WASHINGTON NATIONALS NOTES:
MOVING ON
The Washington Nationals fell to the Atlanta Braves 6-4 on Saturday afternoon…Lane Thomas (2-for-4, 2B, 3B, 2 RBI, R) and Joey Meneses (2-for-4) each posted multi-hit efforts, while Stone Garrett (solo) clubbed his third home run of the season.
- Washington was last swept by Atlanta, July 8-10, 2022 at Truist Park.
- Following the game, the Nationals will travel to Houston where they will enjoy a day off on Monday before continuing the road trip with a three game series against the Astros on Tuesday.
ON-BASE MACHINE
Joey Meneses has reached base safely in a career-high 17 straight games, the longest active on-base streak in Major League Baseball…He is hitting .364 (24-for-66) with a .440 on-base percentage (9 BB, 8 SO) during this streak.
- He’s reached safely in 27 of his last 28 games, hitting .360/.423/.486 with nine doubles, one triple, one homer, 21 RBI, 12 walks and 15 runs scored during the stretch.
- Meneses ranks in the National League in average with runners in scoring position (3rd, .435), hits (5th, 76) and batting average (6th, .308).
- Meneses is hitting .512 (22-for-43) against right-handed pitchers with runners in scoring position, the best mark in Major League Baseball ahead of Miami’s Luis Arraez (.485).
- Originally signed by the Braves as a non-drafted free agent on May 9, 2011, Meneses is 10-fo-20 (.500) with two doubles, a homer, three RBI, two walks and two runs scored in five career games at Truist Park…He’s hit safely in all five games.
MAY AND EVERYTHING AFTER
Lane Thomas is hitting .299/.344/.571 with nine doubles, two triples, nine homers, 20 RBI, nine walks, four stolen bases and 29 runs scored since May 1…He’s hit safely in 31 of the 36 games and has reached safely in 33 of the 36.
- He ranks in the National League in hits (T4th, 44), homers (T11th, 9) and slugging percentage (8th, .571) since May 1.
- All of his nine team-leading home runs have come since May 1.
- On defense, Thomas has recorded six outfield assists, tied for the most among National League outfielders.
WE WANT CANDY!
Jeimer Candelario ranks second among National League third basemen in wins above replacement (1.7) behind only SFG J.D. Davis (1.8) and is third among National League third basemen with three defensive runs saved, according to FanGraphs.com.
- He also ranks second among NL third baseman with 17 doubles.
CHECKIN’ IN ON THE ‘PEN
A few of Washington’s relievers find themselves among the best in baseball:
- Carl Edwards Jr. is tied for second in the National League with 13 holds
- Hunter Harvey ranks tied for eighth in the National League with 11 holds.
- Kyle Finnegan is tied for fifth in the National League with 11 saves.
- Thaddeus Ward is tied for ninth among National League relievers with a .158 opponents’ batting average (12-for-76) and 11th with 4.76 hits allowed per 9.0 innings.
STARTING PITCHER – #32 TREVOR WILLIAMS
Veteran right-handed starter signed a two-year contract with the Nationals in Dec. 2022…From 2018-21, Williams was exclusively a starter, but he transitioned to a versatile swingman in 2021 and 2022…He is 35-41 with a 4.33 ERA in 118 career starts and 3-3 with a 3.84 ERA in 41 relief outings…Was a second-round pick of the Miami Marlins in 2013 but was traded to Pittsburgh in 2015 while pitching in the Arizona Fall League.
LAST START
Allowed four earned runs on six hits with six strikeouts, four walks and two home runs allowed in 5.2 innings on June 4 against Philadelphia…His six strikeouts and four walks were season-highs.
vs. ATLANTA
Faced the Braves twice last season as a member of the New York Mets, both in relief…Allowed three earned runs over 7.2 innings…Williams last made a start against the Atlanta on April 27, 2021 as a member of the Cubs…He struck out eight in 5.0 innings and allowed two runs on six hits with a pair of walks.
THE OLD NUMBER ONE
Williams’ four-seam fastball ranks 13th among all Major League four-seamers (min. 100 PA) with a .231 opponents’ average and 19th with a .329 wOBA.
HOME SWEET HOME
Williams has pitched to a 3.72 ERA (12 ER/29.0 IP) in six home starts…He has tossed at least 5.0 innings in five of the six outings.
