Michael Wacha (4-5, 3.58) draws Foster Griffin (7-2, 3.46) in the middle game of this three-game set at Nationals Park. Griffin has been Washington's offseason steal — a 1-year, $5.5M flier out of Japan that has turned into one of the better stories in the NL — and now he gets to do it against the Royals, the team that drafted him in the first round back in 2014.
Kansas City did not come to D.C. in good shape. They've dropped 5 of their last 6, got blasted 7-3 in the series opener Monday, and the injury list is starting to look like a depth chart on its own. Vinnie Pasquantino just had surgery on a fractured hamate and is out 4-6 weeks. Cole Ragans and Kris Bubic remain on the shelf. Seth Lugo is on the 7-day concussion list. Kyle Isbel is out with a Grade 3 plantar fasciitis tear. That's a lot of names you'd want in this lineup that aren't available.
- Day-To-DayAnthony Simonelli SP — no
- Day-To-DayJavier Vaz 2B — Vaz (fingers) has produced a .238/.304/.262 slash line with zero home runs and three stolen bases in 10 games since being activated from Double-A Northwest Arkansas' 7-day injured list April 22.
- Day-To-DayTyson Guerrero RP — no
- 7-Day ILSeth Lugo SP — The Royals placed Lugo on the 7-day concussion list Friday.
- 10-Day-ILVinnie Pasquantino 1B — Royals manager Matt Quatraro said that Pasquantino underwent surgery Sunday to remove a fractured hamate bone in his right hand and will face a recovery timeline of roughly 4-6 weeks, Joel Goldberg of Bally Sports Kansas City reports.
- 10-Day-ILKyle Isbel CF — Isbel has been diagnosed with a Grade 3 tear of a portion of his left plantar fasciitis.
- 15-Day-ILKris Bubic SP — Royals manager Matt Quatraro said Sunday that Bubic underwent another MRI that showed nothing structurally wrong with his left elbow or shoulder, Joel Goldberg of Bally Sports Kansas City reports.
- 15-Day-ILCole Ragans SP — Ragans (elbow) had a throwing session cut short Friday and will undergo additional testing, Jaylon T. Thompson of The Kansas City Star reports.
- Day-To-DayJarlin Susana RP — Susana threw from a mound this week for the first time since undergoing lat surgery last September, Jessica Camerato of MLB.com reports.
- Day-To-DayTyler Stuart SP — no
- Day-To-DayTyler Baum DH — Baum has not pitched this year due an undisclosed injury.
- Day-To-DayTravis Sykora SP — Sykora will undergo a UCL reconstruction on his right elbow in two weeks, Andrew Golden of The Washington Post reports.
- 15-Day-ILJake Irvin SP — Nationals manager Blake Butera said Monday that Irvin (shoulder) remains shut down from throwing, Mark Zuckerman of NatsJournal.com reports.
- 60-Day-ILDJ Herz SP — Herz (elbow) struck out four batters over three scoreless innings in his second rehab start Thursday in the rookie-level Florida Complex League.
- 60-Day-ILKen Waldichuk RP — Waldichuk (elbow) underwent Tommy John surgery and an internal brace procedure April 21 and is hopeful to return to game action at some point early in the 2027 season, Mark Zuckerman of MASNSports.com reports.
- 60-Day-ILTrevor Williams SP — Williams (elbow) threw a simulated game at Nationals Park ahead of Tuesday's loss to the Marlins, MLB.com reports.
Wacha has been the Royals' steadiest rotation piece for years, but the Nats are catching him at a bad time. His ERA has climbed nearly a full run over his last 3 starts — 14 earned in 17.2 IP — and his last outing was a 7-inning, 9-hit loss to Texas where he only struck out 2. That's not the profile you want against a Washington lineup that just hung 7 on you 24 hours ago and put up 10 on Seattle the start before that.
Griffin, meanwhile, has been doing it with a 7-pitch mix that keeps hitters from sitting on anything. His last time out he went 6 scoreless-ish innings against the Giants (1 ER, 6 H, 0 BB, 5 K, no decision). He's a soft-tossing lefty who lives on sequencing, which is exactly the kind of arm a banged-up Royals lineup missing its best left-handed bat in Pasquantino is going to struggle to square up.
The Nationals are chasing a 4th straight series win and look like the version of themselves the FanSided crowd has been calling not-a-fluke. At 38-35 they're hanging around the Wild Card race in a year nobody had circled, and home games against a depleted Royals club are exactly the ones a team in their spot has to bank. Royals manager Matt Quatraro has bigger problems than tonight's lineup card.