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:
- Trey Lipscomb dives to his left and makes the throw to first for the out.
- Alex Call makes a catch and then throws out the runner at second for a double play.
- Jacob Young makes a fantastic, leaping catch at the wall.
- Joey Gallo, playing right field, guns down a runner trying to stretch a single.
- CJ Abrams, Luis Garcia, Jr, and Joey Gallo team up to turn an outstanding double play.
- Dylan Crews guns down a runner trying to score.
I regret my tardiness with this month-in-review post.
Entering July, the Nationals were 8th in the race for the 3 wild card slots and 4 games behind in the race for the last one. During July, they fell further back and became sellers on July 14 when they traded away Hunter Harvey. By the July 30 trade deadline, Jesse Winker, Lane Thomas, and Dylan Floro had also departed. The Nats ended up going 10–16 in July, their worst monthly record so far this season, and ended the month with a 49–60 record, 16½ games behind in the NL East race and 9 games behind in the race for the last wild card slot. In other words, any lingering playoff hopes had died by the end of July.
What went wrong this month? Hitting was not the main problem–the Nats’ OPS was .720 in July, up from .668 in the first three months, and runs per game was up from 4.1 to 4.7. But while the hitters did well on average, there were many games where they struggled—the Nats were shut out five times in July, with the last shutout coming from a no-hitter dealt by Dylan Cease.
The Nats’ main problem was pitching. It began with the starting pitching, which had been great in May and June when the starters’ ERA had been 3.62 and they had averaged 16.4 outs per game. In July, the starters’ ERA was 6.23 and they averaged only 14.8 outs per game. That put pressure on the relief staff, who were responsible for getting an average of 11.8 outs per game (up from 10.0 in May and June). The relievers performance also suffered, and their ERA went up from 4.01 in May and June to 5.08 in July.
Despite the poor results, most of the games (outside of a handful of blowouts) were competitive and exciting baseball, with a number of come-from-behind victories and losses.
July began with a four-game series at home against the Mets. The first game featured the debut of James Wood, the highly rated 6’7″ 21-year-old left-handed outfielder who came to the Nats in the 2022 Juan Soto trade. During July, Wood impressed us with his hard contact and base path speed even as he worked to adapt to major league pitching and playing left field, where he had little experience.
The first two games against the Mets both went to extra innings. And both games ended in losses for the Nats with the bullpen collapsing in the top of the 10th inning of each game. They allowed a total of 11 10th-inning runs in the two games. In the third game, the Nats came back from a 5-run deficit to win the game with Wood driving in the go-ahead run. And in the final game, the Nats won 1–0 behind Jake Irvin‘s masterful 8-inning start.
As the Nats turned to their next series—four games against the Cardinals—Josiah Gray was placed on the 60-day injured list and would undergo Tommy John surgery on July 24. The Nats were also clearing out roster space by letting go of veterans who had not performed. Eddie Rosario was released (and then signed by the Braves) to make space for Wood. Joey Meneses was optioned to Rochester and replaced by Juan Yepez, a 26-year-old right-handed minor league free agent who had played parts of two seasons for the Cardinals. Nick Senzel was released and replaced by Trey Lipscomb.
The Cardinals series began with another extra-inning game, a 7–6 loss in 11 innings. The Nats came back the next day to win a 14–6 blowout but lost the next two games, including a shutout loss in the final game. The Nats lost the series 3 games to 1 and were 3–5 over the homestand.
A road trip followed, beginning with three games against the Mets in New York. The Nats lost all three and were shut out and blown out in a 7–0 loss in the final game. They did better in the next series against the Brewers in Milwaukee, winning the first two games, with the second game featuring a come-from-behind effort, before losing the third game. Eduardo Salazar, a 26-year-old right-handed reliever who had 9 games experience with the Reds and Dodgers and had been selected off waivers, made his Nats debut during the series. The Nats went 2–4 on the road trip and were ready for the All-Star break.
Before the Milwaukee series had ended, some big news arrived that Hunter Harvey had been traded to the Kansas City Royals. Because Harvey was under team control through 2025, Mike Rizzo was able to negotiate a good return, with the Nats receiving 22-year-old third base prospect Cayden Wallace, who would be ranked as the Nats’ # 7 prospect by MLB Pipeline, as well as the Royals’ competitive balance pick in the upcoming draft (the # 39 overall pick), with which the Nats selected catcher, Caleb Lomavita. That draft selection was made after the Nats had used their regular first round pick (# 10 overall) to select shortstop, Seaver King. Their second-round pick (# 49 overall) went to another shortstop, Luke Dickerson.
At the All-Star game, the Nats were represented by CJ Abrams and Kyle Finnegan (who was an injury replacement added to the team less than 24 hours before the start of the game). Abrams struck out in his only plate appearance, and Finnegan didn’t appear in the game, as the National League lost 5 to 3.
Returning from the All-Star break, the Nats opened their homestand with a three-game series against the Reds. They swept the series, with the team rallying late to win the second and third games despite their game-2 starter having been knocked out early. Jose A. Ferrer was reinstated from 60-day injured list, where he had been since March with a left lat strain. Next came a three-game series against the Padres, which went very badly. The Nats were shut out in the first game, lost the second in a 12–3 blowout, and then were no-hit by Dylan Cease in the final game. Their record for the homestand was 3–3.
The month concluded with a road trip, with three games each in St. Louis and Phoenix. They won the first two games against the Cardinals, with their second victory coming as a 14–3 blowout, before getting walked off in the final game. Against the Diamondbacks, they lost a heartbreaker in the first game, as they entered the bottom of the ninth with an 8–4 lead but surrendered 5 runs for another walk-off loss. The second game was a disaster, a 17–0 blowout loss that set several team records. And the Diamondbacks concluded a sweep by beating the Nats 5–4 in a game in which the Nats tried to come back but ultimately fell short. They ended the road trip with a 2–4 record and ended the month with a four-game losing streak.
The end of the month coincided with the trade deadline. Jesse Winker went to the Mets, with the Nats obtaining in return a 24-year-old right-handed pitching prospect, Tyler Stuart, who now ranks 16th among Nats prospects. Alex Call was called up to take Winker’s place in the outfield. Lane Thomas, who was also under control through the end of 2025, was traded to the Guardians for three prospects, featuring 19-year-old left-handed pitcher, Alex Clemmey, who was a second-round pick in 2023. Clemmey is now ranked sixth among Nats prospects. The Nats also received a 19-year-old shortstop, Rafael Ramirez, Jr., who now ranks 22nd. Dylan Floro was traded to the Diamondbacks (and literally just had to walk over to the other clubhouse before the second game of the Nats-D’backs series) for a Triple-A infielder. Some followers of the team were surprised that Kyle Finnegan was not traded, though he still has another season-and-a-half left before he reaches free agency.
