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September 6, 2025 / Nat Anacostia

‘Go back tomorrow and do it again’: Nats August in review

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After the trade deadline, the Nationals were left with a young team, and they spent August giving their young players a chance to see what they could do. The month, overall, was a disappointment, with the Nats going 9–19 against opposing teams that mostly had winning records and were in playoff contention.

The Nationals began August at home facing the Brewers, who had the best record in baseball. The Nats were swept in the three-game series by scores of 16 to 9, 8 to 2, and 14 to 3. They next faced the Athletics, and the series opened with another drubbing, a 16 to 7 loss. The Nats managed to barely win the next game, 2 to 1 in a walk-off victory, but were shut out in the rubber game. The Nats were 1–5 during the home stand.

Next came a road trip that began in San Francisco with a three-game series against the Giants. The Nats were shut out in the first game, with five Giants pitchers combining to allow the Nats only 4 hits. The Nats came back to win the last two games, with the finale an 8–0 blow-out win, in which MacKenzie Gore outpitched future Hall-of-Famer Justin Verlander. The road trip concluded against the Royals in Kansas City. The Nats lost the first two games but managed to win the final game by scoring a go-ahead run in the top of the ninth (after having given up a tying run in the bottom of the eighth). The Nats record on the road trip was 3–3.

Back home, the Nats played a four-game series against the division-leading Phillies. In the first game, the Nats scored two runs in the bottom of the seventh inning to take a 3–2 lead and held onto the lead for a victory. They lost the second game, but in the third game Cade Cavalli pitched 7 scoreless innings to record his first major league win in a 2–0 victory. The Phillies won the fourth game to split the series.

The Nats next hosted the Mets, who were ahead in the race for the final wild-card slot. In the first game the Nats were blown out, 8 to 1. But in the second game, the Nats were able to cling to a 5–4 lead for a victory, and they won the third game 9 to 3. The Nats finished the home stand with a 4–3 record.

On their next road trip, they again faced the Phillies, this time in Philadelphia. In the series opener, the Nats scored two runs in the top of the ninth inning to take a 5 to 4 lead and held on to win it. They were unable to complete a late-inning rally and lost the second game 6 to 4 and also fell short in the third game 3 to 2. Their next series was against the Yankees in New York, and this time there weren’t any close games as the Nats were swept the three-game series. In the first game, Jacob Young managed to hit a grand slam in the ninth inning for his first home run of the year, but the Nats still lost 10 to 5. The third game was a real blow out as the Yankees hit 6 home runs to win it 11 to 2. The Nats record on the road trip was 1–5.

The month concluded for the Nats with a three-game series at home against the Rays. The Nats were swept and finished the month with an 8-game losing streak and a 9–19 record for the month.

A pleasant surprise was that the bullpen, which had been the weakest part of the team most of the season, did fairly well during August. The relief pitchers had a park-adjusted ERA– of 115 in August (that is, 15 percent worse than average), which ranked 23rd among the 30 MLB teams, but their win-probability added (WPA) of 1.18 (a measure of how well they did in high-leverage spots) ranked 9th, and their 9 meltdowns during the month was tied for fewest among MLB teams. Conversely, the starting pitchers were pretty awful, with their ERA– of 177 ranking dead last. The Nats’ batting, as measured by their weighted runs created (wRC+) of 90, was below average but not awful, ranking 20th among the 30 teams.

Roster moves

On August 5 left-handed relief pitcher PJ Poulin made his major league debut, pitching a scoreless inning and striking out the final batter he faced. The Nationals had claimed the 29-year-old pitcher off waivers from the Tigers. Poulin had been drafted by the Rockies in 2018, and his contract was purchased by the Tigers before the 2024 season.

Also, on August 5th, right-handed relief pitcher Clayton Beeter made his debut with the Nationals. He gave up a home run to the first batter he faced but then got 3 strikeouts (along with 2 walks) to finish the inning. The 26-year-old was a second-round draft pick by the Dodgers in 2020 and had pitched for the Yankees in 5 games in 2024 and 2025. The Nats obtained him from the Yankees in the Amed Rosario trade.

On August 6, Cade Cavalli made his return to the Nationals rotation, pitching 4-1/3 scoreless innings with 6 strikeouts in a game the Nats ultimately won by a score of 2 to 1. His return came almost three years after his debut and only previous major league appearance in August 2022. The 2020 first-round draft pick had injured his elbow in 2023 spring training and undergone Tommy John surgery. His recovery took longer than expected, but after the departure of Michael Soroka at the trade deadline, Cavalli was ready to take his place in the rotation. Shinnosuke Ogasawara, who had started two games for the Nats in July, moved into the bullpen as a long reliever.

On August 14, Dylan Crews returned to the lineup almost three months after going on the disabled list with an oblique strain. To make room, the Nats surprisingly designated Nathaniel Lowe for assignment the day after he had hit a grand slam home run; two days later, having cleared waivers, Lowe was released. Lowe played 119 games for the Nats and hit .216/.292/.373 with 16 home runs and 68 RBI. After his release, Lowe was quickly signed by the playoff-contending Boston Red Sox, who have used him as a platoon first baseman.

