Nationals to Start Brad Lord Against Pirates Superstar Paul Skenes in Opener

Monday’s opener between the Washington Nationals and the Pittsburgh Pirates features a contrast in starting pitchers.

The game, set for 6:40 p.m., will see the Pirates (5-11) run out Paul Skenes, the reigning National League Rookie of the Year.

The right-handed Skenes (1-1, 3.44) is about as high-profile as a starting pitcher can get. Skenes helped the LSU Tigers win the 2023 NCAA championship and one of his teammates was Nationals right fielder Dylan Crews.

Skenes was the No. 1 overall pick in the 2023 MLB draft, selected by the Pirates, and made his Major League debut last season.

Last year he went 11-3 with a 1.96 ERA in 23 games, started for the National League in the All-Star Game and, of course, is dating LSU gymnast and social media star Livvy Dunne. The pair were recently featured in a photo shoot for GQ.

Skenes has thrown well this season, as he has 20 strikeouts and three walks in 18.1 innings. He has struck out at least six hitters in each of his three starts.

The Nationals (6-9) will start right-hander Brad Lord (0-0, 1.80).

Lord was the Nationals’ 18th round pick in the 2022 MLB draft out of USF. He did manage to attain a level of fame this offseason. During spring training, the baseball world learned that Lord spent part of last offseason working at Home Depot. He also spent the offseason before working at a Publix grocery store.

Even with the offseason jobs, Lord pitched well enough to make the Nationals’ opening day roster as a reliever. He moved into the starting rotation after the injury to Michael Soroka.

Lord has pitched well as a reliever and as a starter, but he hasn’t shown much length to this point. In five innings, he’s given up five hits, one earned run and four walks. He’s also struck out four. In his last game against the Los Angeles Dodgers, he pitched three innings, giving up two hits and two walks while he struck out four. That was his first start of the season.

The rest of the pitching matchups look like this:

Tuesday’s game, set for 6:40 p.m. sees Nationals right-hander Jake Irvin (0-0, 5.63) face Pirates right-hander Mitch Keller (1-1, 4.24).

Wednesday’s game, set for 6:40 p.m., sees Nationals left-hander Mitchell Parker (2-0, 1.96) face Pirates left-hander Bailey Falter (0-2, 7.20).

Thursday’s finale, set for 12:35 p.m., sees Nationals right-hander Trevor Williams (1-1, 7.36) face Pirates left-hander Andrew Heaney (0-1, 3.00).