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September 4, 2024 / Nat Anacostia

‘They’re going to have to learn’: Nats’ August in review

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Since the trade deadline, the Nationals have gone all-in on giving their young players chances to play. Several players have made their debuts in July and August, and most of the lineup now consists of players ages 26 and younger, several of whom are rookies. The team is making mistakes and learning. They went 12–15 in August, ending the month with a 61–75 record and in fourth place in the NL East.

The Nats began the month of August at home, where they opened a 10-game homestand with a three-game series against the Brewers, who were leading the NL Central. The series began with a loss—the Nats’ fifth in a row—but it was followed by two victories, including a close 4–3 win in the finale. Next came the Giants, who were still in playoff contention. The Nats dropped three games out of four to the team from the city by the bay.

The homestand concluded with a three-game series against the Angels, and Washington fans welcomed back Anthony Rendon in his first return to DC to play the Nats since leaving as a free agent after the 2019 World Series. The Nats took two games of three, with both of the victories coming as walk-offs in the tenth inning. The second walk-off hit came from Jose Tena, who was making his debut with the Nats. The 23-year-old Dominican third baseman, acquired two weeks earlier in the Lane Thomas trade, had played 21 games for the Guardians in 2023 and 2024. The Nats went 5–5 in the homestand.

The Nats didn’t have to travel far for their next road trip, which consisted of two games in Baltimore against the AL East leading Orioles followed by four in Philadelphia against the NL East leading Phillies. In the first game, the Nats routed the AL East-leading Orioles 9 to 3, with the offense led by Andres Chaparro, who marked his major league debut by hitting three doubles, tying the record for most extra-base hits in a major league debut with seven other players. Chaparro is a 25-year-old Venezuelan first baseman/DH who was acquired from the Diamondbacks in the Dylan Floro trade. Also making his major league debut in that game was 26-year-old right-handed reliever Orlando Ribalta (born in Cuba but raised in Miami), who the Nats had selected in the 12th round of the 2019 draft. The next night the Nats lost their second game against the Orioles, splitting the series.

In their first game against the Phillies, the Nats were blown out 13 to 3. Their second game was much closer as the Nats rallied in the top of the ninth to tie the game, but they were walked off in the bottom of the inning. They also lost the third game but avoided a sweep by winning the final game. They went 2–4 on the road trip. In other roster moves, the Nats released 29-year-old DH Harold Ramirez, who had hit .243/.273/.365 in 25 games for the Nats, and Derek Law went on the injured list with a right elbow flexor strain.

Next came a three-game homestand against the Rockies followed by a three-game road trip to Atlanta to play the Braves. The Nats lost the opener to the Rockies but won the other two games. In the third game, Patrick Corbin was credited with his 100th career win. In Atlanta, the Nats lost their first two games before winning the finale. The loss in the first game came in the 10th inning by a score of 3 to 2 when CJ Abrams made a bad throw to first on what should have been a routine third out on a grounder to short. Alex Call went on the injured list after suffering a partial tear of the plantar fascia in his left foot.

Back in Washington, the Nationals first faced the Yankees, who had pulled ahead of the Orioles in the AL East race. The Nats called up 22-year-old right fielder Dylan Crews, who was the Nats’ first-round pick in the 2023 draft (No. 2 overall) and was rated as the No. 3 overall prospect by MLB Pipeline, to make his major league debut. Crews went 0 for 3 his first night but went 4 for 8 in the next two games, including a home run and a double. The Nats lost game one to the Yankees but won games two and three, largely shutting down the big bats of Juan Soto, Aaron Judge, and Giancarlo Stanton.

The month concluded in the first two games of a three-game series in which the Nats were hosting the Cubs. The Nats lost both games by narrow margins in games in which they battled, but also sometimes played sloppily.

Record:

12–15 (.444)

Pythagorean Record:

13–14 (4.15 R/G – 4.44 RA/G)

August MVP:

  • Luis Garcia, Jr (.341/.385/.534, 4 HR, 14 R, 12 RBI, 6 SB, 0 CS, 96 PA, 155 wRC+, 1.1 fWAR). Garcia wins this category for the second month in a row.

Pitcher of the month:

  • DJ Herz (1-3, 3.72 RA/9, 6 GS, 29 IP, 10.9 K/9, .293 opp OBP, 0.7 RA9-WAR). He also wins this category for the second month in a row.

Relief pitcher of the month:

  • Eduardo Salazar (0-1, 0.60 RA/9, 13 G, 15 IP, 7.8 K/9, .274 opp OBP, 6.89 RE24, 4 shutdowns, 0 meltdown, 0.6 RA9-WAR).

Worst month:

  • Robert Garcia (0–2, 9.26 RA/9, 14 G, 11⅔ IP, 9.3 K/9, .333 opp OBP, –4.78 RE24, 0 shutdown, 5 meltdowns, –0.5 RA9-WAR).

Best start this month:

  • Patrick Corbin (August 27, 4–2 win over the Yankees at home) pitched 6 scoreless innings giving up 2 hits and 2 walks while striking out 6 for a game score of 72. Taking account of the bats in the opposing lineup—the Yankees lead the majors in wRC+, and Judge and Soto rank as numbers 1 and 2 in that category—I consider this to have been Corbin’s most impressive start since the 2019 World Series.

