Game of the Week: August 3: PHI @ WAS

[Commissioner Erick]

Philadelphia Phillies (53-52) @ Washington Nationals (59-47)


PHI: Josh Staumont (5-4, 4.72)
WAS: Peter Solomon (6-6, 4.74)


Phillies 5 Key Stats

4: The number of players Philly traded away during the trade deadline. Franklin Barreto, Dave Simon, Osiris German, and Zach Briton were sent elsewhere.

26-31: Philadelphia’s record in its last 57 games. Max Schrock hit a ninth-inning bases clearing double leading to a Marlins comeback win over the Phillies on May 25. Miami proceeded to sweep the series and begin Philadelphia’s cursed 57-game stretch.

6: Philadelphia relievers with an ERA of 4.44 or better. Despite the exodus of relief arms, Philadelphia is in decent shape with regards to their pen.

17: The number of games Darrick Hall has gone without hitting a non-extra base hit. Hall is 6-59 in the second half with all six hits being extra base hits.

12: The number of Ryon Healy RBIs against Washington this year. Healy has a .412 average against the Nationals, has hit safely in every game he’s played against them this year, and had four doubles in a four-game set last week.

.339: Seth Beer’s Batting Average since the calendar turned to June. After being injured with a sore wrist and getting off to a slow start, Beer has been back to his MVP candidate self as the weather has warmed.


Nationals 5 Key Stats


0: The number of cases left for Juan Soto’s jury duty. He’s eligible to rejoin the Nationals.

166: The combined walk total for Mike Trout and Bryce Harper, top two in the National League.

.935: Bryce Harper’s OPS. The number is still fifth in the NL, but would be the lowest of his career by far.

31: Bob Beasley’s Doubles total, tied with Orlando Arcia for the NL lead. A former Supplemental Round pick in 2021, Beasley’s been a standout helping Washington recover from the loss of Kyle Seager for most of the year. Beasley only has 10 homers, but the doubles count, the .290 average, and the solid defense have turned him into a steady producer.

.256: Paul Goldschmidt’s Batting Average, highest of his career since 2020. Goldschmidt is still walking and producing enough power to be a catalyst for Washington’s offense.He’s also helped Washington top the PBA in merchandise sales with his popularity being a fan favorite.


Questions for the GMs:


For Matt Grubs, you sold a number of pieces, but are only 5.5 out of the Wild Card. Do you feel like you perhaps sold too early?

Andres Gimenez has a sore elbow. Will he play today?

The last four seasons, you’ve gotten four very different degrees of Darrick Hall. How does his volatility affect you in roster building?

For Jake Pennel, when can we expect to see Juan Soto in the PBA again?

Are you surprised by Paul Goldschmidt’s success this year?

Did you expect Bob Beasley to be able to contribute so quickly into his career?


TRIVIA: The top three All-Time leaders in career walks play for the Washington Nationals, Bryce Harper, Mike Trout, and Paul Goldschmidt. Who is fourth?

[Grubs - Philly]

You sold a number of pieces, but are only 5.5 out of the Wild Card. Do you feel like you perhaps sold too early?

Not really. We had an 0-6 sim going into the deadline, and while we were 5-2 coming out of it, I haven't seen us put together the kind of sustained run we'd need to make up places. If we do well against Washington this week, you might convince me otherwise. Truly, I felt better about my team the past two years than I did when we were winning divisions. But especially this year, we've had a string of injuries that have kept us from fielding our strongest team and our starters have really underperformed. We fired Andrew Brown as pitching coach, which seems to have stabilized things. You never know, and we'll still play to win, but OOTP was sending some pretty strong signals that we're not the team I thought we could be.

Andres Gimenez has a sore elbow. Will he play today?

He will. Andres wants in and he's an important guy to have out there for us. I considered sitting him for a few days, but this is potentially an important series if we expect to pressure Atlanta in the slightest.

The last four seasons, you’ve gotten four very different degrees of Darrick Hall. How does his volatility affect you in roster building?

