As Jackson Rutledge toed the rubber for his first start, he wasn’t the first critically praised Nationals prospect to debut vs the Pittsburgh Pirates. The first? That title would go to Stephen Strasberg and his legendary 2010 debut. While Rutledges’ debut did not go as planned, he still showed promise. The 6 foot 8, 251 lbs flamethrower went 3 ⅔ innings, his start was filled with what-ifs and missed spots. In the first inning, there were three hits that dropped on the line or just barely fair, putting the Pirates up a four in the first. In the fourth with two outs, Bryan Reynolds hit a three run home run off of the foul pole, mere feet away from being foul, extending the Pirates lead to 7-1. After that, Rutledge got pulled after not being able to complete four innings.
On the offensive side of the ball, The Nationals hit the ball well, but it was too little too late. Catcher Drew Millas smacked his first career home run 406 ft. into the right field porch to make it 7-2 in the fifth. Dominic Smith drove in three with an RBI double in the first and a two run homer that made it 7-5 in the sixth, bringing home Lane Thomas who had doubled home C.J. Abrams the at-bat before.
After a one run single from Nationals catcher Keibert Ruiz in the top of the ninth and then a walk to load the bases from Outfielder Jacob Young, C.J. Abrams struck out. That brought up Lane Thomas with the bases loaded and two outs, who flew out to center field to end the ball game with the final being a score of 7-6 Pirates.
The Abrams strikeout comes in a season where he has had trouble succeeding with runners in scoring position, and in a slow skid of late at the plate.
While the Nationals played well, they couldn’t come through when it mattered most. While Rutledge had a very rough debut, there was potential and upside shown and Nationals fans should be excited for the future of the young pitcher. Rutledge is one of many exciting prospects in the Nationals pipeline including 3B Brady House, OF James Wood, and 2023 No. 2 overall draft pick, former LSU Outfielder Dylan Crews.
