Good Morning Washington Nationals Fan,

Here are the latest headlines and analyses around the Washington Nationals and Major League Baseball for today, August 21st. My name is Haden Raymer. The Nationals beat the Phillies this weekend. Let’s talk about it.

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Leading today’s Morning Briefing: Nationals take series over the Philadelphia Phillies

On Friday night, the Nationals continued their never-back-down attitude by scoring six runs in the bottom of the fourth in response to a six-run top of the fourth by the Phillies. This comeback included a three-run blast by shortstop CJ Abrams. Joan Adon didn’t have his best stuff and didn’t pitch after completing the fourth inning, but the bullpen showed up and closed out the game, with only Kyle Finnegan allowing an earned run in the top of the ninth, but still earning the save. Stone Garrett also hit two doubles in this 8-7 victory.

On Saturday, the Nationals were up 3-0 heading into the top of the seventh, thanks to a Jake Irvin six-inning and seven-strikeout performance. A combination of Jose A. Ferrer and Andres Machado allowed three runs to tie the game in the seventh. Cory Abbott allowed eight runs before recording three outs in the ninth. Lane Thomas and Riley Adams both doubled in the 12-3 loss.

Last night on ESPN, the Nationals put up four runs before Zach Wheeler could record an out, and then did not record a run for the rest of the game. Trevor Williams threw six scoreless innings. Mason Thompson and Kyle Finnegan allowed three runs in the ninth, but still pulled off the win for a 4-3 victory and to win the series.

The Nats Report Player of the Series is Lane Thomas, who hit .583/.615/.667 over the weekend.

The Nationals are off tonight, beginning a three-series road trip tomorrow. The first stop is the New York Yankees, who are on an eight-game losing streak.

Roster Updates

After giving up eight runs on Saturday, Cory Abbott was optioned to Triple-A for Mason Thompson, who was activated off the injured list. The Nationals also swapped right-handed infielders on the roster, swapping Jeter Downs in favor of former top prospect Carter Kieboom.

In non-major league news, the Nationals also shuffled their minors. Second overall pick Dylan Crews was promoted from Low-A to Double-A Harrisburg, joining catcher Israel Pineda, third basemen Brady House and Trey Lipscomb, and outfielders James Wood and Robert Hassell III.

Dylan Crews wasn’t the only prospect to receive a promotion. Jacob Young was promoted to Triple-A Rochester. Both Andrew Pinckney and Yohandy Morales were moved to High-A Wilmington.

Why it matters: On the major league side of things, this is the first of many moves that we will see within the bullpen in the coming weeks. Thaddeus Ward, Tanner Rainey, and Carl Edwards Jr. have all begun rehab assignments, which makes their return to the major league roster imminent. On the bright side, this sets up the Nationals to have one of the better units that the organization has seen in a long time, even if it is only for a month. Rainey, once the closer of the future, will now have to fight for high-leverage innings with Finnegan, Hunter Harvey, Jordan Weems, and Andres Machado. CEJ and Thompson have also both been serviceable high-leverage arms in the past.

This also is sort of the last chance for Carter Kieboom. Forced to learn a new position in the majors, Kieboom never really hit like the prospect pedigree suggested he would in the major. Then a Tommy John surgery forced him out for a year, but Kieboom is finally back playing baseball while being healthy. He was hitting .264/.360/.429 in Rochester, which for the environment is right about average. After this season, there will be a 40-man roster crunch, and Kieboom has to hit his weight to stay with the organization that drafted him in the first round in 2016.

As for the prospects being promoted, it was about right on schedule. These players were going to excel at Low-A given their college resumes. This will provide a much-needed challenge for them. Crews skips Wilmington, but that was expected because of how pitcher friendly the park is. Brady House and James Wood only spent a few weeks with the affiliate, if that. In The Athletic’s instant analysis by prospect writer Keith Law, he inferred that the Nationals were at least considering promoting Crews to the majors at some point this season. While not out of the question, I never really saw the Nationals sending Crews to High-A in general. Being on the Opening Day roster is becoming more and more of a possibility though. That becomes important with the new Prospect Promotion Incentive, which I briefly talked about on Twitter, and NexGenNats did a good thread on.

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Down on the Farm

The Rochester Red Wings lost 5-1 against the Buffalo Bison, the fourth in a row. Travis Blankenhorn had the only two hits for the Red Wings.

The Harrisburg Senators lost 6-4 against the Richmond Flying Squirrels, their fourth loss in a row. Trey Lipscomb went 2-4 with a home run and a walk. James Wood went 2-5 with three strikeouts. Catcher Onix Vega went 2-3 with a walk.

The Wilmington Blue Rocks won 4-3 against the Aberdeen IronBirds. Daylen Lile went 1-3 with a double and two walks. Murphy Stehly went 3-5. Kyle Luckham went five innings, striking out five.

The FredNats won against the Augusta GreenJackets 7-0. Crews went 2-5 with a double. Morales went 3-5 and Roismer Quintana went 2-3 with a walk. 2023 13th rounder Liam Sullivan went three innings, striking out six.

Featured Story of the Day

Why the Nationals don’t ride the bullpen cart via The Washington Post