STRONG START
Williams opened the 2023 season going 1-1 with a 3.38 ERA (8 ER/21.1 IP) with 13 strikeouts and just four walks in his first four starts of the season…After allowing four earned runs on April 27 at New York (NL), he tossed 5.1 innings of four-hit, shutout ball on May 2 vs. Chicago (NL).
ATLANTA BRAVES NOTES:
Perfect Homestand?
The Braves beat the Nationals, 6-4, yesterday afternoon, and have won each of the first five games of this homestand.
Atlanta has not had a homestand of this length without a loss since taking all six games from Oakland (2-0) and Pittsburgh (4-0) exactly a year ago, June 7 to June 12. The Braves have won each of their last six home games overall dating to May 28, tied for the longest active home winning streak in baseball with Miami.
Since Truist Park opened in 2017, just two N.L. teams have been better at home than Atlanta (266-202, .568) – the Dodgers (317- 149, .680) and Brewers (270-200, .574).
TODAY’S GAME: The Braves and Nationals today conclude a three-game weekend series with what is the sixth of 13 games between the teams this season…The two will not meet again until the penultimate weekend of the season, September 21-24, for four games at Nationals Park.
- Atlanta beat Washington, 6-4, yesterday and has won four of the five games between the teams this season.
- The Braves went 14-5 against the Nationals last season, the second consecutive season in which Atlanta won 14 of the 19 matchups between the
clubs…The Braves are 32-11 (.744) against the Nationals since the start of 2021. - Atlanta has won the season set with Washington in each of the last five seasons dating to 2018, combing to go 59-32 (.648) versus the Nationals in that span.
- Atlanta scored 116 times in its 19 games against Washington last season, a year after outscoring the Nationals 101-73 (+28) in 2021…Last year marked the 11th time the Braves scored triple digits against a single team in a season since the turn of the century…The 2004 team has the most in that span, scoring 128 runs against the Expos.
- RH Bryce Elder has made three career starts against Washington, all last season, and went 2-0 with a 1.77 ERA (4 ER/20.1 IP) versus the
Nationals…The 6-foot-2, 225-pound right-hander made his major league debut against Washington last April, and in his most recent turn versus the Nationals, September 26, he pitched the only shutout of his career. - RH Trevor Williams has made eight career appearances and four starts against Atlanta, going 1-1 with a 3.28 ERA (13 ER/35.2 IP)…In two relief appearances against Atlanta last season while with the Mets, he compiled a 3.52 ERA (3 ER/7.2 IP) without a decision…A native of San Diego, CA, Williams is 2-4 with a 4.15 ERA (28 ER/60.2 IP) in 12 starts this season.
WIN: Atlanta scored six runs on just six hits yesterday afternoon, topping Washington, 6-4…The Braves improved to 17-5 (.773) against the N.L. East this season.
- Marcell Ozuna and Ronald Acuña Jr. each homered in yesterday’s second inning, the 13th time that Atlanta has hit multiple home runs within a single inning of a game this season…That is the most such occurrences in MLB this season.
- With yesterday’s win, the Braves moved to a season-high 16 games over .500…At this point last year (by date), Atlanta was five games over .500 at 32-27 (.542)…Last year’s team would go on to finish 40 games over .500 at 101-61 (.623).
- The Braves improved to 11-5 (.688) in games started by left-handed pitchers this season, the second-best record in MLB behind only Tampa Bay (10-3, .769)
YOUNG STARTERS: RHP Bryce Elder will start this afternoon for Atlanta at the age of 24 years, 23 days old… AJ Smith-Shawver (20 years, 201 days) and Jared Shuster (24 years, 311 days) started the first two games of this series…The Braves last completed a series with starting pitchers each 24-or-younger from April 29-May 1, 2022, when RH Ian Anderson (23 years, 362 days), Elder (22 years, 346 days) and LH Kyle Muller (24 years, 206 days) all started in a three-game set at Texas.
- Including Elder’s start today, the Braves have received 38 starts from pitchers aged 24-or-younger, by far the most in the majors and twice as many as the second-place team…The Cleveland Guardians rank second with 19 such starts…Eleven MLB teams haven’t had any starting pitchers as young.
- Atlanta’s franchise record for most starts by such pitchers is 146 (90.1% of games), done in 2015… Pitchers 24-or-younger have started 58.5% of Atlanta’s games this season, significantly higher than the MLB average (10.5%).