On August 27, Drew Millas suffered a dislocation and fracture of his index finger when his catching hand was struck by a bat for a catcher’s interference play. Initially placed on the 10-day injured list, he underwent surgery to stabilize the fracture and repair the joint and was later placed on the 60-day disabled list, confirming that he would miss the rest of the season. On August 30, MacKenzie Gore was placed on the 15-day injured list with left shoulder inflammation.

Record:

9–19 (.321)

Pythagorean Record:

8–20 (3.86 R/G – 6.36 RA/G). The Nats had a 5–1 record in one-run games during August, which helped keep their win-loss record better than their Pythagorean record.

August MVP:

  • Jose A Ferrer (2-0, 1.46 RA/9, 10 G, 12⅓ IP, 8.8 K/9, 1.054 WHIP, 4.35 RE24, 6 shutdowns, 0 meltdown, 0.6 RA9-WAR, 0.5 fWAR).

Position player of the month:

  • Riley Adams (.263/.349/.368, 2 HR, 11 R, 6 RBI, 86 PA, 105 wRC+, 0.3 fWAR). Nothing flashy, just a solid month as he stepped into a full-time role. Other Nats players with 0.3 fWAR during August included Drew Millas, Paul DeJong, and James Wood, and a case could be made for any of them.

Starting pitcher of the month:

  • Cade Cavalli (1–1, 5.47 RA/9, 5 GS, 24⅔ IP, 8.0 K/9, 1.581 WHIP, 0.1 RA9-WAR, –0.1 fWAR). His stats were pretty much replacement level but still better than those of the Nats’ other starters.

Worst month:

  • Mitchell Parker (0–5, 10.54 RA/9, 6 GS, 27⅓ IP, 6.6 K/9, 1.720 WHIP, –1.1 RA9-WAR, –0.5 fWAR). Painful

Best start:

  • MacKenzie Gore (August 10, 8–0 win over the Giants in San Francisco) pitched 6 scoreless innings, giving up 3 hits and 1 walk while striking out 10 for a game score of 75.

Worst start:

  • MacKenzie Gore (August 5, 16–7 loss to the Athletics at home) gave up 8 runs on 12 hits and 1 walk in 3 innings with no strikeouts for a game score of 2.

Tough losses:

  • MacKenzie Gore (August 26, 5–1 loss to the Yankees in New York) pitched 5 innings and gave up 3 runs on 3 hits and 2 walks while striking out 3 for a game score of 50.
  • Mitchell Parker (August 29, 4–1 loss to the Rays at home) pitched 6⅓ innings and gave up 3 runs on 6 hits and no walks while striking out 7 for a game score of 56.

Cheap win:

  • Brad Lord (August 20, 5–4 win over the Mets at home) pitched 5⅓ innings and gave up 4 runs on 7 hits and 2 walks while striking out 4 for a game score of 40.

Biggest shutdown:

  • Jose A Ferrer (August 9, 4–2 win over the Giants in San Francisco). With the Nats ahead 4 to 1, Cole Henry had been called on to pitch the bottom of the eighth. Henry got the first out, then gave up two singles and a walk to load the bases. That was enough for Miguel Cairo and he called on his new lefty closer to get a five-out save. The first batter that Ferrer faced hit a sacrifice fly to make it 4 to 2, but that was all for the Giants. Ferrer got a strikeout to end the eighth inning. In the ninth, the first batter reached on an infield single, which was followed by a lineout and another single, putting runners on first and second. Ferrer got the next batter to ground into a game-ending double play to complete his first save as the new closer. (Win probability added/WPA +.244).

Worst meltdown:

  • When Konnor Pilkington (August 15, 6–2 loss to the Phillies at home). When Pilkington got the call in the top of the seventh, the game was tied 2–2 and there were runners on first and second with one out. Pilkington got Trea Turner to pop up for the second out but then gave up a three-run homer to Kyle Schwarber followed by a solo homer to Bryce Harper, leaving the Nats trailing 6 to 2. (WPA –0.373).

Walk off:

  • CJ Abrams (August 6, 2–1 win over the Athletics at home). When Abrams came to bat in the bottom of the ninth, the score was tied 1 to 1, and Robert Hassell III was on second base with one out. Abrams singled to left field and third-base coach Ricky Gutierrez aggressively waved Hassell home. Fortunately, the throw was a bit offline, allowing Hassell to score the winning run. (WPA +.301).

Clutch hit:

Choke:

  • Jacob Young (August 8, 5–0 loss to the Giants in San Francisco). Trailing the Giants 2–0 in the top of the fifth inning, Young came to bat with one out and the bases loaded. He grounded into an inning-ending double play. (WPA –.196).

Memorable fielding plays:

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Filed under Month in review