Nationals vs Pirates, Game 2, on 7/4

[JCA-CrystalCity]

Pittsburgh Pirates vs Washington Nationals
Nats Park
11:05 AM EDT

Pirates
Braxton Ashcraft (RHP) 102.2 IP, 8-3, 3.33 ERA / 3.11 FIP, 11.2 HR/FB%, 27.6 K%, 5.5 BB%, 1.23 GB/FB

Nationals
OP: Carson Palmquist (LHP) 4.1 IP, 0-0, 2.08 ERA / 1.96 FIP
PP: Zack Littell (RHP) 80 IP, 7-6, 5.29 ERA / 6.47 FIP, 16.9 HR/FB%, 14.1 K%, 7.2 BB%, 0.69 GB/FB

Pirates
1. Konnor Griffin R SS
2. Brandon Lowe L 2B
3. Bryan Reynolds S LF
4. Esmerlyn Valdez R RF
5. Ryan O'Hearn L DH
6. Nick Gonzales R 3B
7. Jake Mangum S CF
8. Tyler Callihan L 1B
9. Henry Davis R C

Nationals
1. James Wood L DH
2. Luis García Jr. L 1B
3. Curtis Mead R 3B
4. CJ Abrams L SS
5. Dylan Crews R RF
6. Daylen Lile L LF
7. Jacob Young R CF
8. Drew Millas S C
9. Nasim Nuñez S 2B

Note - Young was a late scratch. Tena DH'd, Crews moves to CF.

[JCA-CrystalCity]

Pirates go with the same top 7 in the order as last night. Nats swap in Mead, Young, and Millas for Vivas, Tena, and Ruiz.

Ashcraft is legit. Great K-BB rate, doesn't give up a ton of flies, so doesn't get punished too bad for the slightly above average HR/FB.

For  some reason, Littell has been a bit better following an opener. 3.42 ERA / 4.89 FIP, with opponents hitting .250 / .292 / .443. Still a bit HR prone (12.5 HR/FB%).

[imref]

Everyone 21+ gets a free beer today.

[imref]

Bad decision Drew. Cost us a run.

[readonly]

Milas got punked like a little leaguer.  Embarrassing..

[Natsinpwc]

So at what point do they demote or release Millas and bring up Ford?? If he can’t do it defensively then he has no value.

My closed captioning called him Donovan Solano Mills.  Cool name.

[JCA-CrystalCity]

Sloppy execution on the double  steal defense.

Wood  with the early explosion!



BACK TO A TIE

428', 113 MPH

[Natsinpwc]

Everyone 21+ gets a free beer today.

Doenst alcohol dehydrate you?

[JCA-CrystalCity]

Milas got punked like a little leaguer.  Embarrassing..

may have fooled  CJ with delayed throw but doesn't CJ have to break hard in and cut it before the base? catching iti on the bag, he bumped  the runner there and got nothing on his  throw

[JCA-CrystalCity]

So at what point do they demote or release Millas and bring up Ford?? If he can’t do it defensively then he has no value.

Ford is the weaker defender. He was sent down primarily for D. He then lost his power too. OBP is good after a slow start.

The reason to send down Millas would  be if we weren't scoring runs. He's outstanding  as a pitch framer.

[welch]

So at what point do they demote or release Millas and bring up Ford?? If he can’t do it defensively then he has no value.

My closed captioning called him Donovan Solano Mills.  Cool name.

Ford has raised his average to .214, but I haven't seen anythng about his catching.

[welch]

If you are at the game, try my old DC-outside cooling method. I would drench my teeshirt and wear it. Perfect for bicycling out Sligo Creek Parkway.

[Natsinpwc]

At some point need to give Ford a chance. Traded for him. It’s clear Millas has limited upside. He’s -0.4 bWAR.

[aspenbubba]

Time to clean house and get rid of Lawrence Kent and Palmquist.

[JCA-CrystalCity]

Ford has raised his average to .214, but I haven't seen anythng about his catching.

he  had a terrific June. Just 54 PAs, but an .841 OPS. 2 HRs. More  or  less, the bad numbers for the season are due to a bad April and a lot of his offense value in his walks. Dude walked 22% of the PAs in June.

That said, offense is not his issue. D is what needs work.

[Natsinpwc]

The female astronaut is a big Phillies fan. That probably doomed this game for the Nats.

[JCA-CrystalCity]

At some point need to give Ford a chance. Traded for him. It’s clear Millas has limited upside. He’s -0.4 bWAR.

Millas's value is  in framing and defense. His framing is nuts. bWAR doesn't measure  catcher defense.
.
The Nats catching duo improvement year to year is more or less how the Nats now have a mid-range defense by a lot of measures.
https://blogs.fangraphs.com/the-worst-team-defenses-among-contenders-2026-edition/

[Natsinpwc]

his value is  in framing and defense. His framing is nuts.
.
The Nats catching duo improvement year to year is more or less how the Nats now have a mid-range defense by a lot of measures.
https://blogs.fangraphs.com/the-worst-team-defenses-among-contenders-2026-edition/

Well sure but there are other aspects to the defense as we saw in the first.  And even with the framing he’s below replacement level. Probably true of many backup catchers of course.

[JCA-CrystalCity]

Well sure but there are other aspects to the defense as we saw in the first.  And even with the framing he’s below replacement level. Probably true of many backup catchers of course.

bWAR doesn't measure catcher framing. With framing in fWAR, he's 0 fWAR. not great, but it tells  you how much his framing helps.

I expect Ford up when his defense is close enough to MLB average that he adds to the lineup.

[imref]

Well this is one way to avoid fans getting heat injuries.

[Natsinpwc]

bWAR doesn't measure catcher framing.

How come?

This is painful to watch. I get a chance to watch a game and it’s this

[imref]

Why would you bring up ford to have him be a backup?

[JCA-CrystalCity]

How come?

This is painful to watch. I get a chance to watch a game and it’s this

As with the past two seasons, I’ve broken out catcher values for both FRV and DRS from the rest of a team’s values in both metrics. Note that the version of DRS that we display on FanGraphs now includes a framing component (rSZ, for strike zone) that isn’t used in Baseball Reference’s WAR calculations (though you can find it in the Sabermetric Fielding section on a player’s fielding page).

https://blogs.fangraphs.com/the-worst-team-defenses-among-contenders-2026-edition/

[Natsinpwc]

Why would you bring up ford to have him be a backup?

Cause I’m tired of Millas?

Earlier in the year it was every other game. You can play Ford twice a week and DH occasionally. Or even 1B. If he sucks defensively he’s going to need another position anyway.

I can’t believe you are the questioning bringing someone up from the more too soon. Heat must have gotten to you.

[OfftheBat]

Happy Independance Day🫡🫡 I got here late, looks like Palmquist got beat up pretty bad?