WEDNESDAY, JULY 31 , 2019. THE WASHINGTON POST EZ M2 D3
recorded Tuesday, there was still
one last chance to make signifi-
cant improvements ahead of the
pennant chase.
And about 17 hours remained
to seize it.
[email protected]pitches.”
If Scherzer is activated Tues-
day, his soonest possible return
date, the Nationals would likely
need a minimum of 10 more starts
from a combination of Fedde,
Ross and Voth. If Scherzer is on
the IL longer than that, and indi-
cations are that he will be, the
workload for Fedde, Ross and
Voth increases. That looked like
way too big an ask against Atlan-
ta, once the Braves put their bats
away, acquired Martin from the
Texas Rangers and re-upped their
division lead.
The Nationals have spent all
season patching holes, crossing
their fingers, hoping small Band-
Aids can stop the bleeding. They
have cycled a whole cast of jour-
neyman relievers through a still-
shoddy bullpen. They are hoping
Fedde, Ross or Voth can turn a
corner. But when the final out wasRoss did a few days earlier while
exiting — frustrated, fuming, even
a bit sad — after Ross gave up
seven runs in 4^2 / 3 innings against
the Los Angeles Dodgers. Fedde
and Ross, along with the injured
Austin Voth, are Washington’s
current depth options. One has to
emerge, at some point soon, as the
team’s fifth starter. Two have to fill
out the rotation as long as Max
Scherzer remains on the injured
list with a mild muscle strain in
his upper back.
That’s why the Nationals need
more than bullpen help. And it’s
why the deadline could feel in-
complete unless a couple of moves
are made.
“Right now, with Voth being
injured, one of these guys has to
step up,” said Martinez of Fedde
and Ross after the loss. “I’ve said it
before, we feel like they belong
here but they have to start makinghearing we’re trying to add, add,
add,” Manager Dave Martinez
said Tuesday afternoon, when the
market was still moving at a gla-
cial pace. “And that only means
we’re playing well. We’re in a pen-
nant race, and that’s good.”
The Nationals then took a small
step backward in that race, a defi-
ciency showing again, once Fedde
was bullied in the third and fourth
innings. He had already given up a
run in the second, on a wild pitch
with two outs, but the Braves
weren’t finished there. They used
the third and fourth to bury the
Nationals in a pile of Fedde’s
missed spots and make it so late
homers by Yan Gomes and Juan
Soto, and six total runs for the
Nationals in the last two innings,
couldn’t stand up to the nine At-
lanta scored before the fifth.
Fedde threw 93 pitches to rec-
ord 11 outs. He looked a lot like JoeJenga tower, wobbling a bit, wait-
ing for one piece to come out so
the rest could follow. Dwindling
time is only another complicating
factor.
Washington, for example,
could still use a reliever or two,
and a depth starter, and maybe
even a utility infielder to fill out its
bench. But no investments can
happen in a vacuum. Ownership
wants the team to stay beneath
the competitive balance tax
threshold, set at $206 million,
leaving the Nationals little room
to spend. They don’t want to part
with their top prospects in a thin
minor league system. They’re
looking to build, that much is
certain, yet their full intentions
remain murky as the deadline
nears.
“At this point, I know guys are
NATIONALS FROM D1
NATIONALS ON DECK
vs. Atlanta BravesToday 12:05 MASN
at Arizona DiamondbacksFriday 9:40 MASN2
Saturday 8:10 MASN2
Sunday 4:10 MASN2
at San Francisco GiantsMonday 9:45 MASN2
Tuesday 9:45 MASN2
Aug. 7 3:45 MASN2Radio: WJFK (106.7 FM)Nats show their issues run deeper than the bullpen
baseball
BY DAVE SHEININThis was the state of the first-
place team in the National
League East on the eve of base-
ball’s trade deadline: Five wins in
their past 13 games. Their lead
down two games from its mid-Ju-
ly peak. Their everyday No. 2 and
No. 5 hitters on the injured list,
with the latter not expected back
until some time in September.
Their rotation showing signs of
strain from injury, youth and
underperformance. Their closer
leading the majors in blown
saves.
Are we leaving anything out?
Let’s not overstate things. The
Atlanta Braves, the NL East’s
defending champs, are still a
formidable team, with the sec-
ond-best record in the league,
and you would gladly take their
playoff chances over those of the
teams chasing them in the East —
namely, the Washington Nation-
als (5^1 / 2 games back after Atlanta’s
11-8 win at Nationals Park on
Tuesday night) and Philadelphia
Phillies (six games back). If you
believe in such things, Fan-
Graphs had their odds of win-
ning the division at 68.8 percent
and of making the playoffs at
96.2 percent entering Tuesday.