Record:
10–16 (.385)
Pythagorean Record:
9–17 (4.65 R/G – 6.15 RA/G)
July MVP:
- Luis Garcia, Jr (.333/.375/.573, 4 HR, 10 R, 15 RBI, 4 SB, 1 CS, 80 PA, 159 wRC+, 0.9 fWAR).
Pitcher of the month:
- DJ Herz (0-2, 4.50 RA/9, 4 GS, 20 IP, 11.7 K/9, .284 opp OBP, 0.3 RA9-WAR). He pitched well enough in 3 of his 4 starts that the team should have won with ordinary offensive and bullpen support, which is better than I can say for any of the other starters this month.
Relief pitcher of the month:
- Robert Garcia (2-1, 4.26 RA/9, 14 G, 12⅔ IP, 10.7 K/9, .275 opp OBP, 1.40 RE24, 5 shutdowns, 2 meltdowns, 0.1 RA9-WAR).
Worst month:
- Jordan Weems (0–0, 8.38 RA/9, 7 G, 9⅔ IP, 8.4 K/9, .431 opp OBP, –6.74 RE24, 0 shutdown, 3 meltdowns). On July 26 his terrible month came to an end when he went on the injured list with shin splints.
Best start this month:
- Jake Irvin (July 4, 1–0 win over the Mets at home) gave up 1 hit and 1 walk in 8 scoreless innings while striking out 8 for a game score of 87. That’s the highest game score by a Nats pitcher since August 31, 2019, when Stephen Strasburg had a game score of 92 after striking out 14 while giving up 2 hits and no walks in 8 scoreless innings in a 7–0 victory over the Marlins.
Worst start:
- Patrick Corbin (July 30, 17–0 loss to the Diamondbacks in Phoenix) gave up 11 runs on 13 hits in 3 innings with 3 strikeouts for a game score of –6. (At least he didn’t walk anyone!) That game set several Nationals records, including the most runs surrendered by a Nats pitcher (surpassing seven pitchers who were tied at 10 runs apiece) and the largest run deficit (surpassing a 16-run deficit in 24–8 loss to the Padres on July 16, 2021). Corbin’s game score of –6 is also the worst ever recorded by a Nats pitcher, passing Jeremy Guthrie who had a game score of –4 on April 8, 2017, when he gave up 10 runs in a start that only lasted ⅔ inning in what would be the final game of his career.
Tough losses:
- Mitchell Parker (July 8, 6–0 loss to the Cardinals at home) pitched 7 innings, giving up 2 runs (1 of which was unearned) on 6 hits and 1 walk while striking out 6 for a game score of 64.
- DJ Herz (July 23, 4–0 loss to the Padres at home) pitched 5 innings, giving up 2 runs on 5 hits and 2 walks while striking out 4 for a game score of 51.
- Patrick Corbin (July 25, 3–0 loss to the Padres at home) pitched 7 innings, giving up 3 runs on 4 hits and 3 walks while striking out 7 for a game score of 61. Corbin had the misfortune to be facing Dylan Cease, who dealt the Nats a no hitter, only the second time the Nats have been no hit.
Cheap wins:
- None
Biggest shutdown:
- Kyle Finnegan (July 13, 6–5 win over the Brewers in Milwaukee). By the end of the first inning, this game looked like another disaster for the Nats. Starter Mitchell Parker wasn’t able to make it through the first inning, and the Nats trailed 5–0. But for the next seven innings the bullpen kept the Brewers from scoring and the Nats offense gradually came back, finally taking a 6–5 lead in the top of the ninth. Finnegan got the call in the bottom of the ninth and got a fly out, gave up a walk, got a weak ground out fielded by the catcher, Keibert Ruiz, and closed the game with a fly out that Lane Thomas was able to corral at the wall. (Win probability added/WPA +.205).
Worst meltdown:
- Kyle Finnegan (July 29, 9–8 loss to the Diamondbacks in Phoenix). This game was sort of the opposite of the last one. The Nats scored 5 in the first inning and through 6 innings led 8–2. The Diamondbacks tacked on a couple more runs in the 7th and 8th, but the Nats held an 8–4 lead when Finnegan got the call in the bottom of the ninth. Finnegan gave up a triple, a single, and a home run to the first three batters he faced, and suddenly the lead was down to 8–7. He got an out on a line drive hit to center field but then gave up a single and faced Corbin Carroll with one out and a runner on first. Carroll socked Finnegan’s 0–1 pitch over the right field fence for a walk-off home run. (WPA –.981).
Walk off:
- None
Clutch hits:
- CJ Abrams (July 13, 6–5 win over the Brewers in Milwaukee). When Abrams came to bat with one out in the top of the ninth, the Nats were trailing 5–4 and Luis Garcia, Jr was at second base. Abrams crushed a 99-mile-per-hour fastball into the second deck, giving the Nats the lead. (WPA +.590)
- James Wood (July 21, 5–2 win over the Reds at home). The game was tied 2–2 with runners at first and second and two outs in the bottom of the eighth when Wood came to bat. Facing a lefty who was brought in to get him out, Wood launched the first pitch into the left-field seats for his second major league home run, giving the Nats a 5–2 lead. (WPA +.377)
- Jacob Young (July 26, 10–8 win over the Cardinals in St. Louis). With two outs in the top of the tenth, the bases were loaded, but the score was still 6–6 when Young came to bat. He drove a 2–0 pitch over the glove of the right fielder for a bases-clearing triple, giving the Nats a 9–6 lead (WPA +.547). They would go on to win 10–8.
Choke:
- Juan Yepez and Nasim Nuñez (July 5, 7–6 loss to the Cardinals at home). Going into extra innings tied 5–5, the Cardinals had scored one in the top of the tenth and the Nats had drawn even in the bottom of the inning. There was one out with Nasim Nuñez at second and Luis Garcia, Jr at first when Yepez came to bat. Nuñez and Garcia executed a double steal, seeming to have removed the threat of a double play. Alas, when Yepez lined out to the second baseman, Nuñez had wandered too far from third and was doubled off (WPA –.346). The Nats would lose the game 7–6 in the eleventh inning.
Memorable fielding plays:
- Jacob Young makes a sliding catch.
- Jacob Young makes another diving catch.
- CJ Abrams makes a leaping, diving catch.
