SAN DIEGO PADRES NOTES:
Juan Soto goes 3-for-4 with a home run in his homecoming as Padres claim Game 1 of the series in D.C.
- Juan Soto reached base safely 4 times with 2 singles, a homer, and a walk…Brandon Dixon, Xander Bogaerts, and Jake Cronenworth also homered, and Trent Grisham added a double…the club went 0-for-9 with RISP, though they walked 3 times with RISP.
- Yu Darvish got the win (now 3-3) in his 4th quality start…he went 6.0 innings with 3 earned runs allowed on 6 hits with 4 punchouts.
Padres win consecutive games for 1st time since May 3-5…look for 1st series W since May 1-3 vs. CIN
- The Padres win last night in the series opener in D.C. marked their 1st back-to-back wins since May 3-5, and if they win today, it’ll be their 1st 3-game winning streak since April 29-May 1.
- San Diego entered this series having lost their last 5 straight series, and they’re poised to claim their 1st series win since they took 2 of 3 from Cincinnati from May 1-3.
- Despite their National League-low .267 winning percentage since May 6 (4-11), Padres pitchers since May 6 have the lowest ERA of any NL club (3.25) and the lowest opponent average in MLB (.201).
Padres dig the long ball
- Last night in D.C., the Friars combined for 4 home runs, their 2nd most in a game this season behind just their 6 against the Giants on April 29 in Mexico City…when San Diego goes homerless, they are 3-14 in those games, and when they hit at least 1 homer, they are 19-12.
Trouble with runners in scoring position, have gone 1-for-28 in last 4 games
- The Padres went hitless again last night with 9 at bats with runners in scoring position, and in their last 4 games since the start of their last series against the Red Sox, they’ve gone just 1-for-28 (.036) with RISP.
- The Padres’ .184 average (71-for-385) on the season with RISP is the lowest mark in baseball. Nationals’ 8th inning run snaps Padres ‘pen’s scoreless inning streak at 31.1 innings since May 12
- In the 8th inning last night, reliever Nick Martinez allowed a run, snapping the Padres bullpen’s 31.1 inning scoreless inning streak…it fell 32.0 innings shy of the club record 32.0 consecutive scoreless innings they had back in 1978.
Majority WHIP
- The Padres ‘pen’s 1.17 WHIP is the best mark in all of baseball so far this year…the lowest WHIP by a Padre bullpen in franchise history is their 1.13 WHIP in 2010.
Juan Soto with a 1.168 OPS in his last 21 games
- Juan Soto’s 3-for-4 game last night was his 2nd 3-hit game this year (had a season-high 4 hits on May 9 @ MIN), and his homer was his team-leading 7th…he also leads the club in doubles (13), RBI (22), and walks (42).
- In his last 21 games since April 29th, Soto has a 1.168 OPS, the 3rd highest OPS of any qualifying player in that time, trailing just ARI Lourdes Gurriel Jr.’s 1.213 OPS and CWS Luis Robert’s 1.193 OPS…prior to April 29th, Soto had just a .689 OPS in his 1st 27 games to start the season.
STARTING PITCHER – RYAN WEATHERS 40
Weathers set for 5th start of season
23-year-old Ryan Weathers is slated for his 5th start of the season tonight vs. WSH…it will be his 2nd career start/appearance vs. the Nationals, having earned the win in his lone career start vs. WSH at Petco Park on July 6, 2021 (5.1 IP, 7 H, 4 ER)…he was recalled from Triple-A El Paso last Thurs, May 18 with Seth Lugo landing on the 15-day IL (right calf strain)…he was optioned to El Paso on Mon, May 15 after his Sun, May 14 start at LAD.
Weathers works 5.0+ IP for 4th time last Sunday at Dodger Stadium
Weathers was recalled from El Paso prior to his Mother’s Day start last Sunday at Dodger Stadium and allowed 3 hits, walked 4 and was charged with 4 runs in 5.2 IP…he departed with 2 runners on and the Padres down 2-0 before Brent Honeywell surrendered a 2-run double to Miguel Vargas…he’s now tossed 5.0+ IP in all 4 of his starts this season, and has a 3.74 ERA, 1.20 WHIP and .230 AVG against as a starter.
As a reliever
After his 3 starts in SD’s rotation to begin the season, Weathers made 2 relief outings, earning his 1st career hold on April 22 @ ARI in SD’s 5-3 victory, allowing 1 hit while striking out 1…he tossed another scoreless frame on April 25 @ CHC, retiring all 3 batters he faced on 10 pitches.
While in El Paso
Weathers made his 2nd career Opening Day roster (also 2021) before being optioned to ELP April 26…he made 2 starts for the Chihuahuas (May 3 vs. Okla City & May 9 @ Sugar Land), tossing a combined 8.0-shutout innings of 3-hit ball, walking 7 and striking out 8. Hard hit percentage in the top 7 percentile Weeathers is getting hit hard only 27.9% of the time, which ranks in the 94th percentile this season….the MLB average hard hit percentage is 36.0%, while his career avg is 40.2%.
Pickoffs becoming a weapon
Weathers enters today’s tilt as 1 of 15 pitchers with multiple pickoffs this season, with Julio Urias, Brent Suter and Taylor Clarke the only 3 pitchers with 3…he has 11 pickoffs in 122.0 big league innings, and his 9 pickoffs in 2021 led the Majors.
Limiting hitters to a .095 clip with 2 outs
Entering today, Weathers is 1 of 15 pitchers limiting the opposition to a sub-.100 clip with 2 outs (.095) – min. 20 BF…with 0 outs, hitters are .343 (12-35), and with 1 out they are hitting .160 (4-25).
WASHINGTON NATIONALS NOTES:
No release available
