After a roster shakeup at the trade deadline, the Nats return home to take on a Brewers club that has steamrolled teams all year
After winning game one of the series in Houston, the Nats dropped the next 2 to lose the series, with the last one coming in a start in which MacKenzie Gore went 5 1⁄3 innings and allowed 6 runs. Yesterday the Nationals were off, but the fanbase was still locked in for the trade deadline, where the Nats moved Amed Rosario, Luis Garcia (the reliever), Andrew Chafin, Mike Soroka, Kyle Finnegan, and Alex Call. The only players with expiring contracts that were kept around were Josh Bell and Paul DeJong, likely due to a lack of market for both.
The question on everyone’s mind was if the Nationals were going to trade MacKenzie Gore for a haul of prospects, and in the end, the answer was no, but it sounds like they weren’t far from doing it. I believe it was the right decision to not move him unless your price was met, but that’s a discussion for later, as it’s time to check out the first opponent for the shaken-up Nationals roster.
Trips Aces
The Brewers have the best starting pitching ERA in the National League, coming into the day with a 3.39 ERA. The Nationals are gonna get the full force of their rotation as they face a few of their aces this weekend, in the grizzled veteran Brandon Woodruff on Saturday and the young phenom Jacob Misiorowski on Sunday. Even their Friday night starter, Jose Quintana, considered to be their five starter, has a 3.50 ERA, a mark which would be the best in the Nationals rotation, but is the worst in the Brewers. Needless to say, there will be no breaks for this Nats offense this weekend, as there are not many flaws in the Brewers’ rotation. The rest of the Brewers roster isn’t quite as strong, as they sit middle of the pack in the MLB in both bullpen ERA and team OPS, but it hasn’t mattered yet, as they currently have the best record in baseball and are 1 game ahead of the Chicago Cubs in the NL Central. The Brewers will be without their young star Jackson Chourio this weekend, as he was placed on the IL after having hamstring spasms during Tuesday’s game against the Cubs.
Team Stats
Team OPS: .712 (7th in NL, 17th in MLB)
Team OPS Leader: Jackson Chourio (.785)
Team HR Leader: Christian Yelich (20)
Team ERA: 3.63 (3rd in NL, 5th in MLB)
Team ERA Leader: Freddy Peralta (3.08)
Game One – Friday 6:45 PM EDT
MIL: LHP Jose Quintana – 82.1 IP, 3.50 ERA, 1.34 WHIP
Quintana has been the face of consistency for the Brewers out of the back of their rotation, going at least 5 innings and allowing minimal damage in all his starts, such as his 5-inning, 2-run performance in his last start versus the Marlins.
WSH: LHP Mitchell Parker – 113.2 IP, 4.91 ERA, 1.41 WHIP
Parker has strung together back-to-back solid starts now, with his last one being a 5 1⁄3 inning, 2-run performance against the Twins, and he’ll look to add a third in a row against a solid but not overwhelming Brewers’ lineup.
Game Two – Saturday 4:05 PM EDT
MIL: RHP Brandon Woodruff – 22.1 IP, 2.01 ERA, 0.72 WHIP
Woodruff has made 4 starts in his return to the mound in 2025, and he’s looked very impressive in that time frame. His worst outing of the year has come against the Nationals, when they scored 2 and knocked him out with 1 out in the 5th back on July 12th. We will see if they can do more of that on Saturday, or if it will look like the version of Woodruff everyone else is seeing.
WSH: RHP Jake Irvin – 126.2 IP, 4.69 ERA, 1.29 WHIP
It was the usual story for Jake Irvin in July: disaster starts followed up by phenomenal ones, as after giving up 5 runs over 3 2⁄3 innings of work against the Reds, he followed it up with 7 innings of 2-run ball against the Twins in his home state. Here’s to hoping we get the good version of Irvin on Saturday.
Game Three – Sunday 1:35 PM EDT
MIL: RHP Jacob Misiorowski – 33.1 IP, 2.70 ERA, 0.96 WHIP
Misiorowski only has 7 career starts under his belt, but he has looked mighty impressive in all 7 of them. Even in his last start against the Cubs, one of his weaker ones as he went just 4 innings and allowed 2 runs, he still looked sharp, striking out 7 batters and only giving up 3 hits. The Nats will get their first look at the young all-star on Sunday, a dangerous combination as the Nats’ bats seem to rarely get hot during day games.
WSH: RHP Brad Lord – 74.1 IP, 3.27 ERA, 1.20 WHIP
Lord has looked sharp in his rotation to the Nationals rotation, going 5 1⁄3 innings and allowing just 1 run in his last start against the Astros. He isn’t striking out a lot of batters, but he’s doing exactly what is being asked of him, which is getting outs. Hopefully, the longer he is in the rotation, the deeper into starts they will allow him to go, as he is still acclimating back to a starter’s schedule rather than a bullpen one.
Young Guns Ready To Roll?
A flurry of roster moves were made to make up for all the big leaguers that were traded this week, with notable names such as Robert Hassell III making their return to the big leagues. Will they be hungry to prove they belong full-time in the next 2 months, or will they go through the motions like it feels like the whole team has all season? Comment down below and let’s go Nats!