Washington Nationals
The 2027 Nats’ starting rotation is where the $$$$$$$$$ need to be spent!
Remember those days when Washington Nationals fans were spoiled in 2015 with a rotation of Max Scherzer, Stephen Strasburg, Jordan Zimmermann, and Gio Gonzalez? That was the ❝Where’s my ring?!?❞ team. The 2015 rotation was so good that Tanner Roark got moved to the bullpen for Doug Fister who was named the 5ᵗʰ starter on that team. Even that 2019 World Series team had an incredible starting rotation. We yearn for those days. Before the Dodgers started pumping big money into their payroll, it was the Washington Nationals who had the first $100 million a year starting rotation. Guess what, it is time to start pumping money back into the starting rotation. The good news is the current rotation is young with inexpensive starters. But they need a couple of veteran starters who can solidify the front of a rotation. Right now this group doesn’t need 5-guys making an average of $20 million each, but it’s time to start spending on starting pitchers. With the uncertainty of the next CBA and opening up free agency, the Washington Nationals can only formulate plans in theory. The hope is ownership gives their President of Baseball Operations, Paul Toboni, enough budget — along with a greenlight, to acquire two very solid starting pitchers in free agency. Sure, everyone would love one of those names to be Tarik Skubal. Maybe going back to Foster Griffin will be viable. Somewhere, somehow, ownership needs to step up and open the wallet — and Toboni has to…
The 2027 Nats’ bullpen with some thinking outside the box!
For the Washington Nationals, they have had some horrible bullpens over the years. Don’t let anyone try to tell you that this is a new problem. If you take the Rockies out of the equation, the Nats bullpen has been the worst in MLB for the 10 years of 2015-to-2025. We aren’t even including 2026 in those numbers. And there were some very expensive bullpens that the Nats assembled in those 10 years — and they still were putrid. This year isn’t close to the worst bullpen season in ERA or WHIP or any other metric you want to use except for blown saves. Okay, the 35 blown saves are really bad this season, and the Nats might set the new ignominious record. With those with short memories, the 2021 Washington Nationals had 36 blown saves as the worst mark in baseball history until the 2024 Chicago White Sox set the current record of 37. These 2026 Nats look like a lock to beat the record. Who would be a lock for the 2027 Nats’ bullpen? We can tell you in small sample sizes as to who has looked good: Orlando Ribalta RHP 3.77 ERA Erik Tolman LHP 0.00 ERA Will Dion LHP 2.04 ERA Jared Simpson LHP 0.00 ERA Brad Lord RHP 3.58 ERA TBD TBD TBD Some names not on that list from the current bullpen are Clayton Beeter RHP, Riley Cornelio RHP, Max Kranick RHP, Luis Perales RHP, PJ Poulin LHP (currently on the IL), and Matt…
Game #142 Jackson Kent won’t start today; Another bullpen game!
The Washington Nationals are winners of 5-of-6 games and have now surpassed their win total from the 2025 season, with 21 more games to play. The bad news is that starter Jackson Kent won’t pitch today. You should not be shocked as we warned you five days ago after he was shoved to a high in pitch count (106) in his pro career. For this afternoon game against the Braves, Brad Lord will be the opener. You can look at the bullpen usage chart to see who has innings to give. Riley Cornelio is back today. More on that below. He is fresh and threw 12 pitches on Aug. 30 in relief. This is Cornelio version 4.0 meaning this is his 4ᵗʰ stint with the MLB team this year. Hopefully this is the BEST version of Cornelio. Since the World Series season of 2019, the Nationals have not won more than 71 games in a season. Can these Nats surpass that number? That would take 5-wins to reach that mark. There are 21 games remaining in this 2026 season. To avoid a 90 loss season, the Nats need to get 6-games in the win column to get to 73 wins. And to get to a winning season, the Nats would have to go 15-6 to finish the season. Yesterday, the Nationals made their two Sept. 1 roster additions with corner infielder Yohandy Morales and LHP Jared Simpson joining the roster. Both were key parts in the Nats win and were…
Postgamer: YoYo Morales and Jared Simpson have incredible debuts!
