Jake Irvin was efficient in his return, but the Nationals wasted big nights from Luis García Jr. and Daylen Lile when they couldn't convert in the clutch
I’d be shocked if they trade C.J. at the deadline. Only a handful of contenders have the prospects needed to acquire him without weakening their chances of winning the World Series. The Brewers are the one team I could see pulling the trigger. Adding C.J. would give them three postseason runs with him under control, which could justify the prospect cost for a franchise that has never won a World Series and has not even reached one since 1982. The Nationals might actually get more for him in the offseason, when more teams could join the bidding.
You are correct. The Pilots played one season in Seattle, went 64–98 and moved to Milwaukee in 1970, becoming the Brewers. Milwaukee had previously lost the Braves, who moved from Boston to Milwaukee and then to Atlanta, becoming the first major league team in the Deep South.
Here is an interesting bit of Pilots trivia: They selected Lou Piniella in the expansion draft but traded him to Kansas City before the season began. Piniella promptly won the 1969 American League Rookie of the Year Award.
Maybe the curse followed both cities. Seattle and Milwaukee are two of only five current MLB franchises that have never won a World Series.
Why is Young be talked about as trade bait, his contract status ? I'd rather trade Crews and keep Young but guessing their contract status dictates otherwise
He's a defensive first centerfielder with a .680 OPS. He's valuable to a team that needs a good fourth outfielder or is desperate to improve their outfield defense come October. He's less valuable to the Nationals when they have guys like Franklin and Pinkney in AAA. If you can get any sort of valuable asset for him, it makes sense to move him.
.693, but much harder hit balls generally. Like Wood, once he starts elevating more consistently, he'll get much better results. Check out what Jordan Walker is finally doing this year after a few years of pedigree and struggle.
Wouldn't say terrible . If Wood makes that catch it's a different story . Sure balls we're hit hard but he got through 5 with only 60 some pitches and 3 runs scored against
Not being sarcastic. Saying he deserved much better doesn’t mean he was great, means he deserved much better than he got. We’ve seen terrible; if you think that was terrible then we’ve been watching different pitchers and games all year…
This loss was really on the offense and poor defense. They went 0-for-9 with runners in scoring position and could not bring García home from third with fewer than two outs. Wood’s bad jump also extended the fifth and led directly to the tying homer.
Spencer Nusbaum of The Athletic mentioned that Wood may be getting a little tired. Wood says he is fine, but his outfield play has looked off lately. Maybe give him a game at DH and let Jacob Young play the outfield.
Wood is the DH two times a week, it seems. It seems to be two games in the field, one as DH. But yes, he seems to be getting tired. Can't rest him completely until this Braves-Phillies games are over.
I love this team but the last 2 games have been beyond frustrating. These series vs the Braves, Yankees and Phillies are also a clear example of how far we are from being a real contender. If we lose tomorrow night the season is likely a wrap without some 5 game winning streak which this team hasn’t really done.
As much as I want them to break through, they have stayed right around .500. Lack of timely hitting is missing and I really don’t know if there is a fix for not being able to do it.
The odds are roughly two out of three that a runner on third with fewer than two outs will score. I don’t have the Nationals’ odds, it’s too depressing to calculate.
The Nats rank 27th over the Brewers and the Cubs. The 2026 Nats version is worse than the 2025 Nats team. The Angels and Mariners are the top two. The rankings are as random as random can be. This is why most sabermatricians don’t pay attention to this stat and don’t believe in “clutch”. The closet things that can measure “clutch “ are the Pinch Hitting splits. Jose Tena as a PH is hitting .333 with a wRC 167+ but the majority of fans want to get rid of him
This is a loveable team again, fun to watch, competitive, loaded with talent... but this week will likely shine a light on the gap they still must close before being a true contender.
My hope is that Toboni can pull off another trade or two that accelerates the process and helps get them to the next level in 2027.
In a way, this team is at a similar stage where they were in 2011. That team was no longer bad (unless the previous few years). They were at around .500 for most of the season but had a slump right after the All-Star break after their then-manager, Jim Riggleman, resigned when the team would not sign him to a contract extension. The team did better in September and finished at 80-81, one game below .500 (and one game not played due to a rainout that was never made up).
