walk off:

  • None

Clutch hit:

  • Jesse Winker (June 19, 3–1 win over the Diamondbacks at home). There were two outs, a runner at first, and the D-backs were ahead 1–0 when Winker came to bat in the bottom of the sixth. He launched one into the red seats in center field, giving the Nats a 2–1 lead. (WPA +.351) The Nats went on to win 3–1.

Choke:

  • Drew Millas (June 3, 8–7 loss to the Mets at home). The Nats went into the bottom of the ninth trailing the Mets 8–5. But after a walk, a hit batter, a fly out that advanced the runner, a couple of singles, and a sacrifice fly, the score was 8–7 and the Nats had runners on first and third with two outs. Millas came to bat with an opportunity to tie the game, but he took strike 3 to end it. (WPA –.204)

Memorable fielding plays:

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Filed under Month in review