- Lane Thomas made a leaping catch at the wall to end the game.
It’s time for my annual selection of an NL all-star team. To ensure that the selections are based on merit, I use formulas based on WAR (wins above replacement) to make my selections.* For the second year in a row, none of the Nationals were among the 20 best position players or 12 best pitchers in the league. But as with the actual All Star Team, every team in the league is represented, so I have methods to make selections from the teams that otherwise wouldn’t be represented. This year, those teams were the Rockies, Pirates, and Nationals.
*My formulas use a player’s 2024 WAR, 2023 WAR and career WAR to come up with a point total that is used to determine the selections. The system is laid out in my 2022 post, though this year I’m making a minor modification to the weights used for combining the WAR statistics, which is described in a technical appendix at the end of this post.
How did I pick the Nats player for my team? I look at players in three buckets—position players, starting pitchers, and relief pitchers—then compare the top-ranked Nats player in each bucket to the last player selected in each bucket. For position players, the top-ranked Nat was CJ Abrams with 13.0 points. That represents 60% of the total points of the last position player selected to the all-star team on merit (Elly De La Cruz with 23.3 points). Despite the considerable progress that Abrams has made with the bat this year, he’s below average as a fielder and the NL is loaded with good shortstops. It’s hard to argue that he should jump past players like Willy Adames, Ha-Seong Kim, Trea Turner, and Dansby Swanson, all of whom rank ahead of Abrams in WAR-based points yet weren’t able to qualify for the team.
Turning to starting pitchers, the highest-ranking Nat was Trevor Williams with 14.8 points, which was 67% of the total for the last SP to make my team. (Williams, of course, is injured, but I’ve decided to ignore injury status in making my selections because it is hard to predict which players might be back on the active roster before the All Star Game.) Williams was having a really good season, but because my method also pays attention to his performance last season and over his career, he only ranks 17th in points among NL starting pitchers.
So, my selection to represent that Nats on my all-star team is going to be a relief pitcher. And… drum roll… the honor goes to Dylan Floro! Yes, Floro comes out ahead of the closer, Kyle Finnegan, and the setup man, Hunter Harvey. Floro leads the Nats’ relief staff in ERA with 2.15 (compared with 2.23 for Finnegan and 3.49 for Harvey). He’s also ahead of them in FIP (fielding independent pitching, based on strikeouts, walks, and home runs allowed) with 2.47 compared to 2.98 for Harvey and 4.02 for Finnegan.) For the NL as a whole, Floro ranks 13th among relief pitchers in Fangraphs WAR (which is based on FIP) and 12th in RA9-WAR (which is based on runs allowed per nine innings). In overall points, Floro’s 7.9 is 73% of the total for the last relief pitcher to make my team on merit, which makes him my 2024 all-star team selection.
Here are my all-star team selections with their total points in parentheses. (Note that for outfielders, I treat corner outfielders (COF) as interchangeable, so I pool the left and right fielders and select the four with the most points. But I consider center field (CF) to be a skill set that must be represented on the team, so the two best center fielders are selected separately.)
Starters
C – William Contreras (23.3)
1B – Freddie Freeman (33.7)
2B – Ketel Marte (26.0)
3B – Austin Riley (19.5)
SS – Mookie Betts (35.2)
COF – Ronald Acuña Jr. (25.5)
COF – Fernando Tatis Jr. (22.3)
CF – Cody Bellinger (16.3)
DH – Shohei Ohtani (34.9)
SP – Zack Wheeler (25.9)
Reserves
C – Will Smith (21.7)
1B – Bryce Harper (30.4)
2B – Nico Hoerner (16.3)
3B – Alec Bohm (17.9)
SS – Francisco Lindor (29.5)
SS – Elly De La Cruz (23.3)
SS – Ezequiel Tovar (17.0) (*selected so the Rockies would be represented)
COF – Christian Yelich (21.7)
COF – Brandon Nimmo (21.6)
CF – Corbin Carroll (15.2)
DH – Marcell Ozuna (20.6)
SP – Ranger Suárez (25.9)
SP – Sonny Gray (24.6)
SP – Logan Webb (23.4)
SP – Chris Sale (23.0)
SP – Reynaldo López (22.1)
SP – Mitch Keller (17.3) (*selected so the Pirates would be represented)
RP – Bryan Hudson (13.8)
RP – Matt Strahm (11.1)
RP – Tanner Scott (10.9)
RP – Jeff Hoffman (10.8)
RP – Dylan Floro (7.8) (*selected so the Nationals would be represented)
Technical Appendix – changes to weights
If I had used the same formula as last year, I would have calculated the points for each player with this:
Points = 4 * 2024_WAR + 2 * MAX(2023_WAR, 2024_WAR) + Squareroot(Career_WAR)
The formula combines the players WAR for this year, last year, and his career to obtain a total. It is a weighted average, with a weight of 4 for this year, 2 for last year, and 1 for the square root of his career WAR.
I noticed last year, however, that the formula was giving a little bit too much weight to the previous year and career performance and a not quite enough to this year’s performance. I didn’t want to be like a lot of writers and just ignore previous performance (since singular focus on year-to-date statistics can lead to some pretty bad selections), but I did want to make sure the selected players were all making positive contributions in the current year. So I slightly increased the weight for this year and slightly lowered the weights for the previous performance, while still having the total weights add up to 7:
Written as an equation, this year’s formula is:
Points = 4.4 * 2024_WAR + 1.8 * MAX(2023_WAR, 2024_WAR) + 0.8 * Squareroot(Career_WAR)
That’s the formula I used this year and plan to use going forward.
The Nats opened May with a 14-15 record, in fourth place in the NL East, 5½ games behind the division-leading Braves. After going 12–15, they finished the month with a 26–30 record, in third place in the division, 13 games behind the division leading Phillies (who had gone 20–7 in May to supplant the Braves). The Nats’ pitching was surprisingly good, with a 3.45 team ERA during May (6th of 30 teams) and a 3.80 fielding independent pitching (FIP), which ranked 10th in MLB. Their offense, however, was weak. They ranked 27th in wRC+ with 84.
The Nats began the month in Texas, where they had already lost the first game of a three-game series against the defending World Series champions, the Rangers. They won game two 1–0, then were shutout 6–0 in the rubber game. The Nats returned from their road trip with a 5–2 record, having swept the Marlins in a four-game series to start the trip.