The next off-season, they traded prospects to get Gio Gonzalez and the next season they were a contender.
Summer is the time to get more serious about contending. Bring in a free agent or two. It's probably not time to go for broke in trading of prospects but if a trade upgrade can be done without too high a cost, then do it. (The potential lockout, of course, makes it harder to plan next season.)
100% on point, with the caveat that this winter actually, unfortunately, could actually turn into summer before the lockout ends and teams are allowed to speak with players. That will be particularly rough on the pitcher free agent market. Toboni and team will have to work their tails off to be prepared for a fast-moving market once the lockout ends. It won't be an ideal situation for him to deal with the owners, who since Ted's passing notoriously require a half-dozen sign-offs on every big decision.
This team seems to have no clutch gene. They are the opposite of the 2015 KC Royals. That was a team during the playoffs that year, if KC were down by 2 runs or less, the Royals had them where they wanted them and could mount a comeback to win. KC had an uber bullpen with so many great relievers.
Meanwhile, it seems that when the Nats have a lead of 2 runs or less, the other team is in a great position and will generally make the comeback. A team who's never had a walkoff win this season. (I don't know how teams develop clutchness. But know this is a very young team that not much was expected of.)
But in thinking about the KC Royals of 2015, their formula was not something that could be sustained beyond that year. They lost relievers to free agency plus some were not effective the next season. And then KC sucked two seasons later and were in "Play like shit, get Witt" mode. In other words, tanking, but not on purpose. There is the old saying in hockey that "Goaltending is voodoo!" Seems that that is the case for relief pitching as well. Often, last year's bullpen solution doesn't work this year. Or that was certainly the case of the Nationals and the St. Louis Cardinals during the previous decade when both those teams were genuinely good. (Those were the days, my friends. I thought they'd never end.....)
I’d be happy if they were never broadcast on ESPN again. The nitwits in the booth didn’t know it’s Daylen Lile not Darren and they called Vivas making a catch in foul territory when House made the catch after replacing Vivas. I much prefer the home announcers on NatsTV. If MLB wants all games broadcast on MLBTV of ESPN, they have to find a way to keep the hometown booth.
They made some mistakes but they were highly positive on the Nats. They had a lot of great things to say about the team. I’m fine with the couple mistakes they made.
Our local guys haven’t been cream of the crop either. I did really enjoy Span the other day, and I like Kolko more than the average fan, and I think Dan deserves the role he has. But it would be refreshing to get a reset in our booth. I really miss FP.
Bye bye, Foster, Luis, Jacob... CJ?
It's time to set it in stone. This team just isn't very good. Sell and be done with it. Hopefully they won't lose so many winnable games next year.
If only we could pick up a Daniel Murphy and a Howie Kendrick. The two ultimate professional hitters.
Or Curtis Mead.
You’re right. He had many timely hits and it was rare when he wasn’t making contact. I trusted him at the plate.
I’d be shocked if they trade C.J. at the deadline. Only a handful of contenders have the prospects needed to acquire him without weakening their chances of winning the World Series. The Brewers are the one team I could see pulling the trigger. Adding C.J. would give them three postseason runs with him under control, which could justify the prospect cost for a franchise that has never won a World Series and has not even reached one since 1982. The Nationals might actually get more for him in the offseason, when more teams could join the bidding.
Agree it's unlikely. That's why I put the question mark after his name. Ultimately if a team blows the Nats away with an offer, I'd take it.
What I'd prefer now is to see him DH 2-3x/week with Nunez at SS.
Technically, the Brewers are the old Seattle Pilots franchise, which moved to Milwaukee after their first season.
You are correct. The Pilots played one season in Seattle, went 64–98 and moved to Milwaukee in 1970, becoming the Brewers. Milwaukee had previously lost the Braves, who moved from Boston to Milwaukee and then to Atlanta, becoming the first major league team in the Deep South.
Here is an interesting bit of Pilots trivia: They selected Lou Piniella in the expansion draft but traded him to Kansas City before the season began. Piniella promptly won the 1969 American League Rookie of the Year Award.
