Back Above .500

Walters is open late and a great spot to watch the final rounds of the NBA and Stanley Cup playoffs. Walters Sports Bar and Restaurant is located just across the street from Nationals Park. The lead for Wood at first being held by Groover and the pitch. Swung on hit in the air to left center field and deep. Troy going back, Waltsby going back onto the warning track, looking up and it is gone. Goodbye! Bang! Zom goes Curtis Meade with a home run to deep left center field here at Chase Field. And just like last night, the lead off base runner followed by a two run homer. And it's the Nationals two of the Diamondbacks nothing. Lefty rocks and fires and a fly ball will hit to left for Cruz. Back to the wall as Troy looking up and there it goes. It is deep and long gone about ten rows into the seats. Shot for Dylan Cruz is second home of the year and a key insurance run home. Nationals three, Diamondbacks one. Cruz crushes an elevated fastball. He needed that. Dylan had been won for his previous 20. But after a first pitch fastball demolished that one deep into the seats. The right intercepts. Here's the pitch. Swing in the ground ball. It hard past the sliding marty, base it in a right field, rounding third. Heading home as Cruz throw to the plate going to be close. He's in there with the head first dive. Throw to third. Lionel dives in, safe there. It's a single to right in RBI for Nunez scoring Cruz, Lyle the third of the Nationals and a run here of the ninth instead of Washington five in Arizona one. And welcome to Natschatt. I'm Al Goldie, host of the Al Goldie podcast. I'm joined by Washington Nationals insider Mark Sturkerman of Natschernel.com. He's at Chase Field in Phoenix, Arizona. The Nats now are seven, two and one over their last ten series. The two series losses coming against the Miami, Marlins of all teams, but a six one win at the Arizona Diamondbacks on Saturday in game two of a three game series. This off the 14 one win at the Diamondbacks late night on Friday night. So the Natsch already have won the series and now are back above 500 in MLB's 2026 regular season 33 and 32 with a run differential of plus eight 21 and 12 on the road versus 12 and 20 at home. The Diamondbacks now are 33 and 31, including 20 and 14 at home as the Natsch so far in this series are having their way with the team in Arizona that has been really good at home. It is good to have you with us. So we have a website that we invite you to check out Natschatt podcast.com at which you can purchase a Natschatt podcast t-shirt and a new batch of Natschatt podcast t-shirts has arrived both blue and red have been restocked. We appreciate the support very much of the website again is Natschatt podcast dot com this installment and that's chat brought to us by Mason Calfys the top legal recruiter in Washington DC. Mason has been with us since our first season. You can reach him at 2024863535 so much to like from the Nats on Saturday home runs from Dylan Cruz and Curtis mead Zach Latel had another good outing. The Natsch bullpen was great, but regarding the offense as a whole so consider this you likely know by now the Natsch are number one in M.O.B. and runs scored that run total now at 351. What's also the case is that the Natsch are number one in M.O.B. and first inning runs at 51 two first inning runs late night on Friday night two more first inning runs on Saturday and these first inning ambushes have come against good starting pitching mark. The Natschow far having a terrific series and they in each game have been good from the get go really have been in control of both of these games in their entire days. Identical starts to both of these games lead off guy gets on James wood it was a walk on Friday night it was a single on Saturday afternoon and then the next batter home run to run lead Luis Garcia on Friday Curtis mead on Saturday you can't ask for anything better than that of how to get things started and it has been a point of emphasis for them and they've credited the pre game preparation the scouting report and the pre game meetings they have in coming up with a game plan for the opposing starter and I've heard multiple guys say they feel like they take the field and have a good idea of what they're facing on that day and what their plan of attack is going to be against him and the results obviously back that up. I think a lot of credit has to be given here to the organization and their planning and strategy heading into each game and then on the players for taking that information they're getting and being able to apply it right from the get go in the first inning it's set such a positive tone for these games and you can tell they feed off this stuff when they know they're out in front it's like they play much looser. It's another example of the next new process paying immediate dividends that this team has a leg up on competition game in game out. I mean if I am an opposing team at this point one of the things that I'm talking about going into a series against the Nats is win the first inning because the Nats so often are winning first in games and you know that is the kind of thing I mean look you can over coming down in the first