The Nats Craft Beer of the Week

The play from the National's this week required a strong Russian Imperial Stout for this week's craft beer.  It is Stone Brewing's 2018 collaboration Stone Woot Stout, and it gets the job done in all facets of beer drinking.  The beautiful black color masks a dynamic taste created by pecans, wheat, and rye that gives it a sweet toasted type of flavor.  It was also aged in bourbon barrels, so you also get that bourbon aftertaste that makes you feel like you are having that special me-time moment.  At 11.5% ABV, though, you are definitely coming close to that, so please drink responsibly and if you are lucky enough to find this beer at your local craft beer store pick it up immediately because it will not be there forever.  The 11.5% ABV was necessary at times this week, as the Nationals kept themselves 5.5 games back in the NL East in the most soul crushing way.

The Nats were one out away from being 4.5 games back of the Phillies and Braves last night until Ryan Madson gave up a walk off grand slam to David Bote.  It was a microcosm of the Nats season as Wilmer Difo, who entered in the bottom of the 9th as a defensive replacement, bobbled the exchange from his glove to allow the first base runner and Madson hit two batters to load the bases.  Madson claims that he had back issues that caused his poor command, but that still does not remedy the fact that they squandered a 7 inning/0 ER performance from Max Scherzer.  This was the second game this week that Max had to endure a no decision based on a 9th inning, injury laden, let down from the bullpen.  Kelvin Herrera squandered a 7 inning/1 ER performance from Max in the second game of the double header against the Braves this past Tuesday, where Herrera gave up 2 runs in the top of the 9th and was relieved of duty after complaining of shoulder tightness and is now on the DL.  Hopefully the Nats' training staff can actually talk to the bullpen pitchers this week so they can trot out healthy pitchers to try and close out zero and one run outings from Max Scherzer in the future.

The loss last night also extended the Nats' futility as they have not won a series of three or more games against a team with a winning record since May 10.  Madson's woes also extended the bullpen's woes this week, as his performance gave the bullpen a collective 7.16 ERA and 1.65 WHIP for this week.  The cherry on top was that the Nats' old buddy Brandon Kintzler was let off the hook, as he pitched the 9th inning last night for the Cubs and gave up a two run single to Ryan Zimmerman that extended the Nats' lead to 3-0.  Suffice to say that last night sucked, but all the news was not horrible for the Nats this week.

Ryan Zimmerman came alive this week as he hit .476 with 3 HR, 12 RBI, was 4 for 7 RISP, 1.04 SLG%, and a 1.56 OPS.  Grab a Stone Woot Stout to celebrate the return of Ryan Zimmerman just when the Nats need his bat to try and cut into their deficit in the NL East.  There was another National who hit over. 400 this past week, and the name may be surprising.  Matt Wieters hit .428 this past week, including an OPS of 1.02, and in the second game against the Cubs he reached base in all five of his plate appearances.  The Nats as a team actually out hit the combined efforts of the Braves and Cubs as the Nats' .271 team average outpaced the combined .244 average of the Braves and Cubs.  Contributing to this average were the five Nats hitters who all hit over .300 this week in Zimmerman, Wieters, Daniel Murphy (.370), Anthony Rendon (.315), and Trea Turner (.344).  This was also helped by the Nats' starting pitching that had only Tommy Milone give up more than 2 ER's in their appearances, and Max Scherzer continues to dazzle as he gave up only 1 ER in 14 innings of work this week.  Also, have a Stone Woot Stout for Gio Gonzalez as he got his first win in 11 starts this week, and Tanner Roark is also on a come back tour as he won his fourth straight start.  In those starts he has averaged 7.2 innings with a 1.21 ERA and a 0.91 WHIP.  The Nats will need to keep that kind of streak going as they will continue to face stout competition this upcoming week.

The Nats continue their tour of the midwest as they are in St. Louis in the beginning of the week for the "Battle of the teams that are 5.5 back in the division" series as the Cardinals are also 5.5 games back in the NL Central.  The Marlins come to town to close out the week, and hopefully the Nats can gain some ground in the NL East come this time next week.  There is still time being only 5.5 games out of the division, but time is running out.