They began their next homestand playing the Blue Jays and took the series two games to one. The brief homestand concluded with a two-game “Battle of the Beltways” against the Orioles, who possessed the best record in the American League. The Nats won the first game 3–0, moving them above the .500 mark for the first time since July 1, 2021. They lost the second game 7–6 in a nail biter that saw the Nats rally to tie the game in the ninth inning and again in the 11th inning before finally falling to the O’s in the 12th.
The Nats opened their next road trip in Boston, where a 5–1 victory over the Red Sox again bumped them above .500. At that point, Fangraphs showed the Nats having a 1.7% chance of making it to the playoffs – a small but hopeful number for a team that had been given only a 0.2% chance at the beginning of the season. Alas, from there the trend was downhill. The Nats lost games two and three to the Red Sox. Moving on to Chicago, their first game against the White Sox was rained out, but they split a double header the next day before losing the third and final game. Their two losses in Chicago were both shutouts, with seven shutout innings in the first one coming at the hands of former Nat Erick Fedde, whose career had been rejuvenated by a year pitching in Korea. The road trip concluded in Philadelphia. The first two games were tight, with the Nats losing the first one 4–2 and the second 4–3 (in 10 innings). But the red-hot Phillies easily won the finale 11–5. In all, the Nats were 2–7 on the road trip and had dropped to 12½ games behind in the divisional race.
Back in Washington, the Nats faced the Twins. Their offense finally exploded in the first game, which they won 12–3, but they lost the second game just as decisively, 10–0. They also lost game three 3–2. They next faced the Mariners, who held first place in the AL West. The Nats took two games out of three, giving them a 3–3 record on their short homestand.
Going back on the road, the Nats played a four-game series in Atlanta. The Nats’ pitching did a great job holding the Atlanta offense at bay, limiting them to 9 runs over the series, which the Nats won three games to one. The month concluded with the Nats in Cleveland, where they lost the first game of a three-game set against the Guardians, who were in first place in the AL Central.
Four players who had been on the injured list at start of the month returned to the active roster during May. Robert Garcia and Victor Robles returned on May 7, Joey Gallo returned on May 17, and Lane Thomas returned on May 27. Robles did not impress on his return, hitting just .130/.222/.130 in 28 plate appearances during May, so when Thomas came off the injured list, Robles was designated for assignment to make room. On June 1, the Nats released Robles, ending a relationship that had begun almost 11 years earlier when a 16-year-old Robles had signed as an international free agent on July 2, 2013. In 8 seasons with the Nationals, Robles hit .236/.311/.356, with 31 home runs, 156 RBI, and an 80 wRC+ in 530 games. He never achieved the promise he had shown as a prospect, with the exception of the 2019 season when he played well as a 22-year-old rookie and helped the Nats win their championship.
Record:
12–15 (.444)
Pythagorean Record:
13–14 (3.89 R/G – 4.04 RA/G)
May MVP:
- Trevor Williams (3-0, 2.40 RA/9, 6 GS, 30 IP, 8.4 K/9, .268 opp OBP, 1.2 RA9-WAR)
Position player of the month:
- Eddie Rosario (.253/.319/.530, 6 HR, 17 R, 17 RBI, 6 SB, 0 CS, 92 PA, 139 wRC+, 0.6 fWAR). Rosario was named NL Player of the Week for the week of May 6 to 12, when he hit .467/.600/1.133 with 3 home runs, a double, 5 BB, 7 R, 5 RBI, and was 3 for 3 in SB in 5 games,
Relief pitcher of the month:
- Hunter Harvey (1-0, 1.84 RA/9, 14 G, 14⅔ IP, 9.2 K/9, .259 opp OBP, 5.98 RE24, 0.66 WPA, 8 shutdowns, 1 meltdown, 0.6 RA9-WAR)
Worst month:
- CJ Abrams (.205/.216/.304, 2 HR, 10 R, 9 RBI, 1 SB, 2 CS, 116 PA, 43 wRC+, -0.6 fWAR). Last month, Abrams was the most valuable position player and Rosario had the worst month. This month, they saw their roles switch.
Best start this month:
- Jake Irvin (May 28, 2–0 loss to the Braves in Atlanta) pitched 6 scoreless innings, giving up 2 hits and 2 walks while striking out 10 for a game score of 76. He left with the game still a scoreless tie, but Jacob Barnes gave up 2 runs for the loss.
Worst start:
- Patrick Corbin (May 21, 10–0 loss to the Twins at home) gave up 8 runs on 9 hits and 3 walks in 6 innings with 3 strikeouts for a game score of 22.
Tough losses:
- Jake Irvin (May 4, 6–3 loss to the Blue Jays at home) pitched 5 innings, giving up 4 unearned runs on 5 hits and 1 walk while striking out 4 for a game score of 52.
- MacKenzie Gore (May 12, 3–2 loss to the Red Sox in Boston) pitched 6 innings, giving up 3 runs (1 of them unearned) on 6 hits and 2 walks while striking out 9 for a game score of 57.
- Jake Irvin (May 22, 3–2 loss to the Twins at home) pitched 6⅓ innings, giving up 2 runs on 5 hits and no walks while striking out 6 for a game score of 61.
- Patrick Corbin (May 31, 7–1 loss to the Guardians in Cleveland) pitched 6 innings, giving up 2 runs on 6 hits and 3 walks while striking out 5 for a game score of 54. He left the game with the Nats trailing 2 to 1, only to watch the bullpen surrender 5 more runs.
Cheap wins:
None
Biggest shutdown:
- Kyle Finnegan (May 8, 7–6 loss in 12 innings to the Orioles at home). The Nats had tied the game at 3 to 3 in the bottom of the 9th when Finnegan got the call to pitch the top of the 10th. He got a strikeout, walked the second batter, then got a pop-up and a groundout to keep the game scoreless, never letting the automatic runner advance beyond second base. (Win probability added/WPA +.314). Unfortunately, the Nats were also held scoreless in the bottom of the 10th. In the 11th, each team scored two runs, and in the 12th the Orioles were able to score two while the Nats only scored one.
Worst meltdown:
- Kyle Finnegan (May 18, 4–3 loss in 10 innings to the Phillies in Philadelphia). Going into the ninth inning, the game was tied at two runs apiece, but the Nats scored a run in the top of the ninth to take a 3 to 2 lead. In the bottom of the inning, Finnegan got two groundouts, leaving him one out away from the save, but then Kody Clemens hit a home run to tie the game. The next Philly batter reached on an error, then Finnegan got another groundout to get out of the inning with the game tied. The Nats failed to score in the top of the 10th, and Finnegan went back to the mound in the bottom of the 10th to try to keep the game tied. Finnegan issued an intentional walk to Kyle Schwarber, then Realmuto hit a fly ball that advanced the automatic runner to third. Bryce Harper then hit a sacrifice fly for the Phillies to win the game. (WPA –.478).