inning we understand that but man I mean you talk about like setting a tone you talk about putting the starting picture in a rough spot having to throw a bunch of pitches in a first inning really good to see that and you know I mentioned against whom the Nats are doing what they're doing in these first innings in this series so far so Friday night Merrill Kelly not overall having a good season but he had been pitching well came into the game ERA 2.36 over his last five games all starts he on Friday night allowed seven runs in five innings and the opposing starting picture on Saturday was Eduardo Rodriguez who had been one of the best pitchers in the major so far this season came into the game with the ERA of 2.24 over 12 games all starts in this regular season allowed four runs in six into third innings did have five strikeouts versus one walk of it is not like he had you know a blowup start but to get on him early like that off the great success that he had been enjoying that was so satisfying to see that from the Nats in this game. Well yeah and you saw how Rodriguez settled in after that he had hard to get anything else until the seventh inning so that was important that early ambush and maybe he made some adjustments after that to keep him you know in check so like I said I think there is something to be said for the the plan of attack they're coming in with they have a scouting report they seem to know what the opposing picture is going to try to do and they tell their hitters okay here are your strengths here's what to look for Curtis Mead said that he was particularly looking for something on the inner third of the plate he got it he turned on it crushed the ball to left center field for that to run Homer it also helps a lot I will talk about first inning success it helps when your lead off hitter is one of the best hitters in baseball and gets on base a ton and we could debate till the cows come home whether they are maximizing James would be having him lead off or whether they'd be better off having him hit second or third where he might drive in some more runs but you can't dispute the fact that when he's the first batter at the opposing picture has to face it's putting the pressure on the opposition right from the get go and he gets on and maybe he's not driving in all the runs but he's getting on and giving the guys behind him plenty of opportunities to get things going well we've talked about how the higher up you bat in a lineup the more play the appearances to get over the course of the regular season this is a little tricky because we know that the Nats mix and match players a lot but James would is by far number one on the Nats in play appearances 304 number two is Dalyl and Lyle at 283 so to the point of well why is he batting lead off as we've discussed first of all plenty of teams bat their best batters in that number one spot but think about that your best hitter this season has had by far the most played appearances on the team like that's what you want you want James would leading the way by a good bit in play appearances and he is very much doing that so you mentioned the Homer by Curtis made I mean this guy continues to produce he was an at starting third basement and number two batter one for four to run Homer and a walk at that to run Homer in the to run first to the Homer to left center put the Nats up to nothing 411 feet per stat cast you know I feel like sometimes we take for granted what Curtis made is doing I mean it's really something the production he's putting forth is OPS now is at 845 but the Nats in this game hit two home runs and the man who hit the Nats second home run was Dylan Cruz and you know there was so many good things about this game for the Nats maybe nothing was better than the Dylan Cruz Homer both in terms of what it meant in the game and what it could mean hopefully in the bigger picture but Cruz who had been struggling no doubt hit some balls hard as we have discussed but the production just has not been there in this latest in for him at the majors but Cruz on Saturday as an at starting right field or and number five batter two for four with a solo Homer and a single Cruz in the Nats to run seventh a lead off first pitch home run to left field for a 3 1 Nats lead and this was some shot by Cruz 432 feet per stat cast and then Cruz had a nice single he in the Nats to run 9th had a lead off single to center field despite having been down at 1.12 good for Dylan Cruz for doing as he did in this game 100 percent he needed it let's be honest we know what the numbers are I've shown for him he was one for his last 17 coming into that at that and on a night Friday when the team as a whole had a huge night at the place going 14 runs he was the only member of the lineup who did not have a hit and that frustrated him I think there has definitely been some frustration from everyone over the lack of results since he came back up from AAA now that said he has really stayed focused on the process versus the result he said that's what he was doing at AAA and he's tried to carry that over into the big leagues and so for him even when the results have not been good. He's been much more focused on did he take