From the outset, I've viewed Darick's performance as gravy. He got monster dev boosts a couple years during a four-year run of strong development and gave me one less thing to worry about. As you've seen, he basically slots 4th or 5th and plays just about every game for us, whether at DH or at 1B. He'll still hit 40 homers and drive in about 100 runs. That said, it's going to be a career-worst year coming off a career-best one. It stings, but I'd be derelict with Darick if I didn't keep him in the lineup. Maybe I need to concentrate more on putting some skill behind him? Worth a shot.
In terms of actually building the roster, it worked like gangbusters with Wilmer Flores at first last year and has gone really well with Ryon Healy at first in 2026. Both are righties who can mash lefties and help balance out my power delivery. I don't have plans to make any major roster moves, but if Isaiah High comes back from a nagging injury and mashes in AAA, he might come up and force me to make decisions with Darick. That'll likely only come with wins, though, so right now the plan is to keep a close eye on what's going on and let results dictate decisions.

[Commissioner Erick]

Nationals 16 - Phillies 12


WP: D. Arminger (3-1)
LP: J. Familia (1-4)


The Washington Nationals defeated the Philadelphia Phillies, 16-12, in National League action at Nationals Park. Bryce Harper pulled his weight. The 14-year veteran was 2-3 with a home run and 2 walks, while scoring 3 and driving in 4. Devon Armiger snagged the win in relief. In 2 innings, the right-hander allowed 1 run on 1 hit. He's now 3-1 on the season. The triumph puts Washington at 60-47 for the season.

Ryan O'Hearn was 1 for 4 with a double, while adding 2 RBI for Washington. The 33-year old left fielder had a key at-bat in the bottom of the sixth. With one out and runners on 1st and 3rd, he broke a 10-10 tie with a run-scoring sacrifice fly off Ryan Helsley. It was his 12th RBI of the season.

"We'll put this win in our pocket and go after the next one," said O'Hearn.


Questions for the GMs:


For Matt Grubs, you still have an outside chance at the playoffs, but you'll need to go through some good offenses to make the playoffs and do damage. After seeing his performance today, do you think Josh Staumont is one of the guys who could take you there, or do you feel you could try someone else?

You traded away three relievers, then saw your bullpen implode. Do you still feel playing for the future and getting assets for decent relievers was a mistake?

Stud Morales looked like he tweaked his back beating out an infield hit. Did you like what Bradley Zimmer gave you?

For Jake Pennel, you looked like you had one of the best pitching staffs in the league, but Peter Solomon has looked bad and got rocked today. Are you worried he's no longer the ace he was for the earlier part of the decade?

Javier Guerra hadn't played in the majors since 2023 before this year. What did you think of his game?

How excited are you to have watched Solomon get rocked while starting several backups and still beating the Phillies?


TRIVIA: Who has the most errors for the Nationals all-time?

[Grubs - Philly]

You still have an outside chance at the playoffs, but you'll need to go through some good offenses to make the playoffs and do damage. After seeing his performance today, do you think Josh Staumont is one of the guys who could take you there, or do you feel you could try someone else?

Not really. I had hoped he could stabilize the back end of the rotation, but he's been less than expected. If I had depth, he'd be in the bullpen. I might pick up someone off waivers. If Staumont gets down to around a 4.50 ERA, that's a decent return. But, I mean, Jhoan Duran has a 5.56 ERA and even A.J. Masucci has a higher ERA than Staumont. By that metric, Staumont is clearly my ace and a heckuva bargain. Well done, Phillies.

You traded away three relievers, then saw your bullpen implode. Do you still feel playing for the future and getting assets for decent relievers was a mistake?

Familia and Helsley had a bad series, but the bullpen seemed to right itself against the Mets. I don't think I ever felt playing for the future and getting assets was a mistake. Unless I'm mistaken. 

Stud Morales looked like he tweaked his back beating out an infield hit. Did you like what Bradley Zimmer gave you?

Bradley Zimmer demanded a starting role after this sim, so clearly he liked what he gave me. But no, I don't like how Zimm handled left field. We had high hopes for him, but I think a .220/.320/.370 line is what we're likely to get. That's not enough to start, so he'll have to show he can outplay Charlie Blackmon. 

[Commissioner Erick]

Ben correctly guessed Trea Turner

[Commissioner Erick]

Ben correctly guessed Freddie Freeman