Good morning, Washington Nationals fans.

Here are the latest headlines and analyses around the Washington Nationals and Major League Baseball for today, June 6.

The Nats Report is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support our work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.

Welcome to the Morning Briefing! The Nationals lost to the Mets to complete the sweep. Let’s talk about it.

Leading this Morning's Briefing: Nats swept by the Mets

Well, when you get one extra-base hit in a series, it is hard to win a game. That is what happened to the Nationals, as their lone extra-base hit came from a two-run home run from Joey Gallo in the fourth inning of Monday’s game. That is 23 straight innings without an extra-base hit. To say that the offense is struggling is an understatement.

Add in a six earned run start from Patrick Corbin yesterday, and that is how you lose 9-1. Corbin allowed two home runs to Luis Torrens, the Mets’ backup catcher who was hitting in the nine-hole. He allowed another home run in the sixth inning to Francisco Lindor.

The bottom five in the lineup secured at least one hit, with Jesse Winker over-achieving to get two knocks. Which brings us back to the conversation of lineup construction.

The Nationals’ five best hitters by OPS are Jesse Winker, Nick Senzel, CJ Abrams, Ildemaro Vargas, and Luis García Jr. Keeping Vargas in his limited role seems to be working, and I see no need to mess with that. But why do Eddie Rosario and Lane Thomas continue to get more plate appearances over Winker and Senzel?

Sure, in the grand scheme of things, lineup construction only wins or loses you a handful of games a year, but if the team does have eyes on a wild card spot, or at least pretending for fans that it does, why not roll out a more optimized lineup?

Would a lineup that started with Abrams, Winker, Senzel, and García not be better? I’d even listen to the Winker leadoff argument right now, as he currently has a higher batting average and on-base percentage and more stolen bases than Abrams.

But that’s in the past and all we can do is go 1-0 today. The Nationals stay home and host the Braves after playing them last week. The Nats will get RHP Reynaldo López (3-2, 1.73 ERA) for real this time as the Nationals send out the young rookie LHP Mitchell Parker (4-3, 3.60 ERA). First pitch is at 6:45 p.m. ET and the game will be televised on MASN.

Featured Story of the Day

Perspectives

What's next for the Washington Nationals?

Richard, Kelsey Tucker • Jun 5, 2024

With the Nationals performing above this year’s expectations, the front office will have some interesting questions that they will have to answer this year. Most of the big questions revolve around the pitching rotation of the starters and the bullpen. Entering tonight’s game, the Nationals starting rotation ranks first in strikeouts with 74, third in W…

Read full story →

The Nats Report is an independent reader-supported project with free and paid subscriptions, not affiliated with the Washington Nationals.

Those who opt for the paid edition are providing vital assistance to bolster our independent coverage of the Washington Nationals and Major League Baseball.