The Washington Nationals won again, and this time it was against the first place Atlanta Braves. That’s 5-of-6 wins the past week. And since it is Sept. 1, we got call-ups with infielder Yohandy Morales and reliever Jared Simpson. The new call-ups set a MLB record. Morales would start the game and hit a triple shy of a cycle, and Simpson would come in for relief and throw 3.0 perfect innings while only facing eight batters because he turned a double play to erase 1-of-the-2 runners he inherited. In the 5ᵗʰ inning, Simpson was called on to extinguish a fire as starter Jake Irvin put two runners on-base with no outs. Simpson would get a double play on the first batter he faced, and a flyout on the next. Then Simpson would pitch 2.0 more innings of perfect baseball — and he would earn the win. While Simpson’s Houdini act wasn’t as impressive as Erik Tolman ‘s last night, it was still impressive. For stats from Nats’ debuts, Morales is the 8ᵗʰ player in Nationals history (2005-pres.) to hit a home run for his first career hit. None of them ever went a triple shy of a cycle. Andrés Chaparro on Aug. 13. 2024 had three hits in his MLB debut but didn’t hit a home run! For Simpson, he became the ninth pitcher and just the third reliever in Nationals history (2005-pres.) to win his MLB debut joining Bill Bray (June 3, 2006 at MIL) and Aaron Barrett (March…
Game #141 Nats have a 2-game set with the Braves
The Washington Nationals showed their resiliency to bounce-back from a tough defeat, and put a blow-save-loss on the Miami Marlins after they did the same to the Nats on Sunday. Now, the Nats are winners of 4-of-5 and matched their win total from the 2025 season, with 22 more games to play. Since the World Series season of 2019, the Nationals have not won more than 71 games in a season. Can these Nats surpass that number? That would take 6-wins to reach that mark. There are 22 games remaining in this 2026 season. To avoid a 90 loss season, the Nats need to get 7-games in the win column to get to 73 wins. And to get to a winning season, the Nats would have to go 16-6 to finish the season. Last night, Daylen Lile continued his hot streak after collecting Player of the Week honors for last week. Lile was the 2025 Player of the Month winner for September, and the hope is that he can match his Sept. 2025 numbers. Also, what about reliever Erik Tolman who is doing things we’ve never seen before. His life right now should be a baseball movie. You must listen to his MLB Network Radio interview from today. An absolute story of tragedy turned to a medical miracle along with his perseverance in baseball. He said that he was yanking his fastball and recently fixed that with some new drills. The Nationals made their two Sept. 1 roster additions with…
Postgamer: Daylen Lile and Erik Tolman seal the deal as Nats win the series!