But the unmistakable sense
around the Braves is of a team
feeling the heat of a tightening
playoff race, understanding its
biggest tests are still to come and
casting furtive glances at the
front office in hopes it will pro-
cure some reinforcements before
Wednesday’s 4 p.m. trade dead-
line.
“This is the stretch, right now,”
all-star first baseman Freddie
Freeman said Monday, as the
Braves opened their three-game
series in Washington. “If you’re
going to pick one critical spot in
every team’s season, this is ours
right now — see how you re-
spond. If the front office goes and
gets anything more, great. But
this is it right now.”
To that end, reports Tuesday
night had Atlanta acquiring Tex-
as Rangers right-hander Chris
Martin for a Class AAA starter.
Martin has 43 strikeouts and just
four walks in 38 innings.
Asked before the deal if he felt
he had enough pitching to carry
the Braves to October and be-yond, Manager Brian Snitker re-
plied: “You can always get better.
But yeah, we have it — if we can
hold up, and if we’re strong
enough.
Referring to General Manager
Alex Anthopoulos, Snitker said:
“If Alex can bring us a guy or two
that’d be great. If not, we’re all
prepared to do this thing right
here with what we’ve got.”
Until recently, the Braves’ big-
gest needs at the trade deadline
were clear: one or more high-
leverage relievers to add to a
bullpen unit anchored by closer-
by-default Luke Jackson (3.60
ERA, 1.380 WHIP, 17 saves in 24
chances) and — perhaps less
urgently — an extra starting
pitcher to bolster a rotation
headlined by 21-year-old ace
Mike Soroka (1.38 ERA through
June 7, 4.10 since) and June
signee Dallas Keuchel (3-4 with a
3.86 ERA after losing to the
Nationals on Monday).
Martin’s arrival will help, but
last week’s loss of right fielder,
clubhouse leader and No. 5 hitter
Nick Markakis — who suffered a
broken wrist and could miss
most or all of the final two
months of the regular season —
gave the Braves an additional
need to consider. Shortstop and
No. 2 hitter Dansby Swanson alsowent on the injured list with a
heel injury but is expected back
in a matter of days.
Adam Duvall, a former all-star
in Cincinnati who hit 29 homers
for the Braves’ Class AAA team
this season, has proved a capable
fill-in for Markakis in right field,
but that hasn’t stopped the
Braves from being linked to avail-
able outfield bats, from Detroit’s
Nicholas Castellanos to Cincin-
nati’s Yasiel Puig (who was re-
portedly traded to Cleveland on
Tuesday night) to Arizona’s Da-
vid Peralta, in recent trade ru-
mors.
“Losing Markakis for pretty
much the rest of the season is
going to be huge,” Freeman said.
“That’s .285 with 10 homers and
Gold Glove defense in right field
— and playing every single game.
He gives you something in [the
clubhouse] you can’t replace.
Losing someone like that is
huge.”
A bigger question for the
Braves might be: Even if they
make the playoffs again, can they
improve upon last year’s show-
ing, when they won the East by
eight games but were destroyed
in the Division Series by the Los
Angeles Dodgers, who outscored
them by an aggregate score of
20-8 in winning the series in fourgames? After all, last year’s divi-
sion title may have been a sur-
prise, given the Braves’ extreme
youth, but this year’s team had its
eyes set on bigger goals.
“We’re a complete team,” Free-
man said. “Last year it was more
like, ‘This is what we have —
we’re going with it.’ We didn’t
really have much else.... This
team is better than last year’s by
far. We haven’t won a postseason
series since 2001 in this organiza-
tion. We would like to change
that.”
Realistically, the Braves can
look at the NL landscape and
understand their road to the
World Series would necessarily
go through Los Angeles, with the
Dodgers on a 104-win pace. Hav-
ing already been swept at Dodger
Stadium in May, the Braves have
a measuring stick series against
the Dodgers in Atlanta looming
in mid-August. “Everybody
knows the Dodgers are playing
unbelievable,” Freeman said,
“and you’re going to have to go
through them unless they go cold
as ice.”
But before the Braves can look
ahead to an October rematch
against the Dodgers, they are
going to have to hold off the
surging Nationals in the East for
two more months, a task that
grows more difficult with each
game they drop in the standings.
With the time until the trade
deadline now measured in hours,
not weeks or days, honest self-
evaluation appears to come easy
for the Braves. If last year showed
them what it takes to reach the
top, this year is showing them
what it takes to stay there. And
now is the time to ask whether
they possess all the pieces to do
that.
