Juan Yepez continues his historic start for the Nats as he has 20 hits in his first 14 games with the Nats, inching closer to an MLB record. We start off discussing game 1 of the Padres series as the Nats offense fell flat. We then jump more into Yepez's hot start and discuss what his 2024 plan could look like in DC. Then, we preview game 2 of the Padres-Nats series.
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It's the lockdown podcast network, your team every day. Around two years ago today, Joey Minesis broke out onto the scene, but let me tell you now there's a new Joey Minesis in town and he's much better. Thank you all for making lockdown nationals your first listen every single day as we are free and available wherever you get your podcast and of course I'm your host Ryan Cleary you can catch me over on Twitter at Ryan Clary 11 and as well as our show page at hello underscore nationals for our latest nationals news notes make sure it checks out over on Twitter and of course while you're out to make sure to search up lock on nationals wherever you get your podcast again just search locked on nationals. That is where you'll find your latest nationals podcast right here called lock on national so make sure to check it out wherever you get your pods and of course later on in today's show we'll have a game to preview for you last night was not pretty we all know it let's talk about it we'll have that for you in the first segment but again later on game to preview as you have got the knuckleballer against Mitchell Parker you will discuss that a little bit later on in today's show but also the second segment as we said in the cold open got a new Joey Minesis his name is Juan Yapaz and let me tell you this the reason why I say he's the new Joey Minesis getting called up in the middle of the season Juan Yapaz has been in the majors before with the st. Louis Cardinals but he has come up and he has been the nationals best hitter through his first 14 games it ain't even close we'll discuss that a little bit later on but let's talk about the next brutal offense at this time brutal to say the least we have known this for quite some time now watching this team day in and day out we've all noticed one thing the pitching pretty solid the offense a disaster who is there to blame at this point what should you do we'll discuss that in yesterday's game and whole but today's episode is brought to you by booking dot com booking dot yeah the right state can make you a fan of any city even your rival so check out booking dot com for your stay today so let's get into it again this offense is brutal terrible awful I'm not even going to get into the season ranks because I don't really think that tells the full story there are some good things about this national's offense some but overwhelmingly there are a lot of bad ones and a lot of bad qualities about this offense looking at it from a hole at this point let's just talk about the good from yesterday first and foremost because there really wasn't that much good for being honest DJ her is going five innings pitch yesterday walking a couple guys two batters in total giving up two home runs two solo shots as well DJ hers look pretty good he was optioned down in triple A right for the all star break we all knew he was going to come up and make yesterday's start but the nationals did make it official and again it was a quality start from you give up that home run to Luis Araya's made it one nothing back in the fifth inning there and then jerks and pro far as well makes it to nothing which again if your jerk jerks and pro far at this point in time he is like the new Freddy Freeman for the nationals if you remember when Freddy Freeman was with the Atlanta Braves any time this guy came up to the plate it was either going to be a home run or is gonna be a big damaging hit that is jerks and pro far so far everything that this guy does kills the nationals it doesn't matter the scenario if there are bases empty out there jerks and pro far will find a way to hit a four running Grand Slam with nobody on that's the kind of impact that this guy has against the nationals team it is unfortunate we've seen it now time and time again from him he hit that walk off against us he said multiple home runs now against this team and he is our kryptonite even going up against DJ Herrs who has been pretty damn good so far this rookie season you've seen a lot of good qualities from the kid but still overwhelmingly though we're not talking about DJ Herrs a start today the storyline up today is that this nationals offense is gone missing in action forgotten they don't know how to hit at this point in time and this has been again the most frustrating thing about this national team so far yesterday only five hits against the Padres it's not good this is not a good offense you're going up against Randy Vasquez who is solid but he's not a world beater he had a 4-1-7 hurt his ERA was up in the fours mid-4s before yesterday's start only 44 strikeouts through his first 69 innings pitch in this season yesterday only one strike out this guy wasn't generating a ton of swings misses the nationals offense just isn't good right now what are we missing at this point in time because really we've all kind of known that this offense has been a huge struggle so far but again what has been the main kind of catapult to nationals winning and when the nationals do have an offensive explosion who has been at the forefront of that number one it's been CJ Abrams number two it's been Jesse Winker both those guys went over eight yesterday with two strikeouts and then you turn your attention to James Wood over four with another