In this game, Daylen Lile carried the offense and defense, and Erik Tolman saved the game in Ryan Mattheus’ style as he inherited the bases loaded with no outs in a 6-3 game. Lile smashed two homers for four RBIs and a huge outfield assist. Tolman pitched the 8ᵗʰ and 9ᵗʰ innings and got four strikeouts and a double play ala Mattheus’ 2012 NLDS Houdini act. Lile was named NL Player of the Week earlier today after going 11-for-24 (.458) with two doubles, one triple, three home runs, 10 RBIs, five walks, seven runs scored and just three strikeouts for the week of Aug. 24-30. Tonight, he is continuing his hot streak — and even hotter if that is possible. “Man, we’d be in a really good spot if this is the real Daylen, and I do believe it is. No doubt, he’s hot right now. But I think this version of Daylen, the way he’s taking his at-bats right now, the way he’s laying off pitches and waiting until he gets something in his zone, we all know how good his swing is. We all know how athletic he is. The ability to drive the baseball when he’s hunting a certain pitch and a location. He’s not missing it right now.” — manager Blake Butera said after the game With Lile’s first homer in tonight’s game, that marked his first opposite field homer of his career. As you know, when Lile is going oppo, he is totally locked and…
Game #140 Nats are throwing a bullpen game
The Washington Nationals had a heartbreaking loss on Sunday in the 9ᵗʰ inning. They found a new way to lose after an airmailed throw with two outs went into the dugout. On Saturday’s blown save, they kept the game tied, and the Nats won via the walk-off. While not every blown save is created equally, the Saturday game, which turned out to be a win, was costly because it burned the bullpen. And both blown saves might have been avoidable if manager Blake Butera had just done one small detail: Upgraded his outfield defense in that 7ᵗʰ inning on Saturday. With Jacob Young on the bench on Saturday, Butera had his best defender and the 3ʳᵈ best defensive outfielder in MLB available. What was he saving him for when he inserted, a pitch-to-contact reliever, Tom Cosgrove, into the game? As it turned out, Dylan Crews was in center field, and he couldn’t catch that ball that led to 4-runs scoring — but Crews was there in time and the ball clanked off of his wrist, meaning he dove too far for it. Young is arguably the best defender in baseball at outfield walls. You catch that ball — it’s 3-outs, and you move onto the 8ᵗʰ inning with a 4-0 lead. Brad Lord pitches the final 2-innings like he did, and the Nats win the game WITHOUT extra innings. And guess what, Orlando Ribalta would not have been needed to pitch on Saturday. Instead, Ribalta could have pitched the 9ᵗʰ…
How Can the Nationals Build a Sustainable Starting Rotation?
Frustration of the Washington Nationals fans with the state of the team’s pitching is palpable, and you can’t fault the fanbase for feeling that way. After a promising start that took the baseball world by surprise — and made the team odds-on favorite on PowerPlay sports book to make the playoffs (at one point in time in 2026), there came the cold shower of reality. The Nationals started stringing together avoidable losses and fell so precipitously that their postseason hopes are now all but dead. There is a consensus that subpar pitching is the reason for this slide in the standings, and the numbers bear it out. Nationals are ranked 24 th in MLB this season in pitching efficiency and last in blown saves, and they clearly need an overhaul if they hope to put together a starting rotation worth keeping long term. Take Inventory of the Talent Under Contract While the current pitching room is certainly not up to the task, the Nationals already have their ace on the roster. Cade Cavalli was a bright spot during the season and he cemented his credentials as one of the top starters in the entire league, even entering the back of the Cy Young Award conversation. It might also be sensible to give another chance to Jake Irvin and Jackson Kent for next season under this new coaching and offseason plans. Finally, a group of prospects from the developmental pipeline might be ready for a call up to the big leagues…
The Nats’ pitching situation
Remember those days when Washington Nationals fans were spoiled in 2015 with a rotation of Max Scherzer, Stephen Strasburg, Jordan Zimmermann, and Gio Gonzalez? That was the ❝Where’s my ring?!?❞ team. The 2015 rotation was so good that Tanner Roark got moved to the bullpen for Doug Fister who was named the 5ᵗʰ starter on that team. Even that 2019 World Series team had an incredible starting rotation. We yearn for those days. The Nats used to be built on great starting rotations until the 2021 trade deadline. With the recent surge from Cade Cavalli as the team’s ace, the Nats could be headed back to the good times of great starting pitchers. Do you think Andrew Alvarez is now looking like a Gio? He just pushed his ERA down to 3.47. By the way, Sandy Alcantara ‘s ERA is 3.46. What if Jake Bennett Luis Perales makes it or DJ Herz or Connelly Early for next season? Travis Sykora looks like the next ace in the system, and who knows if Jarlin Susana is a starter in the long-term or the Nats answer to Aroldis Chapman. There are some big names in the system even beyond them with the newly acquired Jack Cebert and Josh Hartle from those trade deadline deals. There are others in High-A and Single-A also. Top Starter Needed and A Closer too Still, it sure would be nice for the Lerner ownership group to sign a long-term veteran arm and increase payroll significantly. Sign the…
Blown Save №35 turns into an embarrassing loss!
