Notes and quotes from the series finale in Chavez Ravine... ABRAMS UP TOP: CJ Abrams took a four-game hit streak into the series finale in LA, with five of six hits over the four games extra bases hits, (three doubles, a triple, and a HR). Abrams, 23, extended the streak early in the third of three in Dodger Stadium on Wednesday, taking the debuting Dodgers’ starter Landon Knack’s second pitch, a 1-0 fastball pretty much down the middle to right-center field (392 ft. from home) for a leadoff home run, and a 1-0 lead early in the rubber match of the series. It was the 5th home run of the year ..read more

Notes and quotes from the series opener in Los Angeles... NO PRESSURE, MITCHELL!: As the Nationals’ Communications Department noted before last night’s game, 24-year-old, 2020 5th Round pick Mitchell Parker, who made his MLB debut in the series opener against the Los Angeles Dodgers in Dodger Stadium, became just the second pitcher in MLB history to, “... face three former MVPs as the first three hitters of his career,” with the Dodgers lining up Mookie Betts, Shohei Ohtani, and Freddy Freeman against Washington’s southpaw. Citing info from Elias Sports, the Nationals wrote Parker, “... [join ..read more

Notes and quotes from the Nationals’ weekend in Oakland, CA. MITCHELL PARKER TO MAKE MLB DEBUT IN LA: When he spoke to reporters before the second of three with the A’s in Oakland on Saturday, Davey Martinez was not ready to announce who’d start for Washington in the series opener with the LA Dodgers tonight in Chavez Ravine. “No. I was talking to [GM Mike Rizzo] today about some other things,” Martinez said, “... but we haven’t decided who’s going to pitch on Monday, but I will hopefully let you guys know tomorrow.” Asked at the time if a bullpen game was a possibility, the manager said it w ..read more

Notes and quotes from MacKenzie Gore’s dominant start against the A’s... Mackenzie Gore, Eno Sarris wrote at The Athletic this week, appears to have done the work necessary to take a step in his development, at least early in his third season in the majors. “This season,” Sarris noted, “Gore is…”: • Throwing the four-seam 2 mph harder, with more ride • Throwing the slider 3 mph harder • Throwing the curve 1 tick harder, with more drop • Throwing the changeup almost 2 ticks slower Going into start No. 3, Gore was averaging 97 MPH on his fastball, up from 94.7 and 95.0 MPH in his first two se ..read more

Notes and quotes from the Nats’ series opener with the A’s in Oakland Coliseum... With two on and two out in the third inning of his outing against the Phillies last week in Nationals Park — after a two-out double by Trea Turner and an intentional walk to Bryce Harper — Jake Irvin got up 0-2 on J.T. Realmuto, but left the next pitch, a curve, up in the zone for Philadelphia’s catcher. Realmuto hit it 390 feet to left-center for a three-run blast which accounted for 3 of 4 runs the 26-year-old starter gave up in what ended up being a six-inning start. “The outing as a whole was really good,”Ir ..read more

Notes and quotes following an off-day for the Nationals... PUTTING THE O [AND SB?] IN NATINALS: Davey Martinez praised the work his hitters did after an 8-1 win in the first game of three with the Giants in San Francisco this week. “We’re going to run. We’re going to bunt. We’re going to create havoc. And we’re going hit home runs...” - Davey Martinez on 2024 Nationals The Nationals combined for 10 hits and took seven walks in the series opener, with Martinez telling reporters the club stuck to their plan against a still-building Blake Snell, and knocked him out after just three innings in wh ..read more

The Nationals have a day off before they start a series with the Oakland A’s tomorrow... JOSIAH GRAY’S REPLACEMENT: Joan Adon got the start in place of the injured Josiah Gray on Tuesday night in Oracle Park, but the 25-year-old starter (who acquitted himself well in San Francisco) was optioned out to Triple-A Rochester on Wednesday, with catcher Drew Millas called up for the finale with the Giants. Nationals’ skipper Davey Martinez was asked before the second of three games in the series if we might see Jackson Rutledge up while Josiah Gray is out resting his injured elbow. Rutledge, the rec ..read more

Notes and quotes from the second game of three with the Giants in Oracle Park... GRAY TO IL WITH RIGHT ELBOW/FOREARM FLEXOR STRAIN: “Josiah Gray has been placed on the 15-Day Injured List (right elbow/forearm flexor strain),” the Nationals wrote on X/Twitter, with the 26-year-old scratched from his scheduled start against the San Francisco Giants last night. Joan Adon, Gray’s replacement for the second of three for Washington in Oracle Park, was already with the club, having joined the team on Monday as part of the taxi squad for their current road trip, and as Gray and his manager told repor ..read more

Notes and quotes from the series opener in Oracle Park... OFFENSE IN ORACLE: Lane Thomas started the season 2 for 28 with no extra base hits, three walks, and eight Ks over his first seven games and 32 plate appearances. Thomas, 28, played in a career-high 156 games, and posted career highs in doubles (36), homers (28), and stolen bases (20), finishing up at .268/.315/.468 and 3.0 fWAR over 682 PAs in 2023. He got off to a slow start this season, but finished up this past weekend’s series with the Philadelphia Phillies in the nation’s capital with back-to-back two-hit games in which the outfi ..read more

Notes and quotes from Saturday in the nation’s capital... With an update on the Nationals.com Transactions page, news of Stephen Strasburg’s official retirement became public, less than a year after a rumored ceremony ended up getting scrapped when negotiations on how exactly he’d end his career hit a snag. The status update for the now-35-year-old, 2009 No. 1 overall pick comes 667 days after the 2019 World Series MVP threw his last pitch in a Nationals uniform on June 9th of ‘22. Strasburg never fully recovered from a Thoracic Outlet Surgery in 2021 which the club and pitcher both hoped wou ..read more