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Tonight’s starter for the Nationals, Erick Fedde, was their first-round draft pick of the 2014 draft (#18 overall). Notably, he was selected before Matt Chapman, Michael Chavis, Luke Weaver, Justus Sheffield, Jack Flaherty, and Connor Joe.
He was also taken five spots after Trea Turner and four after Tyler Beede. Go check out this 2014 draft, actually. Some wild stuff. That was the draft where Braidy Aiken went #1. All but 14 of the 41 picks have appeared in the majors.
Fedde had a nice three-year run at UNLV, with about 2:1 strikeouts to walk ratio. In the minors, that margin nearly doubled. In 379 minor league innings, he struck out 372 and walked just 97. He also allowed just 27 home runs.
That almost 4:1 K:BB ratio hasn’t translated to the majors, though — 91 K against 55 BB in 119.2 innings — and the home run rate has soared: he’s allowed 21 in 28 games pitched or 1.6 per 9 for his young career.
He’s primarily a sinker-curveball pitcher, though he does also feature a four-seamer, a cutter, and a split finger fastball. None of his pitches show above average spin rates, but he his four-seamer goes between 93-95 and his curveball fades a lot like a changeup.
His secondary pitches aren’t crisp, but effective, mainly because hitters have to honor his high velocity fastball.
SS — Trea Turner
RF — Adam Eaton
3B — Anthony Rendon
LF — Juan Soto
1B — Matt Adams
2B — Brian Dozier
C — Kurt Suzuki
CF — Victor Robles
SP — Erick Fedde
Meanwhile, Scooter Gennett makes his home debut with the Giants, and on Friends Night of all nights. Could he be anymore of a pickup?
1B — Brandon Belt
LF — Mike Yastrzemski
C — Buster Posey
3B — Pablo Sandoval
2B — Scooter Gennett
SS — Brandon Crawford
CF — Kevin Pillar
RF — Steven Duggar
SP — Jeff Samardzija
Jeff Samardzija struck out seven but gave up four runs, including a 2-run home run to Juan Soto and a solo home run to Howie Kendrick, when he last faced the Nationals back in Washington on April 17. The Giants lost to fall to 8-11. The Nationals won to go to 8-8. This was also the only game for the Giants in which Gerardo Parra homered.
The majority of the Nats’ roster has done very well against Samardzija. The basic lineup on Baseball-Reference shows that bunch as a combined 31-for-93 against him.