strikeout now with James Wood you're not really going to expect all too much as rookie season you can't this is again who's someone who's still a puppy he's still learning he still has his training wheels on trying to learn how to ride a bike I'm not going to be pressing James Wood to carry this offense in year one that's way too much to ask for the kid he's already got an immense amount of pressure on him I'm not going to put more on him but looking at what this offense cannot do so far in the most frustrating part of it is when there are guys in running and runner with runners in scoring position and that's when 0 for 7 yesterday and again the Padres didn't really do all too much either they were two for nine with runners in scoring position they left seven runners on base while the Nationals left five the most frustrating part of this Nationals offense is that when there are ducks in the pond they can never seem to find a way to get them in if you are a Nationals fan which you're listening I'm assuming you are then you know what the big storyline has been in 2024 you know what they have to go and get in 2024 this offseason you need to have an offense you need to have power you need to have guys that can support James Wood in CJ Abrams because Jesse Winker again he's been our second best offensive piece in 2024 he's been your second most valuable player outside of CJ Abrams excluding pitching he's going to be gone in the next week you're going to be moving often Lane Thomas he could be gone as well one of your better offensive pieces you're going to have to find a way to substitute those guys with something this offseason and now that could come in the form of Dylan Cruz down the line here who we could see in the majors maybe with them the next month that could come in the form of Brady House making the opening day roster in 2025 but really at this point there's no other angle you have to add in free agency this offseason I think as I continue to go into 2024 and as we get deeper into it the flaws continue to show I keep on looking at this offense and saying we are missing something and I've always said those missing pieces could look like Dylan Cruz and Brady House if I look deeper into it and there's more you need to add more the learner family this offseason is a huge one for them this last one I gave them the pass I wanted them to spend some more money they did not but now there's no excuse you know that you have holes and these aren't holes that just Dylan Cruz and Brady House will fix it's gonna take some time for them to really kind of supplant themselves as everyday major leakers they haven't really been able to do that so far in AAA so it's probably gonna be a little bit tougher once they get to the majors you'd have to think but going forward now the national's offense is as good as none it's not that good you need to add out you need to Peter Lonzo Juan Soto there are guys out there this free agency that can help the nationals now will they do it that's probably the better question that you have to ask yourself heading into this offseason but we'll have much more on that later on let's talk about some good because there are some good and again as the season goes on over these last few weeks there has been one huge surprise but also someone who could be helping us going forward his name is Wanya Pez and if you remember about two years ago at this time when Joey Maness is called up and he went on that tear for the last season for the last two months of the regular season 2022 once you traded Juan Soto for real Joey Maness is time to stand up and his name is one you pass let's talk about one you pass but before we do that let me tell you guys about our friends over at booking dot com and guys this episode of lock on nationals is brought to you by booking dot com booking dot yeah and with summer travel heating up especially travel for baseball games it's time to explore those US cities you always secretly want to learn more about yes we're talking about your rivals cities with hotels bed and breakfast vacation rentals resorts and so much more on booking dot com you might just find your perfect stay even in your baseball rivals city so maybe you're heading over to let's say Wrigley field in Chicago you want to have a very nice quality dime with your family with a loved one maybe just your friends or maybe even just yourself you can find hotels that look over the stadium over at Wrigley field or maybe you're coming over to nationals park and you're out of town you can also find some nice hotels right outside the Navy Yard right outside nationals park it's so cool you have the family friend resorts booking dot com has so many choices across the US and again not just in DC not just in Wrigley but in Chicago Philly New York City Tampa Bay wherever you are visiting they will have you covered the right state can make you a fan of any US city and even Philadelphia believer not and of course your rivals as well so book today on booking dot com on the site or in the booking dot com app now let's tell you guys about our friends you know about over at prize picks prize picks is America's number one daily fantasy sports app with over 5 million active members and of course prize picks is the easiest most exciting way to play daily fantasy sports unlike other apps on prize picks it's just you against the numbers all you do is pick more or less on two to six players tap projections and watch the winnings roll in you can win up to a hundred times your money on prize picks with little as four correct picks you can turn ten dollars into one thousand dollars who doesn't like turning ten dollars into a thousand