The Nats Craft Beer of the Week

Can You Fig It?  A proper play on words for this week's craft beer as the Nats are rolling on the field, and this beer is made on the remains of a baseball field.  It comes from Peabody Heights Brewery that is located on the site of Old Oriole Park in Baltimore, but do not let that dissuade you from trying this masterpiece of body and flavor.  As the name implies, Can You Fig It is a German-style dark beer with dried figs and caramelized malts added to give it a smooth sweet taste that any beer drinker can enjoy.  It also has a lighter body than you would expect for a dark beer, and with only a 5% ABV this beer should be enjoyed year round even though it is billed as a winter warmer.  If you catch it at your local beer store (or MOM's Grocery) I highly suggest you try it as a nice way to celebrate the Nats' new found winning ways.

Crack open a Can You Fig It for the Nats winning their series against the Reds this past week.  It was the first time the Nats had won a series of three or more games since the July 5th series against the Marlins, and the Nats have now won 8 of their last 11 games.  Hopefully, the Nats will not have to wait another month for their next series win, and if the starting pitching can keep up the pace they set this week that is a definite possibility.

The Nats starters went 4-1 over the past five games, with Tanner Roark leading the way yet again with another 7 inning 1 run performance.  That makes Roark 3-0 over his last three starts going 22 innings and giving up only 2 earned runs.  Not to be outdone this past week was Tommy Milone who also gave up only 1 earned run in 7 innings while striking out 9 and getting his first win in over a year.  Max Scherzer had another 10K performance while driving in an RBI and improving his season batting average to .292, and Jeremy Hellickson gave the Nats 5.2 solid innings that probably could have been a full six if not for opposing teams hitting over .400 against him the third time around the order.  Which brings us to the black sheep of the rotation this week in Gio Gonzalez.  Gio was looking for his first win since May 28th, but alas he now has ten straight starts without a win.  In those starts he is 0-6, the Nats are 3-7, and he has averaged only 5 innings per start with a 6.20 ERA and a 1.78 WHIP.  If this trend continues, and Tommy Milone can give a few more quality starts, do not be surprised if Strasburg takes Gio's spot when he comes back and Milone replaces Gio as the lefty in the starting rotation.  That maybe a little far fetched but Davey Martinez needs to do something about Gio not being able to generate wins when he takes the mound, and maybe a nice little stint in the bullpen will help clear Gio's mind.  Despite Gio's struggles, the Nats starters set the winning pace this week, and the Nats hitters followed.

Bryce Harper continues to lead the Nats hitters as he is hitting .470 over the last five games with an OPS of 1.39.  Maybe the Home Run Derby did have an effect of Harper because since the All-Star Break he is hitting .367 with 14 RBI, 3 HR, and a 1.15 OPS.  The Nats will definitely need those numbers going forward if they want to catch the Phillies. Then again they will also need Juan Soto to get his third straight rookie of the month in August, as he has won that award for both June and July.  They need Trea Turner to continue to be the league leader in stolen bases as he upped that number to 30 this week.  And finally, they need their big guns in Anthony Rendon and Daniel Murphy to continue to produce in the middle of the lineup.  Murhpy  went 5 for 14 (.357) over these last five games, and since July 8 Murphy is hitting .406 with 3 HR and 13 RBI.  Rendon has been the most consistent hitter for the Nats over the course of this summer, and this week was no exception.  While his average was nothing special, Rendon managed to keep his OPS at 0.772 this week with 5 RBI and going 3 for 6 in RISP situations.  Since July 8 Rendon's numbers in those areas are even more impressive with 17 RBI, an .877 OPS, and 8 for 22 (.363) in RISP situations.  Here's hoping the Nats big guns can continue to bring the wood as they face a tough stretch ahead that will define their season.

It will be the battle of the division races this week as the Nats face the Braves for a four game series at home that includes a double header today, and then it is off to Chicago for a three game series with the Cubs.  Both of these teams are in the thick of their division races with the Nats trailing the Braves by 4.5 games for second in the NL East, so grab some Can You Fig Its and settle in for a season defining week of baseball for the Nationals.

The Nats Craft Beer of the Week

A more familiar face graces this week's Nats Craft Beer of the Week because in times of turmoil you need a friend to tell you everything is going to be OK.  Sierra Nevada's Sidecar IPA does just that.  Sidecar is a variation of Sierra Nevada's classic Pale Ale, but it tones down the hops a tad in favor of a subtle orange flavor that is complimented by hints of malts that makes this a perfect summer beer.  You'll get a little bit of everything without having to be bombarded by an overwhelming hop flavor, and with a 6.8% ABV it will also get the job done where it counts so please drink responsibly.  Hopefully you grabbed a Sidecar while hugging a loved one this past week as you watched a mostly depressing week for the Nationals.

