Good Morning Washington Nationals Fan,

Here are the latest headlines and analyses around the Washington Nationals and Major League Baseball for today, October 11, 2023. I am Haden Raymer, let’s dive into the news.

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Leading today’s Morning Briefing: At least 4 major league coaches will not return in 2024

According to a report from Britt Ghiroli of the Athletic, four members of the Nationals coaching staff will not return next year. This includes bench coach Tim Bogar, base coaches Eric Young Jr. and Gary Disarcina, and assistant hitting coach Pat Roessler. Ghiroli later confirmed that pitching coach Jim Hickey would return, and Andrew Golden of the Washington Post confirmed that hitting coach Darnell Coles would return.

Haden’s Take: The Nationals were about middle of the pack when it came to running the bases this year. As a team, they were caught stealing 18.6 percent of the time. But without CJ Abrams, the team’s baserunning looks bad. They’d drop to 24th in the league in FanGraph’s Baserunning Runs with -8.7. That caught-stealing rate jumps to 23.8 percent, which is higher than the league’s 20.3 percent.

As for Roessler, the team was below average offensively, and some change probably needed to happen. With hitting and pitching coaches, their philosophy is less important, as long as they are good communicators. If they can communicate to the players what the front office wants them to do to find success, then I am happy they are with the organization. For example, if the front office finds that Josiah Gray’s slider plays better when he gets his middle finger  around the ball, as long as Hickey can communicate that to Josiah and help him do that consistently, then he is a fine option at the major league level.

MLB Postseason Continues

The MLB Postseason continues with the Division Series Round.

Braves 5, Phillies 4: This game was absolute insanity. The Phillies led 4-0 heading into the bottom of the sixth, but within two innings the Braves had made it 4-3 thanks to an Orlando Arcia single in the sixth and a two-run Travis d’Arnaud blast in the seventh. Austin Riley then homers in a full-count with two outs in the bottom of the eight to take the lead 5-4. Then in the top of the ninth, with Bryce Harper on first, Nick Castellanos hits a drive to deep right field, Harper gets doubled up after Michael Harris II catches the ball and Riley makes a huge play off an errant throw.

Diamondbacks 4, Dodgers 2: In a series that is making baseball fans question if a bye in the playoffs is beneficial, the Dodgers are now down 0-2 against Arizona as both teams head to Chase Field. The Diamondbacks scored three runs in the top of the first and never gave up their lead. The Dodgers hope to take on tonight or they will go the way of the Orioles.

Rangers 7, Orioles 1: The Orioles have been swept for the first time since Adley Rutschman was called up on May 21, 2022. Their starting pitching just failed to record outs. This team is young, and they will be back next season. The Rangers now potentially will face their across-state rival in the Houston Astros or the Royce Lewis-powered Minnesota Twins.

Astros 9, Twins 1: Turns out that Yordan Alvarez is very good at baseball. He’s already 14th all-time in Win Probability Added among postseason hitters. In the game, he went 3-5 with a home run, his fourth in three games. Cristian Javier turned in five innings of one-hit ball while striking nine batters. Jose Abreu hit two home runs.

Featured Story of the Day

Washington Post beat writer Jesse Dougherty is leaving the beat, as he is now transferring to the college sports section for the Post. We at the Nats Report wish him nothing but the best in his next endeavor.

https://twitter.com/dougherty_jesse/status/1711798250057965711

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