Last night the Nats delivered a beatdown the likes of which I have not seen in many years. Everyone ate in Sacramento, with the Nats putting up an absurd 23 runs. Those 23 runs are tied for the second most in franchise history. Once the Nats got into the A’s bullpen, things just spiraled out of control.
In a season full of dominant offensive performances, this was the best of them all. After struggling to get going in the Yankees series, especially with runners on base, this Nats offense was angry. A bad Athletics pitching staff got to feel the full wrath of an offense that has been chomping at the bit for nearly a week.
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The crazy thing is that the offense looked to be in for a long day at first. A’s starter Gage Jump looked electric out of the gates, retiring the first seven hitters, with five of them coming via the strikeout. Jump was consistently in the upper 90’s, and even touched 100 MPH once. However, even when they were struggling to make contact, they were still making Jump work.
It was the third inning when the scoring opened, with Curtis Mead and Andres Chaparro cashing in with two out RBI’s. Mead and Chaparro each had four hit days, and started their second halves in style. Everyone was eating though. There was not a hitter in the lineup who did not get a hit.
While everyone was hitting, nobody was better than Andres Chaparro. He had one of the best games in Nats history. The husky slugger had four hits and a walk, driving in 8 runs and hitting two homers. It was an impressive night, but that first home run was just mind blowing. His 467 foot blast was the fourth longest Nats home run of the statcast era and looked like it went about 600 feet.
Before this game, Chaparro had a .586 OPS and was drawing the ire of fans because he was taking at bats away from Luis Garcia. However, he exited the game with a .776 OPS after his massive night. We need to see Chaparro be consistent, but it is worth noting that he was getting very unlucky before last night. The 27 year old turned around his season in one night though.
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The Nats other big star from this game was just getting his MLB season started. Harry Ford got off to a dreadful start in the minor leagues, but has been getting better and better each month. With Drew Millas going down with injury, it was Ford’s time to shine and he made quite the first impression.
After an inauspicious start where he struck out and blew a challenge, Ford came to life. His second at bat was exactly the kind of thing he has been doing in the minors for about a half decade now. He worked a walk while spitting on several very close pitches. The athletic catcher also got to second base on a wild pitch that did not get too far away from Shea Langeliers. That helped the Nats manufacture a run.
His biggest swing of the game came in the next inning, when the 23 year old hit his first career big league homer. The former first rounder crushed a ball to left center that left the yard. For a big name prospect who has played over 500 games in the minors, that had to be a special moment.
Ford had not shown the power he did in previous seasons this year. However, he was starting to find it the last few weeks, as his nagging shoulder injury seems to be getting a lot better. It is no surprise, but I found myself very impressed with the quality of Ford’s at bats. He may not have great power or contact skills, but his elite plate discipline really elevates the entire profile.
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The offense was undoubtedly the star of the show last night, as it has been for the whole season. However, I do not want to ignore Cade Cavalli’s performance in a very hitter friendly ballpark. Cavalli went six innings, allowing just two runs while striking out 9 and walking nobody. He didn’t throw his curveball as much as he normally does, but it was devastating when he used it. Cavalli used his curveball as a put away pitch, getting a lot of strikeouts with the hook.
It is easy to forget that this is Cavalli’s first full big league season. With that in mind, what he is doing is very impressive. He has a 3.78 ERA and 3.20 FIP with 119 strikeouts in 104.2 innings. That is rock solid production for a guy who has taken a winding road to get here. Cavalli should be a fixture in the Nats rotation for years to come.
I could go on and on about the offensive performances, but I do not want to be here all day. The Nats ended the first half tied for the league lead in runs scored. Apparently that did not sit well with them because they are now way ahead of the pack again.
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I don’t want to jinx anything, but let’s just say that I am excited to see what this offense can do in Sacramento and in Coors Field to start next week. That league lead in runs could get even wider.
Whenever I resign myself to the Nats selling at the deadline, they do something like this and it makes me want to buy again. I can only imagine the inner struggle Paul Toboni is facing with the deadline looming. This offense is so special, but this team is also very flawed and the plan was for this to be a long term ordeal.
However, the offense has put a wrench in that plan by being so good, so quickly. This road trip will tell us a lot about where the Nats stand. If they can go 4-2 or better, it will put Toboni in a real bind. This offense is just so special, and I can’t wait to see them paired with a better pitching staff in the years to come.
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