Worst start:

  • Mitchell Parker (August 15, 13–3 loss to the Phillies in Philadelphia) gave up 9 runs on 10 hits and 2 walks in 3+ innings with 6 strikeouts for a game score of 7.

Tough losses:

  • DJ Herz (August 14, 4–1 loss to the Orioles in Baltimore) pitched 6 innings and gave up 2 runs on 4 hits and 2 walks while striking out 5 for a game score of 59.
  • DJ Herz (August 20, 3–1 loss to the Rockies at home) pitched 5⅔ innings and gave up 3 runs (2 of which were earned) on 6 hits and 2 walks while striking out 7 for a game score of 52.

Cheap wins:

  • MacKenzie Gore (August 6, 11–5 win over the Giants at home) pitched 5 innings and gave up 5 runs (4 of which were earned) on 8 hits and 2 walks while striking out 6 for a game score of 37. The Nats had scored 8 runs by the time he left the game.

Biggest shutdowns:

I’m calling this one a tie between two eerily similar scenarios:

  • Kyle Finnegan (August 9, 3–2 win over the Angels in 10 innings at home). Trailing 2 to 1 going into the bottom of the eighth, the Nats tied the game with two one-out singles followed by a sacrifice fly. Finnegan then got the call in the top of the ninth to keep the game tied. He retired all three batters on a strikeout followed by two flyball outs. In the bottom of the ninth, the Nats drew a walk but failed to score, so Finnegan went back out to pitch the top of the tenth. He got two groundouts to third base, then walked the third batter he faced. Then Finnegan struck out the fourth Angels batter, Anthony Rendon, to retire the side without allowing either the automatic baserunner or the batter who had been walked to score (Win probability added/WPA +.450). The Nats scored in the bottom of the inning to walk off the Angels.
  • Derek Law (August 10, 5–4 win over the Angels in 10 innings at home). Similar to the previous night’s game, the Nats scored 2 runs in the bottom of the seventh to tie the score at 4 runs apiece. In the top of the ninth, Law got the call to keep the game tied. He got a groundout, then gave up a one-out double. That was followed by two flyball outs, and he was out of the inning with no runs scored. In the bottom of the ninth, the Nats were set down in order, and Law went back out for the top of the tenth. He retired the first batter on a groundball back to the pitcher. He retired the second batter on a strikeout and the third on a popfly, and the automatic runner did not score (WPA +.450). The Nats scored in the bottom of the tenth to walk off the Angels again.

Worst meltdown:

  • Kyle Finnegan (August 8, 9–5 loss to the Giants in 10 innings at home). Finnegan got the call in the top of the ninth with the score tied 2–2. He got the first batter on a groundout, then gave up a single and a walk. The runners pulled off a double steal, then Finnegan walked another batter, filling the bases. He got a strikeout for the second out and then faced Mark Canha. Canha shot the ball down the right field line, driving in two runners. Alex Call made a bad throw home and Finnegan wasn’t backing up the play, which allowed a third runner to score (WPA –.465). Robert Garcia was called in to get the third out. The Nats then rallied to score 3 runs in the bottom of the inning, sending the game to the tenth, but Garcia surrendered 4 runs in the top of the tenth for the loss.

Walk offs:

  • Alex Call (August 9, 3–2 win over the Angels in 10 innings at home). With the score tied 2–2 entering the bottom of the tenth, Jacob Young was the automatic runner. Nasim Nuñez hit a sacrifice bunt, advancing Young to third. Call then hit a line drive that got by the second baseman to drive in Young and give the Nats the walk-off win. (WPA +.172)
  • Jose Tena (August 10, 5–4 win over the Angels in 10 innings at home). It was Tena’s first game playing for the Nats. CJ Abrams went into the game as a pinch runner to replace the automatic runner and advanced to third on a wild pitch. Then Tena drove the next pitch to the bullpen wall in deep left-center, driving in Abrams for the walk-off win. (WPA +.067)

Clutch hits:

  • Luis Garcia, Jr (August 8, 9–5 loss to the Giants in 10 innings at home). When Garcia came to bat with two outs in the bottom of the ninth, there were runners on first and second and the Nats were trailing 5–2.  On a 1–2 pitch, Garcia launched a high fly ball into the left field corner, and it cleared the fence to tie the game (WPA +.493). The Nats, however, lost the game in the tenth inning.
  • CJ Abrams (August 6, 11–5 win over the Giants at home). The Nats were trailing 4–2 and there were runners at first and second and one outs in the bottom of the second when Abrams came to bat. Abrams got on top of a fastball that was several inches above the top of the zone and clobbered it into the right field bleachers, giving the Nats a 5–4 lead. (WPA +.255)

Choke:

  • Juan Yepez (August 11, 6–4 loss to the Angels at home). The Nats were trailing 6 to 4, but they had the bases loaded with one out when Yepez came to bat in the bottom of the ninth. Yepez grounded into a double play to end the game (WPA –.334).

Memorable fielding plays:

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