Nats Recaps: Doghouse's WPA Posts + More
Washington, D.C. resident Doghouse takes a look at how each game was decided, play-by-play, pitch-by pitch
Game 100 WPA HOT TAKE: Buncha stat-padders. Nats bomb Brewers 15-2
Scherzer was a bit wobbly, for him, but he got a Joe Ross level of run support with a record(s) number(s) of dinger(s).
Game 99 WPA: Crouching Difo, Hidden Harper. Nats top Crew 8-5.
Gio put together his umpteenth solid start of the year, despite some clowniness behind him, and the Nats’ bats came alive in the majik aeyth.
Game 94 WPA HOT TAKE: Nats stink, will never win again, lose to LAAAA 7-0.
Gio struggled on the mound and the rest of the Nats did nothing at the plate and it was like 2009 all over again, man.
Game 93 WPA HOT TAKE: “New” pitching debut triumphant! Nats drop Halos 4-3.
Edwin Jackson puts up a quality start in his triumphant return, while the new bullpen pieces are effective, and Bam Bam hits all the baseballs.
Game 91 WPA HOT TAKE: Murphy is a good hitter. Nats top Reds 14-4.
Roark overcomes clowny fielding and umpiring to put up a good start, while the dingers rain (from the Nats, to be specific).
Game 90 WPA HOT TAKE: Rendon still not all-star. Nats beat Reds 10-7
Scherzer is pretty okay, but it’s not like he’s Gio. Rendon is also quite good at baseball.
Game 89 WPA HOT TAKE: Gio is good again. Nats beat Reds 5-0
Gio gets 25 outs and allows no runs, and his fellow Nats oblige with run support and some big ol’ Bryce bombs.
Game 62 WPA HOT TAKE: Countdown to 100 losses at 76. Nats lose again 5-1.
Scherzer pitched a pretty good game, but hung-over Nats can’t hit that much, and a bleary-eyed bullpen is similarly unhelpful.
Game 59 WPA HOT TAKE: Ross to bullpen—ARE YOU CRAZY?! Joe throws gem in Nats’ 6-1 win over Os.
Joe fights the hitters instead of himself, putting in his best start of the year in spite of the anemic (for him) run support.
Game 55 WPA HOT TAKE: The bullpen is still a little shaky. Nats beat As 11-10.
Pitching was sufficient, because the bats were ridonkulus.
Game 54 WPA HOT TAKE: [Jacob] Turner > Ross. Nats lose to As 10-4 in ZZZZzzz...
Ross got lit up, and they’re turning Fedde into a reliever? AL ball is soooo boring!
Game 52 WPA: Sweeping retaliation. Nats beat Giants 3-1 on Scherzer gem
Max went the distance, Zim went yard, and that’s all she wrote.
Game 45 WPA: Rendon, amirite? Nats beat Ms 5-1 as 2-bags goes 4-bags
Roark had a nice bounce-back outing, but Rendon continues to rawk, and the bullpen was refreshingly uninteresting.
Game 39 WPA: Punchless. Nats hit little in 6-1 loss to Bucs.
You know, I’m kind of surprised Oliver Perez doesn’t have more balks.
Game 38 WPA: Comfortable. Nats win 8-4 over Bucs.
Stras tired a bit at the end, but the bullpen settled down after a wobbly start and the Nats hit plenty.
Game 37 WPA: Tit for tat. Nats win 6-5 in back-and-forth contest.
Max showed some resilience and the rest of the Nats kept answering back.
Game 36 WPA: Not good relief work. Nats lose 4-3 on bullpen blowup.
Gio worked out of his jams and the dingers should have been sufficient, but the “A” bullpen was anything but...
Game 35 WPA: Twice is a coincidence; Bryce Harper walks off again...
Roark struggled a bit, but the bullpen was decent, and then Bam-Bam got the walk-off dinger.
Game 34 WPA: How to avoid bullpen issues. Nats beat Os 7-6 on Matt Weiters walkoff single.
Strasburg struggled a bit, but the big story was the dramatic 9th-inning comeback.
Game 33 WPA: Let every reliever have a chance to fail. Nats lose 5-4 to Os in another late bullpen collapse, waste Scherzer gem.
Max pitched a pretty good one, and the Nats got a few big hits, but not enough to hold off the now-apparently-inevitable bullpen problems.
Game 32 WPA: The first rule of holes. Nats lose 6-4 to Os after Gio gives up 3 HRs in the 1st
Gio dug a big hole early, dug some more later, and the rest of the Nats didn’t do enough to fill it in.
Game 29 WPA: I came to drop bombs. Nats beat Phils 4-2 as Stras, Zim, Rendon all go yard.
Stras was a bit shaky and the bullpen was uneven, but there were enough dingers to get the W.
Game 28 WPA: Maxi Max. Nats beat D-backs 4-2 on Max Scherzer gem, hits.
Max pitched well and helped himself at the plate, while the Nats managed not to leave EVERY runner on base.
Game 22 WPA: That escalated quickly. Nats blow out Rox 16-5 to crush road trip 9-1
The Nats racked up a franchise-record 11 runs in one inning. That’s good times.
Game 21 WPA: That went a little better. Nats beat Rox 11-4, bullpen does better.
Roark looked a little shaky there at the end, but the bullpen didn’t let it get away, and the Nats kept tallying runs.
Game 20 WPA: This is not baseball. Turner hits for cycle as Nats beat Rox 15-12
Trea hit for the cycle for the first time since teh Gooz did it in 2008.
Game 19 WPA: Good news, bad news. Nats lose 8-4 to Rox when it gets away from the bullpen
(Jacob) Turner did yoeman work in his spot start, but the bullpen couldn’t hold it.
Game 18 WPA: Cleaning up. Nats beat Mets 6-3 to sweep series on Murphy slam, 8-inning Scherzer outing
Max pitched well, gopher balls aside, and Murphy returned to his hitting ways.
Game 17 WPA: Let’s go, Gio! Nats beat Mets 3-1, Romero shines in relief
Gio had a solid outing, the bullpen was (again?!) nails, and Turner got right back into it.
Game 16 WPA: I was never worried. Nats beat Mets 4-3 in 11 on RBI walk.
Roark had a decent outing, but the relief work was sharp tonight, and some patient Nats help win it in extras.
Game 15 WPA: That’s some D! Nats win 3-2 to complete sweep.
Stras was solid, Zim looked vintage, and there were nifty defensive plays across the outfield.
Game 14 WPA: Extra salami. Nats deliver 14-4 pummeling with barrage of grand-slam home runs, endless hits
Ross had a pretty nice 2017 debut, but the story of this game was TEH SLAMZ!