good at bat? Did he like the swing you had? Did he make good contact at times? And even if that doesn't result in hits, he comes away feeling good about it. Now that said, when you see the batting average in the OPS and everything being so low, and when you see the entire team putting up huge numbers like they did Friday night and you weren't a part of it at all, you can't tell me that he's not feeling that somewhere deep inside. So he does need to see actual tangible positive results. And so you could see the smile on his face, what this one meant to him. It's the furthest he's hit a ball in the big leagues. It was perfect contact. You couldn't describe it any better than that. And I think deep down he knew like yes, you can convince yourself, I'm hitting the ball hard, I'm taking good at bats, blah, blah, blah, blah, it's going to be okay. You do need to actually see a result like that sometimes to remind yourself, yes, I can do this. I can be successful up here. That one swing to me, that's the story of the game. There's a lot of good stuff that happened in the bigger picture. That to me was the most important thing that happened in this game. He was all over that pitch too. I mean, that was just so impressive what he did. His OPS is just 595 even with the Homer and the single on Saturday but we are only talking about 15 games. And I think that's an important thing to remember, right? Like it's 15 games. I think what's tough is that this is not his first in at the major league level. And what we've seen has been so reminiscent of what we had seen from him at the major league level where like you talk up these process that's but the results just are not there. But the results clearly were there in this game on Saturday. So good for Dylan Cruz for that. And that's as a team in this game, six runs, eight hits, which were two home runs, a triple, a double and four singles, five walks. So the ads did go just one for five with runners in scoring position. James Wood was an ad starting D H and lead off batter one for four with a single and a walk. He struck out three times. So CJ Abrams had an offer. He was an ad starting shortstop and clean up batter. Oh for four with a couple of strikeouts. Hey, are you a law firm partner looking for a better team? Take your 900 OPS to a championship caliber team by contacting that chat sponsor Mason Calpis, who is the top legal recruiter in the Washington DC market. Mason and his team at Zenith Legal Specialized and Placing Partners Associates and senior government lawyers at elite firms across DC in the country. Zenith has placed attorneys at almost every top law firm in DC and New York. And unlike your current firms innovation committee, Zenith actually built technology that works. Zenith's proprietary candidate app lets lawyers track where they've been submitted and helps Mason's team identify the best opportunities faster and more efficiently. No other legal recruiting firm has anything like this. Mason regularly works with lawyers from the DOJ SEC and law firms looking for better platforms, stronger clients or let's be honest, a lot more money because unlike baseball players, lawyers are not stuck under team control while ownership refuses to spend. And if your current partnership meetings feel more hopeless than Metz fans in October, it may be time to make a move, bet on yourself with the best legal recruiter out there advocating for your future. Call Mason Calpis today, 202-486-3535. That's 202-486-3535. Jacob Young at third, Diamondbacks are in on the infield. You have to watch for the Bunt. Rio sets fires, Nunez squares, Bunt's at first base side. Young breaks for the play, he's going to score the toss to first and a collision. Nunez does a sub-ersault colliding with Groover. What's the call at first? A run has scored out as the call at first. Nationals lead four to one, but Groover appears to be shaken up. Nationals may look at a replay. Nunez did a full sub-ersault colliding with Groover. It's the second time this week there's been a collision at first base involving a Diamondbacks first baseman. And then there was Nassim Nunez in this game. He was an at-starting second baseman and number eight batter. One for three with an RBI single and RBI sack Bunt and a stolen base. Nunez in the Nads two run seven, a one out first pitch RBI sack Bunt to put the Nads up for one. But this was some play. Nunez put down a great Bunt toward first base and then came what happened at first base. Nunez stumbled and stepping on the left ankle of the Diamondbacks first baseman Lou James Groover. And then Nunez did a sub-ersault. This was a scary looking play especially for Groover seeing Nunez step on the ankle of Groover like that was frightening. So we had that. But scoring on the play was Jacob Young who had hit a one out opposite field triple to the right center field gap. And then Nunez in the Nads two run ninth had a one out RBI single in the right field to put the Nads up five one. And Nunez had a steal of second base. But how about that Bunt play and what happened at first base that was something. Well first of all you couldn't put down a safety squeeze any better than he did. And this is why Lake butter has said