“We’re stronger than last year,”
Snitker said. “That was the thing
I worried about a year ago at this
time — are we strong enough to
keep fighting this fight and hold
on? And we were. And that
experience did a lot for these
young guys.... We’ve taken a big
step forward. Can we hold on?
We don’t know. We hope so. That
club over there [the Nationals] is
really, really good, too, and
they’re playing like they’re capa-
ble now. And they were built for
this. We’re building for this.”
[email protected]Braves feeling the trade deadline heat
PATRICK MCDERMOTT/GETTY IMAGES
Dallas Keuchel, a June signee, is 3-4 with a 3.86 ERA in eight starts
for the Braves, who are seeking trade deadline reinforcements.BY NATHAN RUIZsan diego — Chris Davis stepped
into the Petco Park batter’s box in
the top of the eighth inning Tues-
day with three strikeouts in his
three at-bats, 14 strikeouts in 16
hitless at-bats on a three-city road
trip and 18 straight at-bats with-
out a hit. He began the road trip
with a .192 batting average, his
highest after a game since the end
of 2017, but he came to the plate
hitting .178.
Naturally, he proceeded to hit
the tiebreaking home run in the
Baltimore Orioles’ 8-5 victory over
the San Diego Padres, supplying
the lead that led to a winning road
trip and Baltimore’s first month
without a losing record since Au-
gust 2017.
The home run off San Diego
left-hander Matt Strahm was Da-
vis’s eighth of the year and first
this season against a left-hander.
Davis’s home run broke a 5-5 tie
and enabled the Orioles (36-71) to
avoid a four-game sweep in the
season series (including two loss-
es to San Diego in late June) and
finish July with a 12-12 record after
entering the month with 24 wins.
Baltimore added another two
runs in the eighth inning when
Trey Mancini, one of a handful of
players who are candidates to be
traded by Wednesday’s 4 p.m.
deadline, delivered a two-run sin-
gle as the Orioles rallied from a 4-0
deficit. Mancini exited on a double
switch before the bottom of the
eighth.
Fernando Tatis Jr.’s leadoff
home run off Orioles starter Tom
Eshelman was his second in as
many days, making the 20-year-
old the youngest player in history
with leadoff homers on consecu-
tive days. Former Orioles infielder
Manny Machado hit his 26th
homer for the Padres.
— Baltimore Sun
Davis’s late
home run
helps O’s
stop sweep
ORIOLES 8,
PADRES 5KATHERINE FREY/THE WASHINGTON POSTErick Fedde became the latest back-of-the-rotation starter to struggle, giving up nine runs to Atlanta.
BY DAVE SHEININTwo games out of first place at
the start of Tuesday’s play and in
possession of the first wild card in
the American League, the Cleve-
land Indians on the surface would
appear to be strange candidates
to jolt the sport of baseball on the
eve of Wednesday’s trade dead-
line by dealing away their most
dependable, innings-eating start-
ing pitcher.
But in these strange times for
the industry, where bleak, small-
market economics intersect with
risk-averse, analytics-based deci-
sion-making, the Indians’ trade of
former all-star Trevor Bauer to
the Cincinnati Reds — as part of a
three-way deal that also included
the San Diego Padres — made a
certain sort of twisted sense.
In return for Bauer, the icono-
clastic right-hander with a 9-8
record and 3.79 ERA this season,
the Indians reportedly received
right fielder Yasiel Puig from the
Reds and outfielder Franmil
Reyes and left-handed pitcher Lo-
gan Allen from the Padres. The
Padres, meanwhile, received
highly regarded outfield prospect
Taylor Trammell from the Reds.
The deal also reportedly in-
volves prospects Scott Moss and
Victor Nova. Cleveland received
Moss, a left-handed pitcher, from
Cincinnati and Nova, a 19-year-
old infielder, from San Diego.
So why, in the heat of a playoff
race, would the Indians trade
Bauer, a 28-year-old workhorse
who leads the majors in innings
pitched this season and is under
team control through next sea-
son?
It wasn’t about Bauer’s quirky
personality, which is an acquired
taste, to put it lightly — exempli-
fied most recently by his chucking
the baseball from the mound over
the center field wall as he was
being pulled from his most recent
start. Bauer was a fixture of base-
ball’s trade-rumor mill even be-
fore that episode.
From the Indians’ standpoint,
the trade was equally about eco-
nomics — as a small-market team,
they felt they wouldn’t be able to
afford his salary in 2020 — and
old-fashioned baseball dealmak-
ing. Still hopeful of catching the
first-place Minnesota Twins in
the AL Central, the Indians felt
they were dealing from a position
of strength (starting pitching) to
bolster a deficiency (outfield).
