Good Morning Washington Nationals Fan,

Here are the latest headlines and analyses around the Washington Nationals and Major League Baseball for today, September 22, 2023. My name is Haden Raymer, let’s dive into the news.

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Leading today’s Morning Briefing: Sean Doolittle retires

LHP Sean Doolittle announced his retirement on Twitter this morning. Doolittle will forever be etched into Nationals history as the team’s closer for the historic World Series run in 2019.

In his Nationals career, Doolittle had a 2.92 ERA in 153 games, earning 75 saves. Of players with as many innings as him from 2017 to 2020, Doolittle was 32nd in ERA+ according to Stathead.

We at the Nats Report wish you all the best in retirement and thank you for making baseball more enjoyable while you were here.

Nats send eight prospects to the Arizona Fall League

This morning, Mark Zuckerman of MASN tweeted out the list of this year’s representatives to the Arizona Fall League. The AFL is essentially extended minor-league baseball, with representatives from multiple teams making up a full roster.

This year, the Nationals are sending outfielder Robert Hassell III, catcher Israel Pineda, infielder Trey Lipscomb, right-handed pitchers Thaddeus Ward, Holden Powell, Orlando Ribalta, and Jack Sinclair, and left-handed pitcher DJ Herz.

The biggest name among this group is certainly Hassell, who is coming off a down year after suffering a hamate injury last fall. The former top prospect came to the Nationals organization in the Juan Soto trade.

Ward is currently on the big-league roster, so expect a roster move in the next few days. Amos Willingham, Joe La Sorsa, and Mason Thompson are all currently down in Triple-A, and Tanner Rainey is still throwing in rehab innings as a potential option.

This could be quite impactful for Lipscomb and Herz. Lipscomb is pushing his way to the big leagues and making it there before Brady House will allow the Nationals to give him a good look to determine his future. Either way, the Nationals Defensive Player of the Year is looking to have a good AFL performance. Herz on the other hand must be put on the 40-man roster in order to protect him from the Rule 5 Draft this December. Herz could essentially play his way onto the 40-man roster with a strong performance at the AFL.

Minor League Awards Announced

The Nationals announced their internal minor league awards yesterday, with James Wood taking home Player of the Year and Andrew Alvarez winning Pitcher of the Year. The other award winners were Trey Lipscomb with Defensive Player of the Year, Johnathan Thomas with Baserunner of the Year, and Jacob Young who won the “Nationals Way” Award.

Nats lose to the Braves

The bottom of the order tried to keep the team in the fight in the 10-3 loss. Alex Call homered, Luis García and Drew Millas got two hits, and Jacob Young got on base twice. The Nationals just never seemed likely to win this game once the Braves took a five-run lead in the top of the third.

The Nats Report Player of the Game is Alex Call, who went 2-3 with a walk. The next game starts tonight at 7:05 p.m. on MASN.

You can read our series preview here.

A New Episode of In the Clubhouse

You can listen to Jeremy and I talk about the White Sox series, the minor league award winners, and the Braves series on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and YouTube.

Down on the Farm: What happened last night with the Nationals Minor League teams

The Rochester Red Wings held the Indianapolis Indians to one run in their 3-1 victory.  Frankie Tostado and Matt Adams each homered. Jeter Downs stole a base. Roddery Muñoz had one of his better starts since joining the Nationals organization, throwing 5.1 innings while allowing one run and striking out six.

The Harrisburg Senators season is now over.

The Wilmington Blue Rocks season is over.

The FredNats season is over.

Featured Stories of the Day

Rays are calling up superstar prospect Junior Caminero via ESPN

VA product Brennan Hanifee made his major league debut with the Tigers via MLB.com

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