Walk off:
None
Clutch hits:
- CJ Abrams (May 26, 9–5 loss to the Mariners at home). Abrams came to bat with two outs in the bottom of the seventh, runners on second and third, and the Nats trailing 4–2. Abrams launched one down the right field line and watched to see if it would go fair. It bounced off the foul pole to the fair side, and Abrams rounded the bases, with the Nats now holding a 5–4 lead. (WPA +.506) The lead did not hold up, though, as the bullpen surrendered a tying run in the top of the eighth and 4 more in the top of the ninth, for a 9–5 loss.
- Luis Garcia, Jr. (May 3, 9–3 win over the Blue Jays at home). Garcia came in as a pinch hitter with no outs in the bottom of the seventh, runners on first and second, and the Nats trailing 3–1. He knocked one over the center field fence, and the Nats took a 4–3 lead. (WPA +.392) They would keep adding on for a 9–3 victory.
Choke:
- Nick Senzel (May 8, 7–6 loss in 12 innings to the Orioles at home). Senzel came to bat with no outs in the bottom of the 12th with a runner at second and the Nats trailing 7–6. He struck out. (WPA –.165) After two more outs via fly balls, the Nats had lost, despite having rallied in both the ninth and the 11th innings to tie the game.
Memorable fielding plays:
- Jacob Young made a superb diving catch.
- Luis Garcia Jr. made a great sliding play on a ball hit up the middle.
- CJ Abrams ran a long way and dove to get the ball and throw out the runner.
- Lane Thomas made a beautiful sliding catch.
- Jacob Young gunned down a runner trying to score.
After achieving an unusual winning record in August, the Nationals faced a much tougher schedule in September.* Eighteen of their 27 games would be against teams that would ultimately make the playoffs, with 15 of them coming against division winners. Capping it off, their last nine games would be seven games against the team with the best record in baseball—the Atlanta Braves—interspersed with two games against the team with the best record in the American League (the Orioles).
*(Note: For this post, I’m counting the final game of the regular season on October 1 in “September.”)
Ultimately, the Nats were unable to consistently win, as they ended the month with a 9–18 record and the season with a 71–91 record. That seasonal record did represent an improvement of 16 games from their 55–107 record the previous year. The Nats finished in last place in the NL East, but they trailed the Mets by just 3½ games and had better records than three other teams (the Rockies, Royals, and A’s) and the same record as the Cardinals.
The Nats opened September at home, having lost the first game of a four-game series against the Marlins. They went on to lose all of the other three games, including an 11-inning heartbreaker in Game 2 and a 9th-inning meltdown in Game 4. For the season, the Nats record against the Marlins was 2–11, and combined for the last two seasons it was 6–26. The Marlins literally would not have made the playoffs without their success against the Nats.
The homestand continued with a two-game series against the Mets. The Nats lost the first game (their sixth consecutive loss) but won the second game with a one-run walk-off to split the series. The homestand concluded with a three-game series against the Dodgers who held the second-best record in the NL. The Nats lost the first and third games but managed an 11-inning one-run walk-off win in Game 2. The Nats were 2–7 on the homestand. The Dodgers series seemed especially long as all three games included rain delays.
Next came a 7-game road trip to Pittsburgh and Milwaukee. The Nats won the first game against the Pirates but lost the next three. They also lost their first two games against the Central Division-champion Brewers (the second coming on a heartbreaking eighth inning grand slam by the Brew Crew) before finally eking out a one-run, 11th inning victory in their final game. The Nats’ record for the road trip was 2–5.
Returning home, the Nats had a three-game series against the lowly White Sox before finishing their home games with a series against the mighty Braves. The Nats lost the first game against the South Siders, then came from behind to win the second game by a single run (at this point, four of the Nats’ five wins in the month had come by one-run margins) before scoring 13 runs to win the third game in blowout fashion. The next night the Nats were blown out 10–3 by the Braves, which was followed by losses in Games 2 and 4, though the Nats won Game 3 by a single run. The Nats were 3–4 on their homestand.
The season concluded with two games in Baltimore against the Orioles and a three-game series in Atlanta against the Braves. The Nats lost the first game against the Orioles 1–0, with the only run coming on a leadoff home run in the bottom of the first. It was the third time that Nats had been shut out by the O’s in the three games they had played against their cross-league rivals. In the next game, the Nats finally managed to score a run, though they lost by a score of 5 to 1. Against the Braves, the Nats hit five home runs in the first game to win 10 to 6, then lost the second, but won the third game in a wild 10 to 9 back-and-forth contest, winning the series and ending the season with a W. In the final game, CJ Abrams set a Nationals record when he recorded his 47th stolen base, surpassing Trea Turner‘s old record of 46 set in 2017.
Looking at roster changes, on September 1 Travis Blankenhorn, a 27-year-old left fielder who had spent brief stints with the Twins and the Mets during 2020 to 2022, made his debut with the Nats with the expansion of the roster to 28 players. Blankenhorn had signed with the Nats during the off-season as a minor-league free agent. On September 6, Riley Adams suffered a fractured hamate bone on a foul ball, ending his season. On September 8, Luis Garcia returned to the Nats after a five-week demotion to Rochester. His batting record over the remainder of the season was somewhat improved over his pre-demotion record. On September 13, 24-year-old starting pitcher Jackson Rutledge made his major league debut, replacing MacKenzie Gore in the starting rotation after Gore went on the injured list with a blister. Rutledge was the Nats’ first round draft pick in 2017 (no. 17 overall), Rutledge remained in the six-man rotation and made four starts during the month, with two of them going well and the other two not well. Finally, on September 30 long-time Nat reliever Tanner Rainey made his first appearance since July 2022 as he returned from Tommy John surgery.
On September 13, the Nationals announced a multi-year extension of general manager Mike Rizzo‘s contract.
Finally, there were a couple of retirements. Sean Doolittle, who had split the season between the injured list and pitching in Rochester, announced his retirement. During his 5 seasons with the Nationals (2017–2020 and 2022), he pitched in 153 games with a 2.92 ERA and earned 75 saves. He was a key member of the 2019 World Series championship team as well as the 2017 divisional champions. He and his wife were outspoken advocates for the Washington DC community. Sean was given a nice ceremony at Nationals Park recognizing his career. Tyler Clippard‘s retirement announcement was made with less fanfare. He had been released by the Nationals in August 2022, but the Nats were his last team. Over 8 seasons with the Nats (2008–2014 and 2022) he pitched 418 games (a Nationals record) with a 2.72 ERA and earned 74 saves. If I were putting together a Nationals all-time all-star team, I’d select 2009–14 Clip as my relief ace.