With two-time Cy Young win-
ner Corey Kluber and veteran
standout Carlos Carrasco expect-
ed back in the coming weeks, and
with youngsters Shane Bieber
and Zach Plesac taking major
leaps forward this summer, the
Indians felt the time was right to
spin Bauer off for outfield help.
Puig, 28, and Reyes, 24, have com-
bined for 49 homers this season.
(Puig, though, is at least as mercu-
rial as Bauer; and as if on cue, he
was involved in a benches-clear-
ing brawl in his final moments in
a Reds uniform Tuesday night.)
The bigger question with the
Bauer trade was: What were the
Reds thinking? This marked the
second time in three days that a
starting pitcher coveted by nu-
merous contenders wound up go-
ing to a fourth-place team on the
outer fringes of contention. On
Sunday, it was the New York Mets
swooping in to nab right-hander
Marcus Stroman from the Toron-
to Blue Jays. On Tuesday, it was
the Reds — who were 6^1 / 2 games
out of a playoff spot — and Bauer.
As with the Mets two nights
before, the Reds sacrificed a
chunk of their future — Trammell,
21, was the 16th-rated prospect in
the game by MLB Pipeline before
the season — for a pitcher who is
unlikely to push them into the
playoffs this season. But in both
cases, the moves appeared to be
focused more on 2020 than 2019,
because both Stroman and Bauer
will presumably be part of formi-
dable rotations in New York and
Cincinnati, respectively, next sea-
son.
Given the strange, stagnant
state of free agency in recent
winters, it appears teams such as
the Mets and Reds have discov-
ered an alternative way — coun-
terintuitive trades — to augment
their rosters for future seasons.
As the hours creep closer to 4
p.m. Wednesday, it will be diffi-
cult to top, in terms of sheer
spectacle, the deals already made
this week. But if nothing else, this
trade deadline will be remem-
bered for years to come — just not
for the typical reasons.
[email protected]ANALYSISIndians deal
mercurial
Bauer to
Cincinnati
HOW THEY SCORED
BRAVES SECOND
Adam Duvall grounds out. Ender Inciarte singles. With
Johan Camargo batting, Ender Inciarte steals second.
Johan Camargo walks. Julio Teheran out on a sacrifice
bunt. Johan Camargo to second. Ender Inciarte to third.
On Erick Fedde’s wild pitch, Johan Camargo to third,
Ender Inciarte scores. Ronald Acuna Jr. strikes out
swinging.
Braves 1, Nationals 0
BRAVES THIRD
Ozzie Albies doubles. Freddie Freeman singles, Ozzie
Albies scores. With Josh Donaldson batting, Freddie
Freeman steals second. Josh Donaldson strikes out
swinging. Brian McCann singles, Freddie Freeman
scores. Adam Duvall singles. Brian McCann to second.
Ender Inciarte doubles, advances to third, Adam Duvall
scores, Brian McCann scores. Fielding error by Adam
Eaton. Johan Camargo reaches on a fielder’s choice.
Ender Inciarte out at home. Julio Teheran called out on
strikes.
Braves 5, Nationals 0
BRAVES FOURTH
Ronald Acuna Jr. walks. With Ozzie Albies batting,
Ronald Acuna Jr. caught stealing second. Ozzie Albies
doubles. Freddie Freeman is intentionally walked. Josh
Donaldson homers, Freddie Freeman scores, Ozzie Al-
bies scores. Brian McCann grounds out. Adam Duvall
homers. Ender Inciarte grounds out.
Braves 9, Nationals 0
NATIONALS SIXTH
Adam Eaton pops out. Anthony Rendon singles. Juan
Soto called out on strikes. Howie Kendrick singles. An-
thony Rendon to second. Brian Dozier singles, Howie
Kendrick to second, Anthony Rendon scores. Victor
Robles grounds out.
Braves 9, Nationals 1
BRAVES SEVENTH
Adam Duvall homers. Ender Inciarte doubles. Johan Ca-
margo flies out. Julio Teheran singles, Ender Inciarte
scores. Ronald Acuna Jr. strikes out swinging. Ozzie Al-
bies singles. Julio Teheran to second. Charlie Culberson
pinch-hitting for Freddie Freeman. Charlie Culberson
reaches on a fielder’s choice. Ozzie Albies to second.
Julio Teheran to third. Josh Donaldson reaches on a
fielder’s choice. Charlie Culberson out at second.
Braves 11, Nationals 1
NATIONALS SEVENTH
Yan Gomes flies out. Gerardo Parra pinch-hitting for
Javy Guerra. Gerardo Parra flies out. Trea Turner hom-
ers. Adam Eaton singles. Adrian Sanchez pinch-hitting
for Anthony Rendon. Adrian Sanchez walks. Juan Soto
lines out.