dollars I can tell you I love it and of course if you're looking for promotions prize picks has got you covered every week from lowering select player stats projections on Tuesdays to help your lineup hit or getting your entry fees back if you have a losing lineup on Friday maybe you want to go more on hits for jerks and pro for tonight maybe you want to go less on hits for Lane Thomas tonight going up against you know who knuckleballer so that might be the play if we're being honest but all you have to do is down the prize picks app today use code locked on MLB for a first deposit match up to a hundred dollars again that's code locked on MLB on prize pick for a deposit match up to a hundred dollars pick more pick less it's that easy we got the venting out now it's getting to some good speaking of good Juan Yepes and as we said or as I said it's only me it's not only me out there it's always also you guys the listeners you guys notice it will the real Joey Manessus please stand up and what I mean by that is Joey Manessus back two years ago kind of came out of nowhere you get him called up from triple A's 30 plus years old not many people know what to expect with Joey Manessus well two years later Joey Manessus is option back down in triple A and first baseman Juan Yepes comes up and what has this guy done he has hit the crap out of the baseball and even further more than that Juan Yepes is batting cleanup in this lineup now that is just fine with me through his first 14 games with the Washington National so far 20 hits he's batting 377 a 441 OBP and a 585 slug for a 1026 ops you might be asking yourself is this sustainable can Juan Yepes do this is this for real because Juan Yepes wasn't all that great down in triple A he did kind of have some weird streaks there where he was hot like this but nothing close to what he has been doing through his first 14 major league games so let's get into it because again Juan Yepes is kind of real like this could be real Bachelors communications had this yesterday Juan Yepes has 14 straight games he's only played 14 games the national so far with a hit here's where his streak ranks among players starring their tenure with the club and the Super Elias sports Edgar Renteria with the Atlanta Braves with 23 straight straight hits back in 2006 David Dahl the Colorado Rockies back in 2016 with 17 straight games our own Josh Willingham with the Minnesota twins with 15 straight hits in his first 15 games back in 2012 Jason Kendall with 14 straight games for the Kansas City Royals back in 2010 and Juan Yepes is tied right there with Jason Kendall and of course Juan Yepes is your 2024 Washington National's Joey Menezes breakout player of the year so far so is he going to be in the next Joey Menezes of 2024 I'll answer that yes this is what you expect from him and this is a much better version of Joey Menezes in my opinion the reason why I call him the next Joey Menezes well connect the dots here first baseman check not the best first baseman but still I think you passes better defensively than what Menezes is so check that box coming up in a AAA not really on that many people's radars check and then so he's probably going to carry this offense in the second half now I don't want to toot my own horn but I talked a lot about Juan Yepes this offseason I thought Juan Yepes was going to push Joey Menezes early on in spring training to be your opening day for a space now his time came but it came at a much later date than I expected Juan Yepes now this is a real thing and again if you look back at his career with the St. Louis Cardinals this shouldn't really be coming at a huge major surprise for people this guy is from Venezuela he made his debut back in 2022 had some big hits with St. Louis Cardinals including a postseason one to tie the game up in the eighth inning but Juan Yepes now you have to have this guy in your radar what he has been doing so far again 20 hits through his first 14 games and of course this time the Nationals they have been ice cold since Juan Yepes has come up in the majors but it is not because of Yepes going forward I don't want to see anybody else play first base outside of Juan Yepes if Joey Galla win and if he gets healthy he should not be starting over Yepes if Joey Menezes goes on a tear has 20 home runs in 15 games down in triple A he should stay down in triple A you have to figure out what this guy is about because again only 26 years old and even if you look back in the last year with stone Garrett when he had that breakout the Nationals and he was playing very good baseball for us this is similar but in my opinion I think Yepes could be better than both stone Garrett and Joey Menezes I'm not saying you're going into 2024 with you know Juan Yepes you're opening day first baseman but I'm also not going to say that he won't be that because Juan Yepes does have a lot of talent in the main reason why the St. Louis Cardinals Cup bait with them well you all know there's a future Hall of Fame with Paul Goldschmidt who's playing first base for the Cardinals there's really no place to fit him you didn't really have room on your roster you can't option this guy every damn year so they cup bait with them the Nationals picked him up and now here we are he has 20 hits for 14 games one of those guys where as we continue to watch him it just makes sense because again he also has 9 extra base hits of his first 20 hits so far he had that big home run the other day and then of course he had another double last night and this guy has been a double machine multiple balls that have been struck very hard off the bat that he is also just kind of got in bad luck with I'm not