Maybe the curse followed both cities. Seattle and Milwaukee are two of only five current MLB franchises that have never won a World Series.
The curse of Lou Piniella. 🙂
Are you kidding? Sell the team. Such negativity.
Why is Young be talked about as trade bait, his contract status ? I'd rather trade Crews and keep Young but guessing their contract status dictates otherwise
Agree! Young is a great center fielder. His hitting have improved.
He's a defensive first centerfielder with a .680 OPS. He's valuable to a team that needs a good fourth outfielder or is desperate to improve their outfield defense come October. He's less valuable to the Nationals when they have guys like Franklin and Pinkney in AAA. If you can get any sort of valuable asset for him, it makes sense to move him.
What is Crews ops? Guess we'd get more for Young
.693, but much harder hit balls generally. Like Wood, once he starts elevating more consistently, he'll get much better results. Check out what Jordan Walker is finally doing this year after a few years of pedigree and struggle.
The Nats lose their eleventh game in which they had a three-run lead and fall to 13-16 in one-run games.
That’s no way to compete with the elite.
Jake deserved SOOO much better…
He did? He gave up 8 hard hit balls out of 17 batted balls. That's like James Wood level.
He did….one left the park.
He got 5 whiffs and had a CSW of 16%. He didn't miss bats; he didn't get any called strikes; and they hit the ball hard off him.
I can't tell if you are being sarcastic. Irvin was terrible tonight.
Wouldn't say terrible . If Wood makes that catch it's a different story . Sure balls we're hit hard but he got through 5 with only 60 some pitches and 3 runs scored against
Not being sarcastic. Saying he deserved much better doesn’t mean he was great, means he deserved much better than he got. We’ve seen terrible; if you think that was terrible then we’ve been watching different pitchers and games all year…
In other ballparks he would have given up more runs. He pitched about how I expected, better than Mikolas, Littell. But nowhere near Cade or Griffin.
This loss was really on the offense and poor defense. They went 0-for-9 with runners in scoring position and could not bring García home from third with fewer than two outs. Wood’s bad jump also extended the fifth and led directly to the tying homer.
Spencer Nusbaum of The Athletic mentioned that Wood may be getting a little tired. Wood says he is fine, but his outfield play has looked off lately. Maybe give him a game at DH and let Jacob Young play the outfield.
Yep. That play in yesterday's game where Wood failed to hustle comes to mind.
Wood is the DH two times a week, it seems. It seems to be two games in the field, one as DH. But yes, he seems to be getting tired. Can't rest him completely until this Braves-Phillies games are over.
In 117 games, Wood has DH’d 23 times, or about 1.3 times per week.
I love this team but the last 2 games have been beyond frustrating. These series vs the Braves, Yankees and Phillies are also a clear example of how far we are from being a real contender. If we lose tomorrow night the season is likely a wrap without some 5 game winning streak which this team hasn’t really done.
As much as I want them to break through, they have stayed right around .500. Lack of timely hitting is missing and I really don’t know if there is a fix for not being able to do it.
Mark, your write up was spot on.
Does anyone have stats on us getting runs in with fewer than 2 outs without a hit? Seems like almost never? We must not have a lot of sac flies?
The odds are roughly two out of three that a runner on third with fewer than two outs will score. I don’t have the Nationals’ odds, it’s too depressing to calculate.
True. 23rd in MLB in sac flies
It seems like that also in an extra inning game. The ghost runner dies.
Here’s a stat of Runners Left in Scoring Position per game:
https://www.teamrankings.com/mlb/stat/runners-left-in-scoring-position-per-game
The Nats rank 27th over the Brewers and the Cubs. The 2026 Nats version is worse than the 2025 Nats team. The Angels and Mariners are the top two. The rankings are as random as random can be. This is why most sabermatricians don’t pay attention to this stat and don’t believe in “clutch”. The closet things that can measure “clutch “ are the Pinch Hitting splits. Jose Tena as a PH is hitting .333 with a wRC 167+ but the majority of fans want to get rid of him
This is a loveable team again, fun to watch, competitive, loaded with talent... but this week will likely shine a light on the gap they still must close before being a true contender.
