Good Morning, Washington Nationals Fans.

Hump Day is here and we plod on into the end of the week as best we can and of course GO NATS!

Here is the latest Washington Nationals headlines and news from around the web.

Washington Nationals Headlines

Washington Nationals Manager Dave Martinez Receives “The Power Of Baseball Award.”

Today, the Washington Nationals Philanthropies named Nationals Manager Dave Martinez the "Power of Baseball Award." The annual award is presented to an individual, corporation, organization, or local group in Washington DC that embodies the positive character and level of achievement exemplified throughout baseball.

Read the full article via The Nats Report

GAME RECAP: Paolo Espino pitches and Yadiel Hernandez walk-off on the Phillies!

A 33-year-old callup started the second game of this doubleheader, and a rookie callup who will be 33 in 2 weeks hit a 2-run walkoff home run to lift the Washington Nationals to a doubleheader sweep over the Phillies. Yadiel Hernandez is the oldest player in Major League history to hit a walkoff home run as his first career home run according to STATS Perform.

Read the full article via Talk Nats

More to ponder after a wild doubleheader sweep

Some more things to ponder after a long, wild, ultimately successful Tuesday afternoon and evening at the ballpark ...

* Yadiel Hernández’s walk-off homer won it for the Nationals, but some unheralded bullpen work earlier made it possible in the first place.

Even though he got a complete game from Austin Voth in the doubleheader opener, manager Davey Martinez said he was working with a depleted relief corps in the nightcap. Will Harris was unavailable after pitching Sunday and Monday. Kyle Finnegan and Daniel Hudson were potentially available, but Martinez wanted to avoid using both if at all possible after each pitched Monday.

Read the full article via MASN Sports Washington

A Look At Future 2021 Free Agents: Outfield

With the Nationals sitting at 18-29, it is safe to assume the team will miss the playoffs. However, a strong off-season will help the Nationals get back to the playoffs and the 2021 free agency class has enough talent to do just that.

Read the full article via District on Deck

Fan with megaphone boos Bryce Harper from outside Nationals Park

There’s no love lost for Bryce Harper in D.C., where he spent the first seven seasons of his career before signing a 13-year deal with the NL East rival Philadelphia Phillies.T

But in a year when fans aren’t allowed in stadiums, Harper looked to be in the clear from being showered with boos every time he played at Nationals Park. One Nationals fan named Justin wasn’t going to let that happen.

Read the full article via NBC Sports Washington

Martinez on Kendrick’s possible return from hamstring issue

Howie Kendrick has been on the injured list since Sept. 9 with a left hamstring strain. In the last week, Nationals manager Davey Martinez said the first baseman/designated hitter was looking like he might be able to return before the season finished up this weekend.

Read the full article via MASN Sports Washington

Washington Nationals’ Andrew Stevenson kind of grows on you, man...

Davey Martinez talked in Miami over the weekend about the club’s decision to call Andrew Stevenson up from the club’s Alternate Training Site in Fredericksburg, Virginia, after right fielder Adam Eaton went on the 10-Day IL with a fractured left index finger.

Read the full article via Federal Baseball

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Around the Horn: News from Around the League

Rob Manfred exclusive: Commissioner says MLB plans to have fans at NLCS, World Series

There were exasperating and infuriating moments, and times when it looked like the entire thing may crumble, but with commissioner Rob Manfred knocking on his wood desk Tuesday morning for good luck, the Major League Baseball season is on the verge of surviving a year few envisioned possible.

Read the full article via USA Today

MLB likely to use 2020 standings to determine 2021 draft order, per report

The COVID-19 pandemic has forced MLB to make several rule changes on the fly to ensure the abbreviated 60-game season could be completed safely and entirely. That has led to the universal DH, seven-inning doubleheaders, and the extra-innings tiebreaker rule becoming a reality, even if only for one year.

The shortened season has also thrown a wrench into the 2021 MLB Draft. Each year MLB sets the draft order in reverse order of the previous year's standings. There's no lottery. Because this is such a short season though, the March agreement between MLB and the MLBPA allows commissioner Rob Manfred to revise next year's draft order.

Read the full article via CBS Sports

Man scales Green Monster and intrudes on Red Sox-Yankees game at Fenway Park

The last-place Boston Red Sox beating the playoff-bound New York Yankees may have been unexpected, but there was much more bizarre occurrence Sunday at Fenway Park. The eighth inning of the game was interrupted for nearly 10 minutes when a man snuck into the stadium and acted erratically.

Boston’s Michael Chavis was playing in left field at the time and said afterward he was heckled by the man, who was dressed in a Red Sox jersey and threw blue hats onto the field. Eventually, the unidentified man was taken into custody, and Boston police said (via boston.com) he was taken to a hospital for a psychiatric evaluation.

Read the full article via the Washington Post

Arizona Fall League Cancels Season

As recently as June, the concept of an expanded Arizona Fall League was under consideration by Major League Baseball. But MLB has now decided to cancel the AFL’s 2020 season, Josh Norris of Baseball America reports.

The AFL is the latest baseball league to fall victim to the COVID-19 pandemic, which has cut this year’s major league season of 162 games to 60 and has canceled the minor league campaign.

Read the full article via MLB Trade Rumors

Players’ Alliance Gets $10 Million From M.L.B. and Union to Build Diversity

The money is a substantial boost to the 12-week-old group formed by current and former players to increase Black participation at all levels of the sport.

Read the full article via the New York Times