many times the safety squeeze if executed is an impossible play to defend. It's going to work every time and that was perfect on his end. And he almost even beat it out as we said. Now that play at first there's a little bit of PTSD here in Arizona because just a couple nights ago our old friend Ildemar Ovarges and Max Muncieve the Dodgers had a bad collision at first base on a bang bang play. That's fair. Vargas the race is on. And look out. They're both down. And both guys were knocked out pretty good. Now Vargas was able to come back and he played at the end of the game on Friday and it came off the bench again in this one. So it seems like it's going to be okay. It looks like Max Muncieve is going to be all right as well. But to see it happen again on another play at first base I'm sure everybody here is feeling that and Lou James Groover who by the way has like one of the all-time great baseball names. He just made his major debut on Friday night and here he is in game two. And I don't know if they showed the slowmo replay of it of Nunez stepping on the ankle and seeing it twist like that looked really bad in the way that Groover went down. You thought this could be a really serious injury for guy who just made his debut. It just had his first hit in our B.I. Earlier in this game. Thankfully everybody seemed to be all right. Nunez finished the game Groover finished the game. Everybody was okay. But yeah, that was a scary moment for sure. And if you're a diamond back fan or anybody with the team like you immediately had a flashback just a couple of nights going or like what is happening on these plays at first base. You know what's funny though is not seem Nunez is so athletic that he even in stumbling and falling down does so in an athletic way like that somersault that he did. How many other players on the Nats would have fallen in that manner. You know like he was graceful in the way that he stumbled forward and fell. But you're a professional wrestling fan. They learn how to take a fall right. I think Nunez seemed like he learned the proper way to take a fall and not get hurt. He looked like Eddie Guerrero doing what Nunez did in that spot. That was something very impressive there. But yeah, the Nats offense just cannot say enough good things about it and keep in mind right coming off getting swept in three games against the Miami-Morland state nationals Park this past Monday through Wednesday. The Nats in that series totaling just seven runs the Nats so far in this series at the diamond backs 20 runs over two games the 14 one win and the six one win. The Nats pitching in this six one win at the diamond backs on Saturday outstanding and leading the way Zach Latel who was good for a fifth consecutive outing. Yes, Zach Latel is locked in. He is gone from being a mess to now maybe being the pitcher in the Nats rotation who is pitching the best. Yes, you could make that argument right now. Latel in this game one run in five innings four strikeouts one walk. He gave up just two hits each of which was a single did issue a hit by pitch. But he was so pitch efficient and he threw a lot of strikes 64 pitches 42 strikes just 22 balls. He did an excellent job of throwing first pitch strikes and that pitch efficiency off the Nats this season of course being so pitch inefficient foster Griffin late night on Friday night Zach Latel on Saturday the Nats so far are putting on like a master class in pitch efficiency in this series really good stuff. Well, I mentioned how the top of the first was identical in both games the starting pitching was identical in both games five innings one run two hits Latel did it on 64 pitches foster Griffin did it on 62 pitches like I said almost identical job by both of them. What's the key first pitch strikes 14 of 19 for Latel and that number that rate was even better until the fifth inning when he started to get in a little bit of trouble by getting ahead in the count. He can then expand the zone get some chase. We have seen what a difference it makes for him in the last month plus that when he gets ahead in the count now he can be far more effective than think back to April he's got you know two oh count three one count and he ends up putting a pitch on the platter that somebody just clobber I think he's only giving up two home runs in his last seven starts or something like that. You know this has been really a dramatic turnaround for him and he has become extremely reliable for the nationals. Now like Griffin he's pulled a little sooner than you would expect given how efficient he was but Blake Nutera essentially said that fifth inning did get to be a little bit tricky all of a sudden allowed three base runners had to pitch out of a jam after one run came in and the feeling was the bullpen's pretty fresh. He liked the way it lined up so let's just go to them now and not push us any further. Yeah it was a tight game at the moment and he worked really hard to get through that fifth there and we had pretty well rested bullpen and feel really good about the arms that we had and just thought that was the right time. Let's remember Latel last two start six innings and seven So he has shown now that he can pitch deeper