That the Nationals went out west for two series and got series wins against good teams on the road, taking two out of three from the AL West-leading Mariners and from the Diamondbacks (the 2023 NL champions and an 89-win team last year), is heartening in any context - particularly as it snuck them just ahead of the Barves into third place. That they are doing this with two brand-new outfielders each making a case to stay on the 26-man roster, and with their remaining “established” outfielder turning into more of a superstar with every passing game, is exciting indeed. Robert Hassell III collected nine hits in six games, including his first career home run, Daylen Lile had four extra-base hits, and James Wood hit three home runs. Not only that, but José Tena extended his on-base streak to fourteen games and Josh Bell has officially - and finally - heated up, hitting home runs in three straight games on this trip and looking like a different player even when he wasn’t getting on base. The offense scored 40 runs in six games, and that was with just one run coming in Tuesday’s road trip opener in Seattle. It also included an explosion in the first inning of Saturday’s game against Arizona whereupon the Nationals scored nine runs before they made an out, tying a 77-year-old National League record. Let’s see if they can keep it up now that they are back home.

Once again Mitchell Parker did not appear to be prepared for his first inning of work, surrendering some loud contact that culminated in a two-run bomb to deep center off the bat of Eugenio Suárez to give Arizona an early 3-0 lead. After that he settled down, recording fourteen straight outs on extremely efficient pitching (he ended his day at 66) before being pulled after opening the sixth with a four-pitch walk.

Offensively the Nats were unable to get anything going until the top of the fifth, when CJ Abrams - who scored later in the inning for the Nats’ only run - singled off of Corbin Burnes, who turned and motioned for a trainer before Abrams’s line drive had even touched the grass. Burnes appeared to say “my elbow” a couple of different times and was very clearly upset; it would be bad for not just the D-Backs but all of baseball if one of its best pitchers were to be out for a long time or even a year or more. Even though the Nats got into the Arizona bullpen earlier than perhaps even they had hoped (a day after forcing that same pen to cover all 27 outs), they were unable to muster any further offense, as Arizona won 3-1 to salvage the series.

Shortly after the game last night, we learned that the Nationals are promoting shortstop Seaver King, their 2024 first-round pick out of Wake Forest, from high-A Wilmington to AA Harrisburg - whether that presages other moves today (Brady House? Please?), we don’t know. Since an ugly first week and a half to his season for the Blue Rocks, King has hit .312/.351/.461, a good slash line in any event but doubly impressive for someone playing his home games in the worst park for right-handed hitters in affiliated baseball. King’s defense has also picked up in the last month or so, and the Nats would like to see if he could perhaps move Abrams’s subpar glove to the other side of the keystone sooner rather than later.

On Saturday afternoon the Nationals announced that they had designated reliever Jorge López for assignment and recalled Eduardo Sálazar from Rochester. Thus, before the end of May the Nats had jettisoned all three of the external free agent relief pitchers that they signed in the offseason (along with Colin Poche and Lucas Sims), leaving them on the hook for approximately $5 million in remaining salary this season. That Mike Rizzo felt comfortable pulling the plug not one, not two, but three times this early in the season is a signal both that some young pitchers have made strides in the bullpen and deserve the higher-leverage spots (most notably Cole Henry, but also Brad Lord, Jose A. Ferrer, and Jackson Rutledge until his last couple of appearances), and also that winning games matters again and the organization isn’t going to hold onto guys until the bitter end just because they’re making seven figures in salary (see Cruz, Nelson; Hernández, César; Dickerson, Corey; Gallo, Joey; and others). It’s funny to see the Nats getting rid of López and his 6-0 record when wins matter, but López has had multiple outbursts on the mound this season, most recently on Thursday evening in Seattle when he got upset - righteously - about Andy Fletcher’s strike zone to the point where Davey Martinez had to come out just to calm him down. In his Saturday press conference, Davey said that López maybe wasn’t the best fit for the Nats, which sounds like there might have been some things behind the scenes as well. Regardless, pulling the trigger on these moves sooner rather than later (like, after the trade deadline) is a promising sign for how the Nats intend to operate going forward.

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