ATLANTA – The Nationals will take the field at Truist Park tonight looking to snap a five-game losing streak. A loss in the series opener against the Braves will be the Nats’ longest losing streak since they lost six in a row from Aug. 30 to Sept. 5, 2023.
With both the pitchers (20 runs allowed over the weekend against the Cardinals) and the bats (only three runs scored against the Cardinals) recently, where do the Nats begin to turn things around?
“We just gotta focus on the little things,” manager Davey Martinez said during his pregame meeting with the media. “We're struggling hitting. We just got to come out and swing the bats a little bit better. Our leadoff hitter is doing what he's supposed to be doing. We just got to follow suit. I often talked about swinging at strikes, taking our walks, extending innings. We need to come out and do that today.”
Sure enough, CJ Abrams has been the Nats’ best hitter of late. He has reached base safely in 16 straight games, tied for the longest streak of his career. He’s hitting .379 with five doubles, two triples, seven RBIs, five walks, four stolen bases and 10 runs scored during the streak.
But the rest of the lineup, aside from a few guys here and there, has struggled to produce any more offense. Over these last five games, the Nats collectively are slashing .219/.292/.319 with a .611 OPS. They collected only 10 extra-base hits, while walking only 15 times compared to 37 strikeouts. And seven of those walks came in Wednesday’s finale against the Guardians.
“I wouldn't say there's a whole lot of pressure,” Martinez said. “We just got to stop chasing. That's the key. When we get the ball in the zone, we hit the ball really hard. … So we just got to get the ball in the zone.”
On the other hand, the Nats pitchers have to throw the ball in the zone. They have walked three or more batters in each of the last eight games, while issuing 25 free passes and pitching to a 7.20 ERA during the losing streak.
“For our pitching, we gotta make good pitches and get ahead early,” Martinez said. “And if we could do that, defense gotta play behind them.”
Tonight, that starts with Jake Irvin, who makes his ninth start of the season. While the right-hander held the Guardians to two runs over 5 ⅓ innings in his last start, he issued three walks (all in the first inning, leading to Cleveland’s first run) and didn’t strike out any batters for the first time in his career.
“Attack the strike zone,” Martinez said of Irvin’s plan against the Braves. “As we saw in his last outing, he got in trouble with the base on balls. Once he settled in, he gave us some strong innings there. So just attack the strike zone.”
The Nationals may be facing the Braves at the right time. Normally a consistent powerhouse in the National League East, the Braves are all struggling to start the season. And Washington had a lot of success against Atlanta last year, going 8-5 against their division rival.
“I really believe that we came out, we put the pressure on them,” Martinez said. “As I always talk about, we did that last year. So we got to continue to do that. I think that's one thing that we're missing. We got to go out there and score first and try to get that lead, and then go from there.”
That would be a welcome sight, as the Nats have surrendered the first run in 12 of their last 15 games.
* Orlando Ribalta and Derek Law will throw again tomorrow, per Martinez.
Ribalta threw his first bullpen session since landing on the 15-day injured list with a right biceps strain on Saturday. He was scheduled to throw 20-25 pitches, all fastballs.
Law, who opened the season on the 15-day IL with right forearm inflammation, was also supposed to throw off a mound for the first time some time soon, but it sounds like tomorrow’s session is still just throwing off flat ground.