The biggest story regarding retirements, however, was the surprising absence of a retirement announcement by Stephen Strasburg after widespread reports in late August that it would be coming on September 9. On September 8, Mark Lerner released a rather odd statement saying that there would not be a retirement announcement event, and while he praised Strasburg, he concluded the statement saying, “we look forward to seeing Stephen when we report to spring training.” Because it has been widely reported that Strasburg is no longer capable of pitching, the sentence about spring training seemed especially bizarre. Overall, the whole episode led to enormous amounts of speculation and can fairly be described as a public relations disaster for the team. I hope the team has not damaged its relationship with Strasburg. We did see a couple of nice appreciations of Strasburg, though, such as this one from Thomas Boswell of the Washington Post and this one from Michael Baumann of Fangraphs. (His not retiring contributes to an issue for the team in protecting their prospects, which I will discuss in an addendum at the end of this post.)
Record:
9–18 (.333)
Pythagorean Record:
10–17 (4.41 R/G – 5.81 RA/G)
September MVP:
- Josiah Gray (1–2, 2.95 RA/9, 4 GS, 21⅓ IP, 9.7 K/9, .322 opp OBP, 0.8 RA9-WAR).
Position player of the month:
- Jacob Young (.264/.330/.341, 0 HR, 8 R, 12 RBI, 12 SB, 0 CS, 103 PA, 86 wRC+, 0.7 fWAR). Ordinarily, I’d be skeptical of giving this award to a player with a below-average batting record based mostly on his excellence in base running and defense during his first full month in the majors. In this case, however, I’m making an exception. The handful of Nats players who hit better than Young this month (Luis Garcia, Ildemaro Vargas, Dominic Smith) didn’t hit that much better than him, and Young’s advantages in base running and defense were so apparent. Young’s arrival and quality of play have been a wonderful surprise, and I really hope that he can continue to hit well enough to allow us to continue to enjoy his base running and defense for years to come.
Relief pitcher of the month:
- Robert Garcia (2–2, 4.40 RA/9, 13 G, 13⅓ IP, 8.8 K/9, .357 opp OBP, 6.53 RE24, 0.77 WPA, 2 shutdowns, 1 meltdown, 0.1 RA9-WAR). Hunter Harvey (3.00 RA/9, 10.5 K/9, 7 shutdowns, 1 meltdown) is an honorable mention, but I gave the nod to Garcia reflecting his advantage in the RE24 and WPA statistics.
Worst month:
- Trevor Williams (0–2, 13.17 RA/9, 4 G, 13⅔ IP, 7.9 K/9, .519 opp OBP, –0.8 RA9-WAR). He’s got another year left on his contract, but he really hasn’t looked good in the second half of this season.
Best start this month:
- Josiah Gray (September 14, 2–0 loss to the Pirates in Pittsburgh) pitched 6⅓ innings, giving up 2 runs on 5 hits and no walks while striking out 10 for a game score of 65. It’s hard to win when your team doesn’t score. This one also qualifies as a “tough loss” (see below).
Worst start:
- Trevor Williams (September 2, 11–5 loss to the Marlins at home) gave up 9 runs (8 earned runs) on 12 hits and no walks in 4 innings with 3 strikeouts for a game score of 7. When he was pulled from the game, the Nats were trailing 9–1.
Tough losses:
- Josiah Gray (September 14, 2–0 loss to the Pirates in Pittsburgh) pitched 6⅓ innings, giving up 2 runs on 5 hits and no walks while striking out 10 for a game score of 65.
- Josiah Gray (September 26, 1–0 loss to the Orioles in Baltimore) pitched 6 innings, giving up 1 run on 5 hits and 2 walks while striking out 7 for a game score of 63.
Cheap wins:
None
Biggest shutdown:
- Robert Garcia (September 17, 2–1 win over the Brewers in Milwaukee). Patrick Corbin, Hunter Harvey, and Kyle Finnegan had combined to keep the Brewers to one run in nine innings, but Brandon Woodruff and the Brewers bullpen had likewise limited the Nats to one run. Garcia got the call to pitch the 10th and 11th innings. With the automatic runner, it’s really tough to keep the other team scoreless, but when the Nats didn’t score in the top of the 10th, Garcia had to keep the Brewers scoreless for two innings. The 10th inning was scary—after striking out the leadoff man, Garcia gave up a single and a walk to load the bases. But a groundball resulted in a force-out at home and was followed by another groundout that got him out of the 10th. With a one-run lead in the bottom of the 11th, the first batter Garcia faced sacrificed the automatic runner to third. The Nats then issued an intentional walk and Garcia got a 3–2 double play to secure the win. (Win probability added/WPA +.760).
Worst meltdown:
- Kyle Finnegan (September 16, 9–5 loss to the Brewers in Milwaukee). With the game tied 5 to 5, Finnegan got the call with one out in the bottom of the 8th and the bases empty. He gave up a double and a single, then a groundout moved the runners to second and third with two outs. He walked the next batter to load the bases and then gave up a grand slam to Mark Canha. A fly out ended the inning, with the Nats left trailing 9 to 5. (WPA –.423).
Walk offs:
- Jacob Young (September 6, 3–2 win over the Mets at home) came to bat with one out in the bottom of the ninth, the score tied at 2–2, and runners on second and third. He hit a ground ball single up the middle to drive in the winning run.
- Michael Chavis (September 9, 7–6 win over the Dodgers in 11 innings at home) was the automatic runner in the bottom of the 11th. After a sacrifice bunt moved him to third, he was there with two outs when the Mets pitcher threw a wild pitch allowing him to race home.
Clutch hit:
- Joey Meneses (September 19, 4–3 win over the White Sox at home). The Nats were trailing 2 to 1 when Joey came in as a pinch hitter with runners on first and third and two outs. He hammered a slider into the left field bullpen, giving the Nats a 4–2 lead. (WPA +.505).
Choke:
- CJ Abrams (September 17, 2–1 win over the Brewers in Milwaukee). In the top of the eighth, the game was tied when Abrams came to bat with one out and runners on first and third. He grounded into a double play, ending the inning. (WPA –.250)
- Lane Thomas (September 13, 7–6 loss to the Pirates in Pittsburgh). After 4 innings, the Nats were trailing 7–1, but they gradually clawed back, finally getting the score to 7–6 in the top of the ninth. Lane came to bat with two outs and the bases loaded. He gave it a big swing but flied out to deep center-right field. (WPA –.235)
Memorable fielding plays:
- CJ Abrams made a flashy diving play to throw out the hitter.