in games, but in this case, they didn't feel like it was necessary. And so good on him. And the return of the offense last two nights is obviously the biggest story from the national standpoint. But the consistency and actually dominance here of the starting pitching against a good dive in back lineup, I don't think you can oversell how important that has been what the job those two guys have done the last two days. Well, the Nats at one point were 11 and 16. And we now look at this team and it is 33 and 32. And the reason for this rise has been the pitching, not that the pitching has been the biggest strength, but that the pitching has gotten so much better to where the pitching has gone from having been abysmal. I mean, the pitching was so bad over the first few weeks of the regular season to where now the pitching now for what a month, a month plus at this point has been decent. If not good and Zach Latel has become emblematic of this, he is gone from being a mess to not just being better, but to being outstanding and you've outlined the numbers on natural.com, but you look at Latel since the start of May, or if you isolated even further last five outings, he has been masterful. And it is such a treat to watch him pitch now as compared to previously when you wanted to like close your eyes and hide the women and children. I mean, those early outings were ugly. These recent outings have been masterful. If I asked you, what's the biggest difference in the nationals between April and May/early June? You know what it is? It's Zach Latel and Miles Mikelis. That's the biggest difference. Most everyone else has kind of done similar. I get the bull pan as a whole, of course, has been better than they were early in the year. But Kate Cavali has been good more often than not. Foster Griffin has been good more often than not. Take Irvin kind of an inconsistent before he got hurt. To me, the biggest difference is that Mikelis and Latel, who were just wretched in April to the point that we're trying to like count down the days until they get cut, well, they're still here and they're both pitching much, much better and giving them a chance to win almost every time they take the mound. They are doing exactly what they were supposed to do all along. It unfortunately took a while to get that going. But now that they are, pretty much every time the Nats take the field, you feel like they've got a chance. You're not saying to yourself, oh boy, so and so is on the mound today. Well, they're going to have to score seven, eight runs if they're going to win. No, you feel reasonably confident that they're starting pitcher or bulk man, whatever you want to call them on certain days, that they're going to pitch well enough to give you a chance. And Latel and Mikelis, to me, are the biggest difference right now versus early in the season. It's going to be so interesting to see what happens with these three Nats starting pitchers on one year contracts. These three veterans, Foster Griffin, Zach Latel and Miles Michaelis are all three is good as gone. Come this coming off season is one or more guy traded come the trade deadline. Could it be that one, maybe even two gets extended at some point here in season or early in free agency? I think most of us assume Miles Michaelis is not going to be here beyond this season. But you know, a few weeks ago, we talked about the possibility of the Nats extending Foster Griffin. Zach Latel, if he keeps pitching like this, it becomes an interesting thing. Conversation of do you want him back for next season? We've talked about the Nats top pitching prospects. Presumably, we'll be arriving at the major league level at various points next season, but not necessarily right away. And you certainly don't want to go into next season saying, okay, all of these guys are going to be with us by X date. Like that's not a healthy way to develop these guys. So you're going to want at least some veterans on that pitching staff, at least to begin the regular season and then you kind of go from there. But yeah, Zach Latel, I think most of us had assumed was going to be one and done with this team. Maybe not if he keeps pitching like this. Yeah, I understand why the common sense logic here might be to say, try to flip him for what you can get from a contending team. And I'm sure the original idea in signing him to that contract during spring training was let's try to get everything we can out of him and then move him for some prospects at the deadline. And there's nothing wrong with that philosophy and the bigger picture. It is what a rebuilding team is supposed to do. But think about it this way. Their 2027 rotation is going to have to include five people, no matter what. We feel confident that Kate Cavali is going to be a part of it. Maybe Jake Irving is although he's got to come back at some point healthy and pitch well himself. And then who else are you feeling sure about Andrew Alvarez, DJ Hurz, Josiah Gray? I mean, who knows? Then you get to the Sakura and Susana types. They're going to need starting pitching. And so you can go into the off season and be in the same boat again and hope you sign guys to similar contracts, whether that's in