Nationals drop first series of the season to the Braves, look ahead to the Rays

Well, the Nationals opened the season exactly how you would expect them to: 1-2, winning the finale to avoid the series sweep. Nobody expected them to compete, but there’s always some unrealistic optimism on Opening Day; I guess we can thank the Nats for squashing that relatively quickly. The Nationals welcome the Tampa Bay Rays into town tonight, with Trevor Williams making his first start in Washington. Here are some takeaways from the first series of the season against the Braves, as well as a preview of the next one. 

MacKenzie Gore flashes his potential

Gore picked up his first win as a National on Sunday, going 5.1 innings and allowing just 3 hits, 1 run and 4 walks. Dominance from a future ace, which the Nationals desperately need. The offense was solid behind Gore; 4 runs driven in, 1 each from Smith, Ruiz, Call and Garcia. Granted, the Braves put Jared Shuster on the mound for his MLB debut, but a win is a win, right? Right!

Josiah Gray flashes his downside

Coming off a phenomenal Spring Training, during which Gray did not allow a home run, JoJo promptly gave up leadoff, back-to-back jacks to Ronald Acuna Jr. and Matt Olson, going down 2-0 before recording an out. Credit to Gray for battling through 5 innings, but 5 runs on 7 hits over that span doesn’t usually equate to success. Gray’s next start should come in Colorado, a notoriously hitter-friendly ballpark; hopefully he can bounce back and give Gore a little help in a pretty flimsy rotation. 

Abrams continues to struggle

CJ Abrams took the day off on Sunday, following 2 games and 4 errors; the first series was not kind to him, as he failed to record a hit or reach base whatsoever. Hopefully Sunday was a mental reset for him; I fully expect him to return to the lineup tonight, hopefully with some renewed confidence.

Series Preview: Tampa Bay Rays

The Nationals get the back end of the Rays rotation in a 2-game set today and tomorrow. Drew Rasmussen was very solid last year, putting up a 2.84 ERA and a 1.04 WHIP over 146 innings, a pretty high number considering the inconsistency with which the Rays deploy their pitchers. He matches up well with Trevor Williams; the lineups, however, appear heavily tilted towards the Rays. Franchise cornerstone Wander Franco leads the charge for the 3-0 Rays, with 7 hits in his first 11 ABs of the season. They’ll prove a challenge for Williams and Kuhl, who will start the second and final game of the season. The Nationals can at least look forward to Fleming, who will face off against Kuhl; a limited sample size (35 IP) went poorly for him last year, as he posted a 6.43 ERA. The Rays likely won’t hesitate to yank him quickly if he struggles, especially considering the strength of their bullpen, which both teams will likely deploy heavily over the next two games. 

Catch the Nats at 7:05 tonight on MASN; let’s go 1-0 today!