Brad Lord is making his first career start against the defending champions, but don’t expect him to go deep
With Michael Soroka headed to the IL, the Washington Nationals are going to have to be creative to fill his spot in the rotation. Today, they are turning to rookie Brad Lord, who is the best story on the team.
Lord’s story is well documented by now. This offseason, the 25 year old was working at Home Depot to make some extra money. Now, he will be facing off against the likes of Shohei Ohtani and Mookie Betts.
Lord was an 18th round pick who was never supposed to be more than organizational depth. However, he had a breakout year in 2024 and now he is a big leaguer. He made the team as a reliever, but now with Soroka going down, plans have changed.
However, don’t expect Lord to be going deep into the ballgame, even if he is throwing well. According to reports, Lord is expected to throw 45-50 pitches tonight. This would mean he should be good for about three innings.
In those three innings, expect a heavy dose of fastballs. Lord utilizes a sinker and four-seamer, getting ground balls on the sinker and whiffs at the top of the zone on the four-seamer. He has thrown his two heaters about 80% of the time in his first couple big league outings. His velocity has also been very impressive, with both fastballs averaging over 96 MPH.
To get through this Dodgers lineup, Lord will have to use his secondary pitches more than he has. He can’t get away with just pumping fastballs against guys like Ohtani. I am interested to see how Lord looks tonight.
After Lord, Jackson Rutledge should also get a few innings of work. Rutledge was called up following the Soroka injury. He has not pitched since, but is certainly going to pitch tonight. The Nationals are hoping that Lord and Rutledge can get through at least six innings.
While Kyle Finnegan will be unavailable after his herculean efforts the last few days, guys like Jose A Ferrer and Jorge Lopez got much needed days off last night. Orlando Ribalta will also be available and he has shown he can go multiple innings if needed.
Davey Martinez is already in an interesting spot with his bullpen. There are a number of guys that have proven to be untrustworthy, so he has used guys like Lopez, Ferrer and Finnegan a lot. He will need to find ways to manage their workload.
A guy like Colin Poche needs to step up. Poche has been a solid reliever for a number of years, but he has been unplayable so far this season. He needs to step up and prove himself worthy of getting into games. If not, the Nats need to find another option.
Brad Lord making his first start is an exciting feel good story. He was not supposed to get to where he is right now. Tonight will also be a game of chess for Davey Martinez, who has to be smart with his bullpen. On a cold night in DC, the Nats will look to take another series, this time against the defending champs.