The Washington Nationals begin a three-game series Tuesday against the American League-leading Houston Astros, though the names off-the-field might be more notable than the ones on it.
Like the Nationals, the Astros are dealing with their own set of injuries. Houston star Carlos Correa, starting pitcher Lance McCullers Jr., reliever Will Harris and catchers Brian McCann and Evan Gattis are all on the disabled list.
According to ManGamesLost, a website that tracks how many games a team loses to injuries, Houston ranks 19th in the league in games-lost. However, they rank fourth in IIT-WAR, which measures the quality of players that are injured. The Nationals, with all their injuries, are second in that category.
The Astros have slumped since the All-Star break, going 16-19. Houston also elected to not make any significant trades at the deadline, instead opting to deal for relievers to help shore up their bullpen.
Tuesday’s game begins at 8:10 p.m. in Houston.
Pitching match-ups for the series
Tuesday’s game will feature Nationals pitcher Tanner Roark against Charlie Morton (10-5, 3.69 ERA). Roark has seemingly pitched his way out of a midseason slump, posting a 3.13 ERA since the break. Roark’s ERA in June was 8.31.
On Wednesday, Edwin Jackson will get the start for the Nationals, while Mike Fiers will be on the mound for the Astros. Stephen Strasburg takes on Astros ace Dallas Keuchel on Thursday.
Nationals player to watch: Howie Kendrick
Since Kendrick was traded to the Nationals in July, he’s hitting .344 and has an eye-popping OPS of 1.040. His previous high in OPS? .802 in 2011 — Kendrick’s lone-year as an All-Star.
Granted, it’s a small sample size of 19 games and Kendrick has only appeared in 58 games this season. But Kendrick has given the Nationals another quality bat and he’s seeing regular playing time, given the injuries to Bryce Harper and Brian Goodwin.
Interestingly, Nationals manager Dusty Baker has used Kendrick primarily as the team’s lead-off hitter. Before Kendrick’s arrival and after Trea Turner’s wrist injury, Michael A. Taylor had been in the lead-off spot before going on the DL. When Taylor returned on Aug.13, Baker has kept Kendrick in the lead-off spot and Taylor is batting near the bottom of the lineup.
The moves are working out. Kendrick is batting .313/.389/,938 in 16 at-bats in the lead-off spot. Taylor has yet to find a rhythm since his return and is only batting .154 in August.
• Matthew Paras can be reached at mparas@washingtontimes.com.
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