Braves 11, Nationals 2
NATIONALS EIGHTH
Howie Kendrick grounds out. Brian Dozier walks. Victor
Robles singles. Brian Dozier to second. Yan Gomes
homers, Victor Robles scores, Brian Dozier scores. Ge-
rardo Parra strikes out swinging. Kurt Suzuki pinch-hit-
ting for Michael Blazek. Kurt Suzuki grounds out.
Braves 11, Nationals 5
NATIONALS NINTH
Adam Eaton walks. Adrian Sanchez lines out. Juan Soto
homers, Adam Eaton scores. Howie Kendrick doubles.
Brian Dozier singles, Howie Kendrick scores. Victor
Robles reaches on a fielder’s choice. Brian Dozier out at
second. Yan Gomes grounds out.
Braves 11, Nationals 8Braves 11, Nationals 8
ATLANTA ABRH BI BB SO AVG
Acuna Jr. rf .................... 5 0 0 0 1 3 .289
Albies 2b ........................ 5 2 3 0 1 2 .286
Freeman 1b .................... 2 2 1 1 2 0 .308
Culberson ph-1b............. 2 0 0 0 0 1 .333
Donaldson 3b ................. 5 1 1 3 0 1 .256
McCann c........................ 5 1 1 1 0 0 .276
Duvall lf.......................... 5 3 4 2 0 0 .529
Inciarte cf....................... 5 2 3 2 0 0 .227
Camargo ss .................... 4 0 1 0 1 0 .228
Teheran p ....................... 3 0 1 1 0 1 .143
Minter p ......................... 0 0 0 0 0 0 ---
Swarzak p ...................... 0 0 0 0 0 0 ---
Riley ph .......................... 1 0 0 0 0 0 .240
Jackson p ....................... 0 0 0 0 0 0 ---
TOTALS 42 11 15 10 5 8 —
WASHINGTON ABRH BI BB SO AVG
Turner ss........................ 4 1 1 1 0 2 .284
Blazek p.......................... 0 0 0 0 0 0 ---
Suzuki ph ....................... 1 0 0 0 0 0 .256
Sipp p ............................. 0 0 0 0 0 0 ---
Eaton rf .......................... 4 1 1 0 1 0 .281
Rendon 3b ...................... 3 1 1 0 0 0 .318
Sanchez ph-ss................ 1 0 0 0 1 0 .200
Soto lf ............................ 4 1 1 2 1 1 .285
Kendrick 1b-3b............... 5 1 3 0 0 0 .316
Dozier 2b ........................ 4 1 2 2 1 1 .241
Robles cf ........................ 4 1 1 0 1 1 .244
Gomes c ......................... 5 1 1 3 0 1 .213
Fedde p........................... 1 0 1 0 0 0 .111
Guerra p ......................... 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000
Parra ph-1b .................... 2 0 0 0 0 1 .243
TOTALS 38 8 12 8 5 7 —
ATLANTA...................... 014 400 200 — 11 15 0
WASHINGTON.............. 000 001 133 — 8 12 2
E: Eaton (5), Rendon (7). LOB: Atlanta 10, Washington- 2B: Albies 2 (28), Inciarte 2 (7), Kendrick 2 (16). HR:
Donaldson (24), off Fedde; Duvall (2), off Fedde; Duvall
(3), off Guerra; Turner (9), off Teheran; Gomes (6), off
Swarzak; Soto (19), off Jackson. RBI: Freeman (82),
Donaldson 3 (65), McCann (36), Duvall 2 (5), Inciarte 2
(17), Teheran (3), Turner (28), Soto 2 (69), Dozier 2
(39), Gomes 3 (26). SB: Freeman (5), Inciarte (5). CS:
Acuna Jr. (5). S: Teheran, Guerra.
ATLANTA IPHR ER BB SO NP ERA
Teheran .................... 6.2 722 2 6 104 3.38
Minter ....................... 0.2 011 20 23 7.24
Swarzak .................... 0.2 222 01 14 3.53
Jackson ........................ 1 333 10 27 3.60
WASHINGTON IPHR ER BB SO NP ERA
Fedde ....................... 3.2 999 44 93 4.67
Guerra ....................... 3.1 522 02 56 4.50
Blazek .......................... 1 100 00 12 7.20
Sipp .............................. 1 000 12 20 4.71
WP: Teheran, (6-7); LP: Fedde, (1-2).
Inherited runners-scored: Minter 1-0, Swarzak 1-1. WP:
Fedde. T: 3:47. A: 26,566 (41,313).