- Jacob Young jumped into the wall to make this catch.
- Later in the same game, Alex Call made a diving catch near the right field line.
- Luis Garcia went into center field to make an over-the-shoulder basket catch.
- Michael Chavis and Drew Millas combined for this 3–2 double play to secure the win in the bottom of the 11th inning.
Addendum (the coming purge):
Every year, baseball teams have to release players or designate them for assignment to free up spots on the 40-man roster to protect prospects who will become eligible for the Rule 5 draft. This year, however, the Nats are in an unusual position with respect to the number of players who will need to be culled from their roster. During the offseason, the players who had been on the 60-day injured list have to go back on the 40-man roster. I believe the Nats ended the season with 7 men on the 60-day list, so that boosts their total to 47 players. Most seasons, the addition of the injured players to the roster is offset by the loss of the players who are moving on to free agency, but this year, I believe the Nats only have 1 player eligible for free agency (Carl Edwards, Jr.).
What this means is that the Nats will have to trade away, release, or DFA at least six players just to get down to 40 plus any additional players who will need to be released for however many new prospects they want to protect from the Rule 5 draft. In other words, we’re going to be saying goodbye to a lot of players, including some whom I imagine the Nats would prefer to keep if they could.
If Strasburg’s retirement announcement had been able to go forward, my understanding is that it would have freed up his spot on the 40-man roster. With that spot not available, there’s one more player the team will have to cut loose.
In August, the Nationals had their first monthly winning record, 17–11, since June 2021. Were they really a much-improved team? Their run differential (runs scored minus runs allowed) for the month was –15, which was not that different from earlier months in the year. That suggests that their overall offensive and defensive skills weren’t much changed. What had changed? They were winning lots of close games in the late innings. Their record in one-run games during the month was 10–2. But for games that weren’t close, they sometimes looked bad. If we define a blow-out as a game decided by 7 or more runs, the Nats were on the losing end in all four blow outs played this month.
Regardless, the wins will remain part of their record, and by late August the Nats had passed the Mets and moved out of the cellar of the NL East standings. They ended the month with a 62–73 record, 27 games behind the Braves, who held the best record in baseball.
The team’s roster was in flux during the month. Recall that Jeimer Candelario had been traded away at the end of July. In early August, the Nats also optioned the slumping Luis Garcia to Rochester, leaving both second and third bases open. Ildemaro Vargas initially took over at third, and Jake Alu was called up to play second. The Nats also released Corey Dickerson and called up Blake Rutherford, a 26-year-old left-handed outfielder, to take over Dickerson’s place as a platoon outfielder. Rutherford, a 2016 first-round draft pick for the Yankees who was later traded to the White Sox system, had disappointed in the higher minors and was signed by the Nats to a minor league contract after becoming a minor league free agent last winter. He made his major league debut on August 4.
In mid-month, Carter Kieboom was called up and began playing regularly at third base. He homered in his first MLB plate appearance in more than two years. On August 23, Stone Garrett suffered a fractured fibula in a tragic attempt to make a spectactular catch at the wall of Yankees Stadium, ending a remarkable season for the young outfielder. Rutherford was also optioned back to Rochester, and Alu began playing left field as needed. Jacob Young, a 24-year-old who was drafted by the Nats in 2021 in the 7th round, was called up and made his major league debut on August 26, and appears to have taken over the center field position. He can clearly field his position—we’ll see if he can hit better than Alex Call has. Also, 25-year-old catcher Drew Millas was called up and made his major league debut on August 28. Millas had been drafted by the Oakland A’s in 2019 and was acquired by the Nats as part of the 2021 trade deadline deal for Yan Gomes and Josh Harrison.
On the pitching side of things, early in the month the Nats claimed 27-year-old left-handed relief pitcher Robert Garcia off waivers from the Marlins. Garcia, age 27, had pitched one major league game for the Marlins before being let go on waivers as the Marlins became buyers at the trade deadline. By the end of the month, he had become the Nats’ go-to lefty in the bullpen. Joan Adon was called up to start a game while Trevor Williams was on bereavement leave. He pitched well in that game and stuck around, as the Nats decided to move to a six-man rotation in an effort to avoid over-extending the innings of their young pitchers. (A downside of the six-man rotation was cutting back to just seven relief pitchers, placing more burden on the bullpen, especially with the large number of close games.) In mid-August, Hunter Harvey returned from about a month on the injured list.
Early in the month, Paolo Espino was released. Espino had pitched 82 games (including 39 starts) for the Nats from 2020 to 2023. While not blessed with a great arm, from late 2020 through about June 2022 he was a reliable pitcher, making the most of the talents he did have until things went downhill for him in late 2022 and 2023. Later in the month, Carl Edwards Jr. suffered a setback in his attempt to return from the injured list when it was reported that he had a stress facture in his right scapula, shutting him down for the rest of the season. Finally, we learned that Stephen Strasburg has decided to announce his retirement, having never come back from his 2021 thoracic outlet surgery. From 2012 to 2019, Strasburg was regularly one of the best pitchers in baseball and, along with Ryan Zimmerman, was one of the long-time faces of the team.
The month opened with the Nats at home playing the last two games of a three-game series against the Brewers. They split the two games and having already won the first game, won the series. Their win in the third game was a ninth inning walk-off.
Next came a road trip to Cincinnati and Philadelphia. The Reds had swept the Nats in a four-game series in Washington in early July, but the Nats were able to pay them back by sweeping the three-game series against the Reds. The series against the Phillies was tougher, with the Nats losing three of four. The Nats’ only win, coming in the second game, was a come-from-behind one-run victory. In the third game, the Nats were no hit by Michael Lorenzen, a pitcher the Phillies had just acquired at the trade deadline. It was the first time the Nats had been no hit since moving to Washington. For the road trip as a whole, their record was 4–3.
Returning home, the Nats faced the Oakland A’s, who possessed the worst record in baseball. The Nats swept the three-game series, though the victories in the last two games were by one run apiece and came walk-off style in the ninth inning. The A’s were followed by the more formidable Red Sox, and the Nats were able to beat them two games to one. The home stand concluded with the Phillies, with the third game being the Little League Classic, which was played in Williamsport, Pennsylvania. (I count this as part of the home stand because the Nats were the home team.) The Nats took two games of three, though I note that their victories were each by margins of one run, whereas their loss was by a 9-run margin. For the home stand, the Nats were 7–2.
