Good Morning, Washington Nationals fans.
Here are your Washington Nationals Morning headlines, news, analysis, and more for Monday, July 13, 2026.
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📅 NEXT AT BAT
Tonight: Home run derby at 8 PM ET
Tuesday: All-Star game at 8 PM ET — CJ Abrams, James Wood, and Foster Griffin will all play at some point in the game.
Wednesday: All-Star break day off
Thursday: All-Star break day off
FIRST HALF RECAP
⚾ DUGOUT DISPATCH
The Nats are halfway through the season and are still in the wild-card race. Washington is 48-49 and is in fourth place in the NL East and four games behind in the wild-card race. The Nats are tied for first in total runs scored, lead the MLB in stolen bases, and ended the first half of the season with a +7 point differential.
📊 THE BOX SCORE:
First half MVPs: James Wood leads the team in home runs (28), hits (103), slugging percentage (.575), and walks (79). CJ Abrams leads all NL shortstops in home runs (20), RBIs (67), and slugging percentage (.510). Foster Griffin leads the team in wins (10), ERA (2.77), and WHIP (1.02).
Best month: The Nats' best month was May, when they went 16-12 and ended the month 31-29. May had some exciting moments, like the return of Dylan Crews, James Woods' inside the park grand slam against the Mets, Curtis Meads' two home run game against the Guardians, and Jake Irvin's seven strikeout win against the Braves when the Nats only allowed one hit all game.
Best single-game performance: On June 30 against the Boston Red Sox, Cade Cavalli threw a career-high 13 strikeouts and only allowed one hit through seven innings.
Things to improve on in the second half: If the Nats want to be playoff contenders, then the thing they need to improve on the most is their bullpen. Washington has the most blown saves this year with 28, and because of that, the Nats are four games behind in the wild-card race. With the trade deadline being three weeks away, the Nats are running out of time to improve their bullpen by making a trade for a reliever.
🗣️ LOCKER ROOM LORE
Manager Blake Butera said, “We wanna win every game. There are a lot of games we should've won till this point; the record is what the record is. At the end of the day, we're just focused on trying to win every game.”
💬 FAN’S CHOICE
Do you think the Nats will have a better or worse second half of the season?
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NATS GET SWEPT IN SERIES AGAINST THE YANKEES
The Nats blow another lead late in the game and fall below .500 going into the All-Star break.
Final Score: Nationals 3, Yankees 5
Date: July 12, 2026
Location: Nationals Park
⚾ DUGOUT DISPATCH
In yesterday's loss to the Yankees, James Wood made Nationals history by hitting his tenth leadoff home run of the season, which broke the record for most leadoff home runs in franchise history. Along with that, Cade Cavalli started the game and threw five strikeouts and only allowed two runs through six innings.
📊 THE BOX SCORE
Winning Pitcher: Ryan Yarbrough ([2–0], 0.1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 1 BB, 0 K)
Losing Pitcher: Andrew Alvarez ([2–3], 2.0 IP, 4 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 1 BB, 2 K)
Key Hitters:
James Wood: 1-for-2, HR, 2 BB
Curtis Mead: 1-for-2, HR
José Tena: 2-for-2
Team RISP: 1-for-8
Errors: Nats 0, Yankees 1
Attendance: 33,699
🎙️ LOCKER ROOM LORE
After the game, manager Blake Butera commented on Cade Cavallis' pitching, saying, “He threw the ball great… Only giving up two against this lineup, I thought he'd play through the whole game.”
📅 NEXT AT BAT
Next Game: vs. Athletics, 7/17/2026, 9:40 PM ET, Sutter Health Park
Probables: Nats — TBD, Athletics — TBD
Key Storyline: How will Washington play after the All-Star break?
💬 FAN’S CHOICE
Who was yesterday's MVP?
✅ Wood
✅ Cavalli
✅ Mead
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ROSTER CHANGES
Photo from Nationals Instagram
⚾ DUGOUT DISPATCH
Yesterday, we saw the MLB debut of first baseman/ designated hitter Abimelec Ortiz. The other newsworthy roster change yesterday was that Matt Krook was designated for assignment after he pitched in three games for the Nats.
📊 THE BOX SCORE:
MacKenzie Gore trade: Ortiz was one of the players Washington acquired from the Rangers during the MacKenzie Gore trade. Out of everyone the Nats acquired from the MacKenzie Gore trade, Ortiz is the first one to play in the MLB.
Ortiz stats: With Rochester, Ortiz had a .235 batting average and a .481 slugging percentage. In his MLB debut yesterday, Ortiz went 1-for-2 with a double in the bottom of the fourth.
Krook stats: In his three games for the Nats since being signed, Krook pitched 2.2 innings, gave up three hits, two runs, hit one batter, walked two batters, and struck out two.
🗣️ LOCKER ROOM LORE
When asked about his MLB debut, Ortiz replied in Spanish, saying, “It made me want to cry because I was thinking about all of the years, the trials, all the tests, all the difficulties that I have gone through to be able to reach the top level.”
💬 FAN’S CHOICE
Do you think Ortiz will be a good addition to the team? What should the next move be with Krook?
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Speed Reads
📌 Washington Nationals 2026 Draft: Chris Hacopian Pick Brings Elite Bat to System (The Nats Report)