Max isn't only ace Nats have available for WC
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WASHINGTON -- The Nationals are approaching Tuesday’s National League Wild Card Game with full knowledge that their magical season hinges on one game. Whether that’s a fair fate is up for debate, they say, but it's the reality. What’s for certain is that they are not planning on leaving anything up to chance.
That means the full brunt of their pitching staff will be available behind starter Max Scherzer. If Scherzer falters -- or perhaps even if he doesn’t -- Stephen Strasburg will be ready on regular rest to follow and help the club secure a spot in the National League Division Series. Even behind Strasburg, Patrick Corbin and Aníbal Sánchez will be available as well in more limited roles.
"We've got three aces on this team,” pitching coach Paul Menhart said Monday afternoon. “It would be silly not to have them all available and ready to go, because you can't play the next series unless you win this one."
Shop for postseason gear: The need for this approach is multifaceted. It’s been well-documented how much Washington’s bullpen struggled this season. The starters’ ERA, on the other hand, is second to only the Dodgers. Scherzer has reported himself fully healthy after his second-half injuries, but on-field results have left some fair questions.
In enters Strasburg, a former closer in college at San Diego State who has fully bought into his potential first big league relief appearance. At full rest, he can be utilized in several situations, potentially even taking the bulk of the game if the relentless Brewers lineup drives up Scherzer’s pitch count early.
“It’s one game,” said manager Dave Martinez. “We’ve got to win this game. Everybody’s going to be ready whenever they’re called upon.”
The Nationals will also have to decide how they can potentially employ Corbin. He is coming off short rest and he owns better splits against lefties, so the southpaw will most likely be used only situationally.
The Nats have a plan, but how exactly it unfolds on Tuesday will be a call made onsite and in the moment, both Martinez and general manager Mike Rizzo said.
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“We’re going to do everything we can to win Tuesday’s game, because if we don’t win Tuesday’s game there’s no game [Thursday],” said Rizzo, when asked if there’s a chance no traditional relievers appear on Tuesday. “We’re going to do everything that we have to do to win tomorrow.”
But it’s no easy adjustment to learn how to pitch as a reliever on the fly. Take it from Sean Doolittle, the National who knows the most about being thrown into high-leverage situations late in games. He, like many of his teammates, is excited to see the Nats’ lethal one-two punch not just pitch in the same rotation, but potentially in the same game.
Doolittle understands there’s a line that needs to be toed, though. Pitching out of the bullpen is a different animal. You could easily be thrown into a bind you didn’t create, and as innocuous as it may seem, simply trotting to the mound from the outfield requires a different mindset than from the dugout.
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“These are the questions that you have to think about,” Doolittle said. “You want to get to your strengths -- you want to use your strengths -- but where is that line to where you are putting somebody too far out of their comfort zone?”
Still, Doolittle will happily take the duo -- or even trio -- that might pitch for the Nationals on Tuesday.
“We have three pitchers who are going to get Cy Young votes who are available to pitch in this game,” Doolittle said. “That’s a really, really good problem to have.”
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Suzuki at full-go
Even if Kurt Suzuki didn’t get himself in a game before Tuesday, Martinez said last week that the Nationals would have felt confident starting him in the NL Wild Card Game regardless.
That isn’t a worry anymore. Suzuki made two starts in the last week of the regular season after his right elbow inflammation began popping up in early September. He’s reported no issues with the elbow, which was not impacting his batting, after each of his starts, meaning the battery of Suzuki and Scherzer is at full-go for Tuesday.
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“He feels good,” Martinez reaffirmed of Suzuki. “There were no issues. He fired a ball yesterday to first base and he said he felt great. He didn’t feel [anything] at all.”
Yan Gomes made a case to earn the nod, batting .262/.324/.590 with a .914 OPS over his final 17 games. But the Nats highly value the working relationship between Scherzer and Suzuki, evident in the ace’s difference in numbers when pitching to the two backstops.
• Scherzer with Suzuki in 2019: 99 2/3 IP, 2.08 ERA, .204/.252/.326 opponent slash line
• Scherzer with Gomes in 2019: 72 2/3 IP, 4.09 ERA, .245/.284/.429 opponent slash line
25th spot being finalized
Though Rizzo said Monday afternoon that Tuesday’s final roster is just about set, there’s plenty of guessing to do from an outsider’s perspective. With each starting pitcher available on Tuesday, along with the fact that the roster can be altered before a potential NLDS, Martinez said he will opt to carry one fewer reliever for Tuesday.
That leaves another position spot open. Gerardo Parra’s late-season revival at the plate likely solidified his spot, so the Nats have the left-handed-hitting Andrew Stevenson and right-handed-hitting Michael A. Taylor to decide upon. Both provide defensive assurance and speed on the basepaths.
“I would definitely like an extra guy as opposed to an extra pitcher,” Martinez said. “Especially when we have Stras, Corbin and possibly Sánchez in the bullpen for tomorrow.”
Tuesday’s logistics
Nationals reliever and feel-good story Aaron Barrett will throw out the first pitch ahead of Tuesday’s game. The national anthem will be performed by the U.S. Army Chorus Quartet and “God Bless America” will be sung by the local staple DC Washington. All fans will receive a rally towel with the Nats’ “Vintage W” logo.
WMATA announced Monday afternoon that Metrorail service will be running "at least 20 minutes after the end of the game, up to one hour later than [its] normal closing time, if necessary."