On their next road trip, they played the Yankees, Marlins, and Blue Jays. They took two games of three against the Bronx Bombers, though again each of the Nats’ wins were with one-run margins, whereas their loss was by an 8-run margin. In Miami, they took the first two games against the Marlins before losing the finale. (Prior to the series, the Nats record against the Marlins was 0–6). The road trip concluded in Toronto, where the Blue Jays took two games of three against the Nats. The Nats’ record on the road trip was 5–4. The month concluded with the Nats at home losing the opening game of a four-game series against the Marlins.
On August 21, Davey Martinez was reported to have agreed to a two-year extension as manager. Mike Rizzo was also reported to be in talks for a contract extension as general manager, though there was no announcement of an agreement before the end of the month.
Record:
17–11 (.607)
Pythagorean Record:
12–16 (4.29 R/G – 4.82 RA/G)
August MVP:
- Jake Irvin (0–0, 2.35 RA/9, 4 GS, 23 IP, 8.6 K/9, .309 opp OBP, 1.0 RA9-WAR).
Position player of the month:
- Keibert Ruiz (.311/.380/.533, 5 HR, 13 R, 16 RBI, 100 PA, 146 wRC+, 0.7 fWAR).
Relief pitcher of the month:
- Kyle Finnegan (2–0, 2.63 RA/9, 14 G, 13⅔ IP, 9.2 K/9, .291 opp OBP, 2.90 RE24, 8 shutdowns, 0 meltdowns, 0.5 RA9-WAR).
Worst month:
- Cory Abbott (1–1, 18.69 RA/9, 3 G, 4⅓ IP, 12.5 K/9, .500 opp OBP, –0.6 RA9-WAR). After a dreadful meltdown in which he gave up 8 runs in an inning, Abbott was optioned back to Rochester.
Best start this month:
- MacKenzie Gore (August 16, 6–2 win over the Red Sox at home) pitched 6⅓ shutout innings, giving up 1 hit and 2 walks while striking out 7 for a game score of 76. The Nats were ahead 2–0 when Gore was pulled from the game in the top of the seventh, but the Red Sox scored 2 in the top of the eighth to tie it, so Gore wasn’t credited with the win. The Nats scored 4 in the bottom of the 8th for the win.
Worst start:
A tie between
- Joan Adon (August 18, 8–7 win over the Phillies at home) gave up 6 runs on 6 hits and 2 walks in 4 innings with 3 strikeouts for a game score of 27. The Nats came back in the bottom of the fourth and scored 6 runs to take back the lead, and the bullpen held onto it for 5 innings for the win.
- Patrick Corbin (August 30, 7–0 loss to the Blue Jays in Toronto) gave up 6 runs on 10 hits and 1 walk in 5 innings with 5 strikeouts for a game score of 27.
Tough loss:
- Trevor Williams (August 27, 2–1 loss to the Marlins in Miami) gave up 2 runs on 5 hits and 2 walks in 7 innings while striking out 5, for a game score of 62.
Cheap wins:
None
Biggest shutdown:
- Andres Machado (August 4, 6–3 win over the Reds in Cincinnati). The game was tied at 3 runs apiece in the bottom of the ninth, and there were runners at first and second with one out when Machado got the call. He struck out Fairchild, then an intentional walk was issued to Elly de la Cruz, loading the bases. Machado then got Nick Senzel to line out to second, ending the inning (Win probability added/WPA +.218).
Worst meltdown:
- Cory Abbott (August 19, 12–3 loss to the Phillies at home). The rest of the Nats bullpen was exhausted, so Abbott was called on to pitch the top of the eighth with the score tied 3 to 3, understanding that there was no one available to bail him out if he got into trouble. The first batter he faced, Trea Turner, hit a home run, giving the Phillies the lead. That was followed by a single, a ground out, three more singles (scoring two more runs), a walk to fill the bases, a sacrifice fly, a three-run home run, and finally another home run to Turner, before Abbottt finally got a strikeout to end the inning. He gave up a total of 8 runs on 7 hits (including 3 home runs) and a walk. (WPA –.498).
Clutch hits:
Usually, I just report the hit with the most impact in terms of win probability added, but this time there were lots of late-inning clutch hits, and the one that happened to have the most win probability added was a bit anticlimactic (involving an error), so I thought I’d report a bunch of clutch hits.
- Alex Call & Jeter Downs (August 13, 8–7 win over the A’s at home). The Nats were trailing 7–2 going into the bottom of the ninth, but after three singles, a sacrifice fly, and three walks, the score was 7–5 with the bases loaded and two outs when Alex Call came to bat. He hit a sharp grounder to shortstop that was booted, allowing the two runs to score and tying the game. (WPA +.462). The next batter, Jeter Downs, then singled in the winning run, capping a 6-run rally in the bottom of the ninth. (WPA +.365)
- Joey Meneses (August 8, 5–4 win over the Phillies in Philadelphia). The game was tied in the top of the ninth with the bases empty and one out when Meneses went deep on Craig Kimbrel, giving the Nationals the lead. (WPA +.377). In the seventh inning, he had already hit a home run to tie the game.
- Keibert Ruiz (August 12, 3–2 win over the A’s at home). Leading off the bottom of the ninth in a tie game, Ruiz launched a home run for the walk-off win. (WPA +.360)
- Alex Call (August 24, 6–5 win over the Yankees in New York). Trailing 3–2 with two outs in the top of the seventh, Call hit a two-run home run to give the Nats the lead. (WPA +.416)
- Jake Alu (August 26, 3–2 win over the Marlins in Miami) came to bat with the Nats trailing 2–1, two outs in the top of the ninth, and runners at first and second. He worked the count full and then hit a single up the middle to tie the game. (WPA +.359) A passed ball then allowed Michael Chavis to score the go-ahead run.
Choke:
- Jacob Young (August 27, 2–1 loss to the Marlins in Miami). The Nats were trailing by a run, and there were runners on first and second with one out in the top of the ninth when Young came to bat, still looking for his first MLB hit. He grounded into a double play, ending the game. (WPA –.281)
Memorable fielding plays:
- CJ Abrams went deep in the hole and whirled to throw out the runner.
- Ildemaro Vargas chased down a foul ball and slid into a gate to catch it.
- Alex Call made an impressive sliding catch on a bloop fly.
- Blake Rutherford chased a fly ball into the corner and dove to make the catch.
- Jacob Young made a great throw to gun down a runner and prevent a run from scoring.
Nats Noodles 