Getting a usable up-and-down reliever and a DSL lottery ticket outfielder for a short-side platoon bat like Amed Rosario is a good day’s work for a first deadline trade at the helm, so a tip of the cap to Mike DeBartolo there. Clayton Beeter, whenever he comes back to the majors, will become a project for Sean Doolittle and Jim Hickey; Beeter has been a walk machine since college. But he has also never had a full-season strikeout rate in the single digits, so there is a potential weapon to unlock as a strong late-inning reliever. As for Martínez, he is repeating the DSL as an 18-year-old and hitting an eye-popping .404/.507/.632 - Hopefully, he can follow in the footsteps of Dashyll Tejeda, who similarly broke out in his second island summer in 2024 and kept up the pace in the FCL this year. Happy trails to Rosario in the Bronx.

[We will have more on the full trade later today on the website, but in the meantime, check out our player profile of Clayton Beeter.]

Maybe the Nats read what we wrote last week about their struggles in day games, because they got off to a good start and eventually won handily, 7-2. CJ Abrams sent the first pitch of the game in and out of the upper deck, his first of four times reaching base. After manufacturing the next two runs courtesy of sacrifice flies (after an Abrams single and two stolen bases the first time, a Daylen Lile triple the second), the Nats broke open the game with a four-run fifth inning for the final margin.

Meanwhile, pitching in front of what might have been every person he knows back home in Bloomington, Minnesota, Jake Irvin breezed through the first inning on four pitches en route to an extremely efficient seven frames on 86 pitches (63 strikes). He gave up some hard contact (Matt Wallner sent one to the right field concourse 452 feet away) and only struck out a pair, but overall it was a very good performance from Irvin.

Washington Nationals Dylan Crews is poised to start his long-anticipated rehab assignment with Triple-A Rochester as early as Tuesday, marking the crucial final phase before he rejoins the Nationals' active roster. After missing two months due to a strained left oblique muscle, the cautious approach adopted by the Nationals has ensured that Crews ticks off every step in his recovery process. The Rochester Red Wings are kicking off with a road series in Charlotte this week, which will serve as his rehab assignment as of now.

Reflecting on the recovery timeline, Crews acknowledged, “I know it took maybe a little bit longer than some people would’ve wanted it to, but we’re trying to make sure it’s all right, and that way we don’t have to restart and have to do this whole thing all over again.” Before this rehab step, he spent weeks engaging in batting practice, defensive drills, and baserunning, and recently added live pitching to his routine.

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📌 Rochester Red Wings Narrowly Lose 8-7 to Scranton/Wilkes-Barre in Series Finale (The Nats Report)

📌 Baseball Hall of Fame: Active players on track for Cooperstown, plus how Aaron Judge helped himself this year [CBS Sports]

📌 Ichiro joins Sabathia, Wagner, Parker, Allen in Hall of Fame [ESPN]