going to sit here and tell you that everybody should be buying a lawn in your pez jersey but what I am telling you is keep your eye out in this kid he has been very good he's been a very surprising cast of characters for the Nationals so far and I would not be surprised to see this guy move forward and be one of your main reasons why this Nationals team does have a better offense in the second half of 2024 now we'll see what happens but tonight you're growing up against Matt Waldron you have Mitchell Parker I'm just saying this ain't all too pretty it ain't all too pretty so we'll discuss that but before we get into it let me tell you guys about some of our good friends over at game time and guys game time is amazing it's awesome 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they've got you covered with our friends and of course they also have job loss protection as well but I'll open that app two clicks away tickets in my hand I'll walk up half street two minutes bam in the stadium get to watch the national anthem see the starting lineups and then you're in your seat with a hot dog and a beer or soda whatever you want maybe even popcorn as well so when you do that take the guesswork at a buying MLB tickets with game time download the game time app create an account and use code locked on MLB for twenty dollars off your first purchase terms apply again create an account redeem code LOCK EDON MLB for twenty dollars off download game time today last minute tickets lowest price guaranteed you know we love talking stats here at locked on Rockies here's one that's super simple to remember discover automatically doubles the cash back you've earned on your credit card at the end of your first year with cash back match that means with discover you could turn a hundred and fifty dollars cash back to three hundred dollars that's right you can put it towards some memorabilia you've had your eye on or treat yourself to a premium sports network you earn and discover doubles see terms at discover dot com slash credit card let's get back into it now with the Washington Nationals taking on the San Diego Padres we've known this for quite some time but the Padres kind of have the nationals number they have now won six of the last eight games against the nats jerks and pro far is going to be in the lineup and ain't going to be all that pretty but still you all know what to expect you're going up against a very solid picture in my opinion someone who has much better stuff than what the numbers indicate Matt Waldron who did pretty well against nationals to say the least and if we're talking about this Matt Waldron is someone who hasn't necessarily just come out of nowhere but again his last start against the nationals when six innings pitch only go up two run runs only walk two guys and struck out eight batters in that game if you look at his strikeouts he's not really a big strikeout pitcher that was the second most strikeouts that he had so far in 2024 Matt Waldron is one of those guys where you don't really see them all too much you don't see many knuckle ballers anymore he is one of those guys where number one it's just fun to watch you'll see a 76 mile per hour knuckle ball in there and even sometimes catcher can't even catch it's so nasty it's just one of those cool kind of nerdy baseball things where it's a lost art almost so seeing Matt Waldron out there is pretty cool but now you have Mitchell Parker on the mound Mitchell Parker who has been he's kind of laying back down on earth to say the least 17 starts this year they sub for your a he's been solid but still he was looking like a crazy just we all thought that he was gonna be the guy his last start was really brutal and really two of his last three starts were all too great his last one against the Brewers right for the all-star break he didn't even last the first inning he up five run runs walked a couple guys just got hit around three hits it wasn't all too great two starts prior to that against the Mets five run runs gave up three home run balls as well now here's the thing with him Mitchell Parker has like this weird thing where I don't think this guy is going to get rocked around tonight and again the Nationals in game two of the series you have to think to yourself well I feel pretty good about it right I feel decently about what he could do tonight Louisa rise the only guy who has faced Mitchell Parker so far when I said any sort of success against him he's two for three other than that no one else on the Padres team has faced Mitchell Parker before so we'll see what the Nationals can do but you're on sweetwatch right now because tomorrow you got patty cakes going I've been still in seas you gotta win this game I'm just saying I'll catch you as on the flip side enjoy tonight's game until then have a good one I'll see you tomorrow a prime members you can listen to this locked on podcast add free on Amazon music download the Amazon music app today passion drive and patience the formula for winning championships is also what keeps your rider dial live eBay Motors has everything you need to put your vehicle on the podium with over 122 million parts for your number one rider die from headlights to exhaust kits and so much more eBay Motors levels your baby up to its peak performance plus a eBay guaranteed fit your part is guaranteed to fit your ride every time or your money back because of eBay Motors you're burning Robert not cash with all the parts you need at the prices you want it's easy to bring home that big win keep your rider dial live at eBay Motors dot com eligible items only exclusions apply eBay guaranteed and fit only available to U.S. customers.