FORTY WINS: Atlanta’s win yesterday improved the club to 40-24 on the season, and the Braves reached the 40-win mark in their 64th game…Atlanta has the best record in the National League.
- Entering play, Tampa Bay (58th game on May 31) and Texas (60th game on June 6th) were the only teams to eclipse 40 wins this season.
- Last year, Atlanta secured its 40th victory in game No. 70…It took the 2021 World Series champions 81 games.
- In the Modern Era (since 1900), this year is the eighth time the franchise has reached 40 wins in 64 games-or-fewer, within a single season… Other instances include: 1953 (58 games), 1994 (61 games), 1996 (62 games), 1997 (59 games), 1998 (58 games), 2000 (62 games) and 2003 (59 games).
WINNING STREAK: Atlanta has won each of its last seven games in total, dating to June 3 at Arizona…It is the longest active winning streak in the majors.
- Atlanta has just one longer winning streak this season, winning eight straight from April 10 to April 18.
COMEBACKS: Atlanta trailed, 1-0, after the top of the first inning yesterday, before rallying to beat Washington…The Braves have trailed in all five games of this homestand, but have won all five.
- The Braves also rallied to beat Arizona on Sunday, and the club’s last six wins have all been come-from-behind efforts…Atlanta’s six-game run is its longest streak of wins in consecutive games when trailing since also winning six straight such games in June of 2019.
- Atlanta is 17-23 (.425) in games it which it trails at any point this season, the fourth-best record in baseball behind just Baltimore (21-22, .488), Tampa Bay (15-19, .441) and Arizona (18-24, .429).
Tonight’s Starting Pitcher – #55 Bryce Elder RHP
2023 Record: 4-0, 2.26 ERA • 2022 Record: 2-4, 3.17 ERA
vs. RHB: .255 (37-145), 3 HR • vs. LHB: .203 (24-118), 3 HR
Home: 1-0, 2.63 ERA (12 ER/41.0 IP) • Away: 3-0, 1.76 ERA (6 ER/30.2 IP)
Tonight’s Game
- Set to make fourth career start against Washington and 13th on the season.
- Enters play with 17 consecutive outings of at least 5.0 innings pitched.
- Earned his fourth win of the season and struck out a season-high eight hitters in his last start against New York (NL).
- His 2.26 ERA on the season is the lowest in the National League among qualifiers.
- Fourth lowest in the majors.
- No Braves pitcher was won the ERA title since Greg Maddux (2.22) in 1998.
- Elder’s 3.78 ERA with runners on base is the lowest in the NL among qualifiers.
- Opponents are hitting .183 against him with runners on base, the second lowest rate it the NL and third in MLB (among QS).
- His 51.6 LOB% is the fourth lowest in the majors (among QS).
- His groundball rate of 55.3% of balls put in play is the fifth highest in the majors among qualified starters.
- Has recorded an out on 63.0% of those grounders put in play, also the fifth highest rate in baseball among qualifiers.
- Is 5-1 with a 2.07 ERA over his last 17 games started after being recalled from Triple-A Gwinnett for the second time, dating to August 14, 2022.
- His 2.07 ERA is the lowest among pitchers with at least 15 starts during that span.
- In that stretch, Elder is averaging 6.0 innings pitched per outing, the fourth highest rate in the National League (min. 15 starts).
- He has five starts in his career of at least 6.0 innings without allowing a run, the most such games in Atlanta franchise history (since 1966) in a player’s first 15 starts…Larry McWilliams (’78) and Ian Anderson (’20-21) both had four such starts.
2023 Recap
- After his outing on May 30, Elder has 15 games of at least 5.1 innings pitched in 20 career starts; tied for second most in Atlanta franchise history through as many games started…Tommy Hanson has the most with 16 through 20 career starts.
- Elder’s 2.30 ERA through 20 career starts is the lowest in Atlanta franchise history to begin a career.
- His 117.1 innings pitched through his first 20 games started are the most by an Atlanta player to begin their career since Julio Teheran in 2011-13.
- His 30 earned runs allwed are also the fewest during that span.
- Elder has held opponents to one run or less in seven games this season while pitching at least 5.0 frames in every outing.
- His 11 appearances of at least 5.0 innings pitched while holding opponents to one run or less are the most through a player’s first 21 outings in Atlanta franchise history.