The Washington Nationals had a 2-0 lead going into the 9ᵗʰ inning. The pitching was excellent to that point. The Nats received 6.0 scoreless from starter Andrew Alvarez and 2.0 zeroes from Clayton Beeter out of the bullpen. In the final frame, the wheels came off the bus, and the Marlins scored six runs to put a blown-save-loss on the Nats bullpen. That was the Nats bullpen’s 35ᵗʰ blown save of the season, and two from tying the 2024 Chicago White Sox record of 37. The previous record was by the 2021 Washington Nationals with 36. With an overused bullpen, manager Blake Butera went to Max Kranick for the 9th inning to get the save. The Marlins tested him right away with a perfect bunt single. Then Kranick put two more runners on-base to load the bases with one out. Butera went to the lefty Tom Cosgrove who plunked the first batter in a lefty-lefty at-bat. That scored one run to make the score 2-1. The next batter who Cosgrove faced, hit a sacrifice fly that tied the game, and on that same play, Andrew Pinckney, who subbed into center field, caught the ball and threw to third base with urgency. Pinckney missed his mark, and the ball sailed well over the head of the cut-off man and went into the dugout allowing two more runs to score and make the score 4-2 for the Marlins. Third baseman Jorbit Vivas didn’t try to block the throw, and Cosgrove didn’t back…
Game #139 CJ Abrams Finally Plays at 2nd Base
The Washington Nationals won yesterday on a 10ᵗʰ inning walk-off by Dylan Crews. That was the team’s first walk-off win of the 2026 season. In another first, CJ Abrams will play his first game today at second base. In another first, the Nats have won two consecutive games against the Miami Marlins this season and have a chance to win this 4-game series with a win today. At 1 pm today, James Wood will be playing a rehab game at Double-A Harrisburg. This marks Wood’s first game since injuring his oblique back on August 3ʳᵈ which also happened to be the trade deadline day. Getting Wood back into this lineup at the start to September would be a great lineup enhancement before the team flies to the west coast to face the Los Angeles Dodgers on Friday and the San Diego Padres on Labor Day. The Nats are now on a modest 3-game winning streak. Can they extend this longer as there are just 23 games remaining in this regular season. To avoid a 90 loss season, the Nats need to get 8-games in the win column. And to get to a winning season, the Nats would have to go 17-6 to finish the season. ❝We’ve been waiting for a walk-off win, right? You got one. There you go. There you go. … Find a way to get on-base and pass it to the next guy. It’s fun being the hero of course. … Knowing the you have the trust…
Postgamer: Nats get their 1st Walk-Off Win of 2026 courtesy of Crews!
The Washington Nationals went 137 games this season without a walk-off win — so why not get one on Caturday? The hero was Dylan Crews who hit the walk-off single with bases loaded in the 10ᵗʰ inning for the game winner over the Miami Marlins. In the 7ᵗʰ inning, the Nats had what seemed like a comfortable 4-0 lead. On defense, Crews couldn’t glove a 2-out flyout in the right-field gap to score two runs. It was a tough play with an xBA of.700, but Crews was there on a dive and the ball missed his glove, and clanked off of his wrist. It only made sense that the former LSU superstar, who excelled in the clutch in college, would be the player who came through for his MLB team when they needed just a single to win it. That was Crews first MLB walk-off hit. ❝That’s an awesome win right there. What a dogfight. … It’s awesome. We were going through it the past couple of weeks — but with this team, we’re never out of a game. … It was a great collective win for us today.❞ — said Crews after the game This was a huge crowd today at 32,055 celebrating Caturday as well as James Wood bobblehead day. It was also a marquee pitching matchup between aces on the mound for both teams with Cade Cavalli for the Nats, and former Cy Young winner, Sandy Alcantara, for the Marlins. In this matchup of №1’s, it was…