As Michael Soroka heads for Illinois, Washingtonians must be creative to fill their place in a rotation. Today, they are turning their eyes to Rookie Blood Lord, the best story on the team.
The Lord’s story has been well documented to date. This offseason, the 25-year-old worked at Home Depot to make extra money. Now he’ll be playing against things like Shohei Ohtani and Mookie Betts.
The Lord was the 18th round pick and never seemed to be anything more than the depth of the organization. But he had a breakout year in 2024, and now he’s a big leaguer. He created the team as a relief bar, but now Soroka is down, plans have changed.
But don’t expect the Lord to go deep into the ballpark, even if he throws well. Reports say the Lord is expected to throw 45-50 pitch tonight. This means he should be good for about three innings.
Expect a ton of fastballs in these three innings. Lord utilizes a sinker and a 4-seamer, obtaining a ground ball on top of the sinker and Whiffs at the top of the 4-seamer zone. He threw two heaters 80% of the time His first couple was a big league outing. His speed is also very impressive, with both fastballs averageling over 96 mph.
To pass this Dodgers lineup, Lord must use his secondary pitch more than he has. He can’t get away by pumping his fastball against someone like Otani. I am curious to see what the Lord will look like tonight.
After the Lord, Jackson Rutledge should also get some innings work. Rutledge was called after Soroka’s injuries. He hasn’t pitched since, but certainly he’s going to pitch tonight. The nation hopes that Lord and Rutledge can get through at least six innings.
Kyle Finnegan is no longer available after Hercules’ efforts over the last few days, but people like Jose A. Ferer and Jorge Lopez had a lot of needed days last night. Orlando Rivalta has also been available, indicating that multiple innings can be performed if necessary.
Davy Martinez is already in an interesting place in his bullpen. There are so many people who have proven unreliable, so he has used a lot of people like Lopez, Ferra and Finnegan. He needs to find a way to manage their workloads.
A guy like Colin Pouch needs to step up. Pouch has been a solid rescuer for years, but he hasn’t been able to play this season so far. He needs to step up and prove that he is worthy of being in the game. Otherwise, NAT will need to find another option.
It’s an exciting, touch-heavy story that makes Blood Lord’s first start. He wasn’t supposed to get to where he was now. Tonight is also Davy Martinez’s chess game that you have to be smart in his bullpen. On a cold night in DC, NATS will now try to take another series against the defending champion.
