Good Morning, Washington Nationals Fans. Here are the latest headlines and analysis around the Washington Nationals for Monday, August 16, 2021.

Upcoming Schedule:

  • Monday, August 16, 2021: Day off
  • Tuesday, August 17, 2021: Toronto Blue Jays v. Washington Nationals; 7:05 pm EDT
  • Wednesday, August 18, 2021: Toronto Blue Jays v. Washington Nationals; 4:05 pm EDT
  • Thursday, August 19, 2021: Day off
  • Friday, August 20, 2021: Washington Nationals v. Milwaukee Brewers; 8:10 pm EDT

Today's Top Story: Braves Sweep Nationals over the Weekend

After the trade deadline, we all knew that the next couple of months would be rocky and full of a lot, a lot of bad losses and sweeps, but it's gotten hard to watch Nationals games. I will still watch them, but it's going to be a long road back, and this weekend's series against the Atlanta Braves exhibited how long of a road it's going to be to hopefully a "beautiful place," once again. Yes, it will happen again; the names on the back of the Nationals jerseys will be different from 2019, and that is okay. Meanwhile, Nationals fans can enjoy stress-free baseball and get a chance to meet the newest prospects and players who will be part of the Nationals for years to come.

Let's just say that it wasn't a good weekend for Nationals baseball as the now first-place Atlanta Braves swept the Nationals. In the last ten games, the Nationals have only won one game. They have a 24-35 record at home this season.

  • Friday night game: Atlanta Braves 4; Washington Nationals 2
  • Saturday night game results: Atlanta Braves 12, Washington Nationals 2
  • Sunday afternoon game results: Atlanta Braves 6; Washington Nationals 5

The Nationals are currently sit in last place in the NL East with a record of 50-68 and have lost seven straight to be 12 games behind the now first-place Atlanta Braves.

Joe Ross to IL due to a torn UCL; Might have Tommy John Surgery.

Before yesterday afternoon's game, the Nationals were greeted with more bad news that right-handed starter Joe Ross will be heading to the IL due to a torn UCL.

According to Martinez, Ross experienced right forearm tightness following his scheduled bullpen session of 28 to 30 pitches on Saturday afternoon, after which he told the team he felt "weird." Nationals orthopedist Dr. Robert Najarian evaluated Ross. Following a flexor pronator strain diagnosis, Ross had an MRI, which revealed the partial tear. He will be reevaluated by Dr. Keith Meister, who performed his first Tommy John surgery, to determine the next steps. "I talked to Joe this morning for quite a while. He's down, we're all down, but we hope the best comes out of this," manager Dave Martinez said.

"I don't want to make any assumptions until he goes and sees Dr. Meister, and we get a report for him as well." Martinez continued, "There was a fine line between because of one, he sat out last year, [and] two, he wants to compete," Martinez said. "By the conversations that we had with Joe and we always have with Joe, he felt good. He had little issues where we shut him down right away, and [then] he came back, and he said he felt great. "Now we're at the point now where we did everything we can to keep him healthy. But for me, you can't ever predict injuries -- they just happen. That's the troubling part of it."

Ross had already undergone Tommy John surgery in July 2017. He made his return 14 months later, in September of '18. The following season, he made a memorable spot start in place of Max Scherzer in Game 5 of the World Series.

Perspective: Who are Some Potential In-House DH Candidates?

With the universal DH almost guaranteed next season we decided to play through a few scenarios on what the Nationals might do with this extra lineup spot. Haden takes a closer look. From the article: "With the universal designated hitter (DH) likely to be incorporated next season, the Washington Nationals can potentially gain a middle-of-the-order type bat every day. This allows the Nationals to get a bit more creative on who plays what position, especially if they acquire a position player this offseason."

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Perspective: The Great Rizzo Reboot of 2021

Can Mike Rizzo build another Washington Nationals World Championship team? The process started with the Rizzo Reboot of 2021. From the article: "Rizzo has made it known that the trade deadline sell-off, while necessary, was not an easy thing for him to do. He said post-deadline that “Yesterday was probably as tough a day I’ve had as a general manager,” which makes perfect sense considering the talent that has been shipped out. But another thing he mentioned was “The good thing about this group is that we’ve got everything out of this group that we could have got out.” In all, this group of players won four division titles, made five playoff appearances, and won the World Series in 2019. I would argue that Rizzo is correct when he makes a statement like that. "

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Trending on the Nats Report: Call Me Crazy, but I'm Excited about the Nationals future.

No matter how depressing the last two weeks have been for Nationals fans, by trading away, fan favorites such as Trea Turner and Max Scherzer and some heartbreaking losses, the future of the Washington Nationals will be fun to watch.

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