All-Star Game SemiquincentennnialFestivities Led to a Spectacular Night

From the starting line-ups walking through a replica of the Liberty Bell and signing their

names on a lineup sheet made of parchment with a quill pen, to Ray Charles on the big

screen singing “America the Beautiful”, the All-Star game was filled with a spectacular

display of what America is all about. Kids riding bikes into the stadium and joining players

on the field listening as Ray Charles sang. Stand Up to Cancer also had its moment of hope

and remembrance. A fireworks display after the 4th inning. It was a grand show of

patriotism and baseball.

Philadelphia native Patti Labelle sang the “Star Spangled Banner”. Boyz II Men, also from

Philly, performed during the Stand Up to Cancer tribute, singing “I’ll be There”.

The game itself followed a typical story line. A run here and there but a dominant showing

by hurlers from both sides led to a 4-0 win by the American League.

Scoring started for the American Leaguers in the top of the first. Batting second, Yordan

Alvarez singled to center. Shea Langeliers followed with a walk, Alvarez to second. Junior

Caminero grounded into a force play while Alvarez and Langeliers moved up a base. Bobby

Witt walked, loading the bases.

Two outs…bases loaded…the pressure was on…

Cody Bellinger came through with a single up the middle, driving in Alvarez and Langeliers.

His Yankee teammate, Ben Rice, followed with a single to center, driving in Witt.

And the only other run in the game came off a 433-foot upper deck home run to deep left

off the bat of the White Sox’ Miguel Vargas. And that’s the ball game.

American League pitchers combined for 15 strike outs, giving up 3 hits.

It was the first shut out in an All-Star game in 13 years.

As far as our Washington Nationals representatives were concerned, CJ Abrams became

the first shortstop to bat cleanup in an All-Star game since Ernie Banks in 1956. He took

two turns at bat but unfortunately struck out both times.

James Wood had a chance to bat in the top of the 8th but struck out looking.

Foster Griffin had a good night, however, striking out 2 in his single inning of relief.

And that’s it…a somewhat typical All-Star game except for the festivities in between innings

inside Citizens Bank Park in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

The best all-star game put on by any of the major professional sports leagues…by far.

Dave’s Dime: All-Star Break

So, the Nationals have come to the All-Star break, not playing again until Friday.

Let’s go over a few stats to see where we stand and then talk about possibilities coming up

at the trade deadline.

Washington currently has a 48 win and 49 loss record. The Nationals have won 20 games

at home and lost 31. Their away record is 28 victories vs.18 defeats. That’s quite an

interesting and confusing statistic. Why so many loses at home?

We were swept by the Yankees last weekend in a three-game series, after blowing a save

opportunity in every game.

So, this should come as no surprise…the Nats now have an MLB leading 27 blown saves.

Hopefully not on their way to breaking the all-time season record of 36 blown saves by the

2024 Chicago White Sox.

On the plus side, the Nationals are tied for the MLB lead in runs scored with 516. The team

did have three All-Star selections: CJ Abrams, James Wood, and Foster Griffin. We’re tied

with the Pirates for the Major League lead with an average of 5.3 runs scored per game.

Also, Washington leads MLB with a slugging percentage of .435.

Just as a reminder, Slugging Percentage can be found by dividing a batter’s total bases

achieved on hits by his total at-bats. So, if you hit a home run, that’s four bases achieved, a

triple is three bases achieved, etc. The MLB average is around .400. Walks and hit-bypitches don’t count because they technically aren’t times at bat.

Luis Garcia Jr. leads the team with a .284 batting average and 68 RBIs.

James Wood leads the team with 28 home runs. He also tops the Nats with a .410 on-base

percentage and 103 hits.

Now, as you know, On-Base Percentage adds walks and hit-by-pitches to the number of

hits a player gets during the season. And average OBP is .320 to .350.

In modern baseball, a typical batting average is around .243-.245 with .280 considered

good, and .300+ considered excellent.

Back to the pitching…

Foster Griffin leads the team with 10 wins and an ERA of 2.77. An ERA (Earned Runs

Average) is determined by dividing total earned runs by number of innings pitched. An

earned run is one that’s scored by hits, walks, or hit batters. No errors involved. Unearned

runs are scored due to defensive lapses.

Cade Cavalli leads the team with 110 strikeouts.

The team’s saves leader is Clayton Beeter with 7. A relief pitcher earns a save by finishing a

game with the lead. They must also fulfill at least one of the following criteria: the lead is

no more than 3 runs or less and they pitch one inning; or the tying run is either in the ondeck circle, at the plate, or on base; or they pitch 3 or more innings regardless of the lead.

Holds leader for our pitching staff is Richard Lovelady with 9. A hold is earned when the

relief pitcher does not give up the lead but does not finish the game. It’s essentially a save

for a middle reliever.

Outfielder Daylen Lile leads the team with a 0.994 fielding percentage. A fielding

percentage tracks a fielder’s proficiency by dividing total putouts and assists by total

chances. The higher the number the better the fielder. He’s followed by first baseman Luis

Garcia Jr. with a 0.991fielding percentage and catcher Keibert Ruiz who sits a 0.990. The

league average fielding percentage is 0.985.

So, after reading through all of this, the question is what should the Washington Nationals

do at the trade deadline, which is August 3rd at 6:00 ET? That’s about two and a half weeks

away.

I did a little research and read some supposedly wise words written by the so-called

experts, and this is what I would do…

In my humble opinion…

I would first wait until we played our first two series after the All-Star break. This coming

Friday, we start a three-game series against the As in Sacramento and then go to Colorado

to play three against the Rockies. Two teams with less than impressive records. Let’s say

we go 4-2. That would bring our record up to 52-51, back over .500. Then we go from there.

We could try to obtain players who wouldn’t cost us a lot. Try to somehow add a decent

reliever. We have some high-performing outfielders in Triple A. Maybe we could move one

or two to obtain a good relief pitcher.

Do something more on the small side…no huge deals like renting a player just for the rest of

the season. Don’t make any huge trades that might jeopardize our future. We have a good

core of young players. We’re only 4 games out of a wild card slot. The problem is there are

4 teams ahead of us. But let’s not do anything crazy.

I still have hope…

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