the off season or spring training. And remember, if there's a lockout, looming, there may not be much activity at all until a mad scramble come February, March, whenever they do report for spring training. Or you can say, let's lock that up now. Let's at least have a few of those spots secured by a re-up in guys we already know we have who have done well here. And you would hope wouldn't be overly expensive either and maybe feel a little bit of sense of appreciation for the nationals for what they've done for them this year and their careers. I mean, get away ahead of ourselves here, but I don't think it's crazy to think in those terms. You're going to need starting pitching in 2027. It's not all going to come from within. You're going to have to go outside. Maybe the outside moves are actually the guys who are already here on, as you said, the one of your contracts. And if the timeline of the rebuild has been greatly expedited by the surprising success of this season, maybe you are looking at things a little differently in terms of roster construction in terms of extending veterans, given that the team has been so much better this season. Then we thought there's also this too. I would imagine that Zach Letel's experience in free agency this past off season was not pleasant. I mean, he lingered. The Nats signed him. The signing was announced on March 10. Okay. So he lasted through not only January and February, but well into March before he got signed. So perhaps he would be open to doing something sooner rather than later to avoid having that kind of uncertainty for a second consecutive off season. And not only did he sign late, but you saw what the results were for the first month when probably he wasn't ready for it. So if you're him, you're saying, I want to put together a good 2027 season. I don't want to be late. I don't want to be behind everyone else. So he may be extra motivated to sign early. Now, you know, a lot of things that play here is a long way to go. And as we said, there's a lockout likely to happen starting on December 1 that could mess with a lot of how this off season plays out. So I don't know that we can view this the same way we look at every typical off season. I'll just say again, the Nats are going to need starting pitching from somewhere. If you have somebody here already who has done well, has worked well with your staff, likes being here and is not all that expensive to keep potentially, I would at least explore that possibility. And the pitch, we had a ground ball to short. Should do it. Abrams feels cleanly sets and throws on the first and a curly W's in the books. Brad Lord closes it out with two perfect innings for his first save and a series win here in Phoenix. So curly W in the books, the final score, the Washington National 6th, the Arizona Diamond Bags won. And then the Nats relief pitching in this 6th one win at the Diamond Bags on Saturday outstanding three Nats relievers combined for four scoreless and hitless innings. Relievers so far in this series eight scoreless innings Orlando Revolta. He on Saturday tossed a scoreless and hitless bottom of the six despite facing the Diamond Bags numbers two through four banners in Corbin Carroll, Gabriel Moreno and Nolan Aranato. Mitchell Parker tossed a perfect bottom of the seventh and Brad Lord to perfect innings for a six out save. I don't think we can say enough good things about Brad Lord and all of the good work that he is doing. Coming into this game. If you look at Nats pitchers in terms of wins above replacement per baseball reference, Foster Griffin was number one at 1.3. Brad Lord was number two, 1.0 and Orlando Revolta was number three at 0.9. More good work from both Revolta and Lord and Mitchell Parker in the high leverage spot doing pretty well in this game. That's the one that surprised me a bit that Blake Bitt here went to him and we know it hasn't always been so kind when he's pitching high leverage spots lately. That's four to one in the seventh inning. It's not super high leverage, but they liked that pocket of hitters as Buchanan likes to call it. They liked the match up there from Parker's perspective and it was a 1, 2, 3 inning for him. Lord is so valuable to this team. We've talked about it and I understand why there's still people who might think maybe he should be starting. He's better than some of the guys they have. Yeah, but I still will continue to maintain that he's more valuable to them in this kind of role pitching several times a week instead of just once as a starter. I'll take this from him. He becomes the ninth different member of the National's pitching staff to record his save this year here in game number 65. Brad Lord is number nine. Basically, everybody who is pitched out of the bullpen, I guess except for Cole Henry, we're going to get to him here in just a second. Well, and CNL Perez who didn't last long enough to get a save. Otherwise, everybody else has been here for any length of time has recorded at least one save so far. It has truly been bullpened by committee, but it has worked here lately. They've done a good job. I wonder if in game number 162, wherever the nets are at from a standing standpoint, if Blake