My hope is that Toboni can pull off another trade or two that accelerates the process and helps get them to the next level in 2027.
In a way, this team is at a similar stage where they were in 2011. That team was no longer bad (unless the previous few years). They were at around .500 for most of the season but had a slump right after the All-Star break after their then-manager, Jim Riggleman, resigned when the team would not sign him to a contract extension. The team did better in September and finished at 80-81, one game below .500 (and one game not played due to a rainout that was never made up).
The next off-season, they traded prospects to get Gio Gonzalez and the next season they were a contender.
Summer is the time to get more serious about contending. Bring in a free agent or two. It's probably not time to go for broke in trading of prospects but if a trade upgrade can be done without too high a cost, then do it. (The potential lockout, of course, makes it harder to plan next season.)
100% on point, with the caveat that this winter actually, unfortunately, could actually turn into summer before the lockout ends and teams are allowed to speak with players. That will be particularly rough on the pitcher free agent market. Toboni and team will have to work their tails off to be prepared for a fast-moving market once the lockout ends. It won't be an ideal situation for him to deal with the owners, who since Ted's passing notoriously require a half-dozen sign-offs on every big decision.
We are 23rd in MLB in sac flies. I imagine we are bad at similar stats.
Crews and CJ 0-8, that’s a killer.
Very disappointing your 3rd and 4th batters
Brutal
This team seems to have no clutch gene. They are the opposite of the 2015 KC Royals. That was a team during the playoffs that year, if KC were down by 2 runs or less, the Royals had them where they wanted them and could mount a comeback to win. KC had an uber bullpen with so many great relievers.
Meanwhile, it seems that when the Nats have a lead of 2 runs or less, the other team is in a great position and will generally make the comeback. A team who's never had a walkoff win this season. (I don't know how teams develop clutchness. But know this is a very young team that not much was expected of.)
But in thinking about the KC Royals of 2015, their formula was not something that could be sustained beyond that year. They lost relievers to free agency plus some were not effective the next season. And then KC sucked two seasons later and were in "Play like shit, get Witt" mode. In other words, tanking, but not on purpose. There is the old saying in hockey that "Goaltending is voodoo!" Seems that that is the case for relief pitching as well. Often, last year's bullpen solution doesn't work this year. Or that was certainly the case of the Nationals and the St. Louis Cardinals during the previous decade when both those teams were genuinely good. (Those were the days, my friends. I thought they'd never end.....)
3 SOLO HOMERS, I THINK
😞
I have that song The End by the Doors in my head. When they trade Garcia and Griffin it will be Apocolypse Now.
Had their chance on the big stage
And some hitters fell short while Lile and Garcia were beasts.
Nice to see Jake
Gave game away.
There is always tomorrow
I’d be happy if they were never broadcast on ESPN again. The nitwits in the booth didn’t know it’s Daylen Lile not Darren and they called Vivas making a catch in foul territory when House made the catch after replacing Vivas. I much prefer the home announcers on NatsTV. If MLB wants all games broadcast on MLBTV of ESPN, they have to find a way to keep the hometown booth.
Glad I didn't hear that. I had the TV muted and synced to Charlie and Dave.
They made some mistakes but they were highly positive on the Nats. They had a lot of great things to say about the team. I’m fine with the couple mistakes they made.
I’d still rather listen to the local guys. They know the team way better than
Our local guys haven’t been cream of the crop either. I did really enjoy Span the other day, and I like Kolko more than the average fan, and I think Dan deserves the role he has. But it would be refreshing to get a reset in our booth. I really miss FP.
I noticed that too. If you had Costas or Buck that would never happen. Or Jon Miller who used to do games on espn
Can’t believe the O’s let Miller go. He was the best!
That was a hole Angelos decision after Miller criticized the team by just stating the facts
Any suggestion to trade Foster Griffin gives me pause for thought: isn’t good pitching one of the big vacancies the team needs to fill? Just asking.
The continued RISP woes make me think they are pressing way too much.
Sure wish they would play small ball when it's called for ... Crews bunts in the 7th and it's a tie game.