Nationals Weekly: Winning on and off the field: 4/21 – 4/27

By William English

The Nationals dominated their competition on the diamond this week while also beating their opponents in the New York Court of Appeals. The Nats won four of six straight road matchups, securing their first series win of the year against the AL Central division leader, the Minnesota Twins. They then grabbed their second series win of the season against the New York Mets, taking the first two out of three games. Here’s what happened last week in Nationals baseball:

 

Winning Off the Field

Mid-Atlantic Sports Network (MASN)  — the Nationals and Orioles broadcast channel — is a hot topic amongst the teams featured in the Beltway Series. At the dawn of the Nationals’ 2005 relocation from Montreal, the Orioles opposed the concept of a DC-based team. Baltimore argued that DC was their territory and the Expos — the team’s name before the 2005 name change — had no right to move into their area. Major League Baseball (MLB), however, had supported the relocation of the Expos due to undesirable attendance numbers in Montreal. To settle financial problems between the Orioles and the soon-to-be Washington Nationals, MLB devised a compromise that required Washington to use the Orioles’ regional broadcast network. Years later, financial issues emerged yet again. This time, the Nationals claimed that from 2012 to 2016, the Orioles never paid them for their MASN rights and owed them 100 million dollars, taking the Orioles to court. On Tuesday, April 25, the New York Court of Appeals ruled in favor of the Nationals,​​ calling for more negotiations between the teams.

 

The Cold Never Bothered Them Anyway

During their three-game stand in Minnesota, Washington played the two coldest games in team history, with game time temps at 37℉ and 35℉ respectively. However, the blistering cold didn’t cool down the Nationals’ bats. Designated hitter Joey Meneses had a batting average of .357 over the three-game span and collected three RBIs and a home run — looking almost as good as he did in the second half of the 2022 season. The Nats also matched last week’s run total of 14 in this series alone, with the majority of those runs coming from a dominant performance on Saturday, April 22. The Nationals put up 10 runs behind great at-bats from center fielder Victor Robles and shortstop CJ Abrams, who hit his first home run as a Washington National in the seventh inning. The pitching staff also showed improvement from last week, with Trevor Williams pitching six innings with two runs and four strikeouts. The day after, Chad Kuhl put on his best performance of the season, pitching just over three innings and only allowing a single run.

 

The Future Shines Bright in the Big Apple

General Manager Mike Rizzo has traded several players over the past two years, including all-stars Trea Turner, Max Scherzer, Kyle Schwarber and Juan Soto. In return, the Nats have received loads of prospects. Two of those promising players have become the Nationals’ best-starting pitchers during the season so far. In back-to-back games on April 25 and 26th against the New York Mets, right-hander Josiah Gray pitched six strong innings of shutout baseball with nine strikeouts. The next day MacKenzie Gore picked up right where Gray left off and pitched six innings of one-run ball to go along with a career-high of 10 strikeouts. The team also finally provided Gray with some offense. Catcher Keibert Ruiz started the scoring off with a solo home run in the second inning. Second baseman Luis Garcia and designated hitter Joey Meneses were the other two Nationals to drive in runs. The Nats’ five runs gave Gray enough support to get him his first win of the season.

 

A Look Ahead

The Nationals look to continue winning in their upcoming seven-game homestand. Their first home game will be on April 28th, kicking off a three-game series against the red-hot Pittsburgh Pirates — the number one team in the NL Central division. Next, the Nats will face the Chicago Cubs in a series starting on May 1. Both teams rank in the top twelve in team offense and the top ten in pitching, so the Nats must keep up their game to have a chance at defending their home field.