This past week saw the Nationals go 1-5 on the road against the Rays and Phillies, which increased their deficit in the NL East to 6 games.  The Nats also find themselves three games back in the NL Wildcard race, and with a 6-15 record in their last 21 games things are starting to get a little worrisome for the defending NL East Champions.  This week, especially, saw some team stats that are quite depressing.  The Nats had 238 plate appearances counting walks and HBP's.  They struck out in 60 of those plate appearances, which means that every time the Nats went through the order this week they struck out about twice on average.  Those whiffs at the plate were complimented by a .173 average with runners in scoring position this week.  The Nats had their lowest weekly total RISP at bats (46) in June, their lowest weekly RISP hits (8) in June, and four of those 8 hits came in one game, so you can see how the Nats were shut out twice again this week which brought the total number of times the Nats were shut out in June to seven.  The RISP hitting was a symptom of the Nats hitting under .200 in three of the six games this week, and in two of the remaining three games they could not crack .250.  Usually the Nats pitching gets them out of these kinds of funks, but aside from Max Scherzer and Tanner Roark the starters were less than impressive this week.

Scherzer pitched an absolute gem against Tampa on Tuesday, but he felt the Nats hitting futility first hand as the Nats were only able to muster three hits in a 1-0 loss.  Tanner Roark also had a fine outing giving up two runs, one earned, in six innings only to lose 4-3.  Other than those starts, the Nats went from mediocre to horrendous.  Jeremy Hellickson made his first start since being put on the DL June 4th and he gave up 3 runs in 4.2 innings, which is not bad but not great either due to the fact that the Nats could not drive in runs this week.  Even in their massive 17-7 win on Friday, Erick Fedde gave up 5 runs in 5 innings.  Gio Gonzalez, though, had the worst week of them all.  Gio collected two ugly losses this week that saw the return of the classic Gio Gonzalez meltdown.  He had two 40 pitch innings this week where he issued 7 total walks and gave up 9 earned runs.  In fact, over his last 5 starts Gio has pitched only 19.1 innings with a WHIP of 2.12 and an ERA of 9.31.  Lets hope he can get back on track this week because the bullpen also did not do the starters any favors.  Kelvin Herrera was the only reliever to not give up an earned run this week, and have a Sidecar for Justin Miller who gave up the walk off home run to the Phillies on Saturday that capped off a week where he threw 121 pitches in 6.2 innings of relief.  The only Nats pitcher to throw more pitches this week than Justin Miller was Gio Gonzalez, so maybe we see a little more of Kelvin Herrera this week to give Miller a break.  The Nats pitching, though, put them within one run four times this week, but the bats just could not get it done.

The Nats had five hitters (Goodwin, Taylor, Harper, Murphy, and Severino) hit for under .200 this week. Taylor and Severino are the futility winners as they both hit under .100 for the week.  Even the mighty Juan Soto came down to Earth this week, as he hit only .250 with 8 K's and 4 walks.  He still was able to go 2 for 8 in RISP situations, the best average for the Nats, and his 2 home runs this week kept his OPS above .800, but he needs to pick up more of the slack from the struggling line up.  The only two hitters who kept up their hot pace this past week were Anthony Rendon (.333 BA, 1.12 OPS, 5 RBI, 2HR) and Trea Turner (.375 BA, .964 OPS, 2 RBI, 7 Runs), which should give Nationals fans hope that Davey Martinez can adjust the lineup to get more offense going.  Even Bryce Harper, despite his hitting woes, was able to lead the Nats this week with a .481 because of his 10 walks this week, so Davey needs to get these bats going by maybe shaking up the order a bit. 

My vote would be moving Bryce back to lead off and then going Turner (whose average and OBP has been one of the most consistent on the team), Rendon, Eaton (he has hit .333 with runners in scoring position this month), then Soto.  The six through nine hitters seem to be interchangeable, although I will continue to champion Kieboom over Severino at the catcher spot.

Whatever the lineup will be this coming week, the Nats better get in gear as the Red Sox come to town for a three games series followed by the Marlins. Hopefully the Nats can gain some ground on the Braves this week to stay within striking distance.