Notes and quotes following an off-day for the Nationals…
PUTTING THE O [AND SB?] IN NATINALS:
Davey Martinez praised the work his hitters did after an 8-1 win in the first game of three with the Giants in San Francisco this week.
The Nationals combined for 10 hits and took seven walks in the series opener, with Martinez telling reporters the club stuck to their plan against a still-building Blake Snell, and knocked him out after just three innings in which the lefty got up to 72 pitches (39 strikes).
“I sat with them yesterday for a little while,” the manager explained, “… and just talked about just get the ball in the zone, take your walks, and extend some innings. We did a great job today. We came in, we had a plan, and we wanted to get the ball in the strike zone, I think we ended up with seven or eight walks, but we did that, and it was a good day, the offense was really good today.”
Photo by Thearon W. Henderson/Getty Images
Three of the hits, two walks, and three of the runs were off Snell, which Martinez said was a result of executing their plan against the two-time (including 2023) Cy Young award winner.
“He didn’t win a Cy Young for no reason,” Martinez said. “He’s got some really good pitches.
“You just have to get the ball in the zone. His breaking ball, his changeup, and even his fastball, they’re all electric pitches.”
“Our focus was just to make him throw strikes, work deep counts, and accept walks. Don’t chase. And I thought we did a good job.”
Tuesday’s game, a 5-3 win, was more of a grind for the Nationals. “They played well though,” Martinez said.
“They battled. Today was a grind for them. We played good defense. CJ [Abrams], big home run, big hit, played really well all the way around. But they played well. Riley Adams, big hit for us there at the end, and caught really well.”
Nationals’ hitters took six walks in their second win, and they stole three bases, in four attempts, after going 4 for 4 on the basepaths in the series opener.
As of Thursday morning, the Nationals’ 25 stolen bases as a club this season led the majors, which is something Martinez and Co. focused on this winter and spring as they built up the roster and assessed the team’s strengths.
“We’re just trying to play the game the right way,” Martinez said.
“We’re going to do things probably a little different, but that’s just our identity. We’re going to run. We’re going to bunt. We’re going to create havoc. And we’re going hit home runs, as we did tonight and as we did yesterday.”
Photo by Lachlan Cunningham/Getty Images
GM and President of Baseball Ops Mike Rizzo talked at length about the running game in Wednesday’s appearance with Audacy’s The Sports Junkies on 106.7 the FAN.
“We kind of planned it that way,” Rizzo said of the focus on the running game and the players they assembled, “… that we’d be a much more aggressive base-stealing team.
“We’ve got some speed on the club now, when you’ve got [Jacob] Young, who was a prominent base-stealer in the minor leagues, and CJ Abrams, and Lane Thomas can steal you 25 bases or so, and [Trey] Lipscomb is such a great baserunner, and learning really to be a great base-stealer. Can’t forget about [Nasim] Nuñez on the bench, and then when [Victor] Robles gets healthy and that type of thing.
“All these guys can run, and I think you’ll see them attempting a lot this year, the rule changes have a lot to do with it, you kind of have to build your team around the base stealing, it’s part of the strategy around the game.”
“That’s why we hate walks [from Nationals’ pitchers] so much, cause walks turn into doubles now and that’s something that’s difficult to overcome,” Rizzo added.
“We’re looking to be aggressive on the basepaths, but not run into outs and be smart and pick our situations. And I think Davey has done a great job with that, and as has [Gerardo] Parra, Parra is our outfield and baserunning coach, and he’s really taken hold of this group of base-stealers, and really puts a lot of time into it.”