butera would put in Kate Cavali or Zach letel or someone like that, just to add to that total of guys who've gotten saves, you know, just make it even more ridiculous how many different pictures have gotten saves and do something like that. I guess we'll see. How about Jorbit B boss for the saving. That would be nice. That would be nice. Well, Mark. mentioned Cole Henry. So the Nats did announce a roster move on Saturday night. And the roster move is Cole Henry having been optioned to triple a Rochester. Not exactly shocking. Henry's had a rough go of it. Although we did throw two scoreless innings in the game. One win at the Diamondbacks, not necessarily two smooth scoreless innings, but they were two scoreless innings. But what do you make of this? And that's optioning Henry back to Rochester. Well, frankly, I thought once he was deemed healthy after making those rehab starts, I think I even said it on the podcast, my prediction. Remember Clayton Beater made a couple of rehab appearances and then was activated right away. And he's done pretty well. But I said in Henry's case, I would not be surprised if instead of activating him, they actually optioned him and gave him some time to work at triple a, you know, he didn't get off to a good start this year. Very inconsistent. I figured they wanted to see him have some success for some length of time before bringing him back to the big leagues. Well, instead he makes the five rehab appearances. Then they activate him. They pitched him multiple innings several times. It didn't go all that well. Now Friday night was better, but I think as we discussed, it was still kind of inefficient. It wasn't real crisp. So I can't say I'm shocked that they sent him down. I think this is a guy who probably needs some work, more regular work and to fix some things. I'm just a little surprised that they did have him on the active roster for a week or two here. It didn't go well. And then now they're making the decision. I would have thought maybe this is what they would have done, you know, a week or two ago before even bringing him back off the aisle. So game three for the Nance at the Diamondback Sunday afternoon at 315. Cade Cavali versus someone who we know well in Michael, Soroka. And it's amazing how this sport of baseball can work. The Nats can go from having been swept by the lowly Miami Morlins at home to completing a three game sweep at not just a good team and the Diamondbacks, but a team in the Diamondbacks that has been great at home. It doesn't make any sense, but that's the way things are sometimes. And we know the Nats have been so much better on the road than at home. And look, you don't assume anything, but Cade Cavali has been doing a good job here lately. And so you certainly feel at least pretty good about the Nats chances here of coming away with a win on Sunday afternoon. You'll take the scenario every possible time with your designated ace on the mound looking for a sweep. And a reminder to everyone, this is an early start 315 on the East Coast 1215 local time in Phoenix. And this is another peacock game. You're not going to be able to watch it on Nationals TV. You can either watch on peacock or if you get NBCSN on your cable or satellite or YouTube TV stream and some outlets have that not all of them do. They do simulcast that game, but keep in mind when you wake up on Sunday and are looking for where the game is, you're not going to find it through the traditional method. It's going to be another one of these early Sunday peacock games. By the way, the Diamondbacks are one of the teams with which the Nats are bunched in tight regarding the National League wild card standings. As we all recording this installment of the podcast on Saturday night, there are still games to be completed. But as of this moment, the Nats are one game out of the third and final wild card spot in the National League, which as of this recording is held by both the Pittsburgh pirates and Chicago Cubs. So we potentially could be discussing a Nats team that is in playoff position. We shall see. But good things are happening with the Nats right now. So far, a really good series for them at the Diamondbacks. You tell us what you think? Hit us up on exit Nats underscore chat. You can find us on Blue Sky at Nats Chat podcast. You can email the show. Nats Chat podcast at gmail.com. Nats Chat is on the radio Sunday morning 9 to 10 on ESPN Richmond, which is 106.1 FM in the Richmond, Virginia area and Sunday morning 9 to 10 on ESPN radio 94.1 in the Virginia Beach area. All Nationals radio highlights on Nats Chat, a courtesy of 1067 to the fan for Mark Zuckerman, Al Mell Goldie. Thank you for listening and we'll talk to you next time on the Nats Chat podcast. So young could easily be two for two maybe with a couple of triples. Here's the two one from Rodriguez. So we're going to line drive toward the Cap and Wright center field. This one will not be caught. It splits the outfielders and rolls to the fence. Young is rounding second. He's trying for third. The relay throw from Marta a head first dive and there's the triple. Jacob Young not to be denied. He has the triple his first of the year and boy did he deserve that one.