TGIF Washington Nationals Fans. Here are your headlines and analysis for Friday, October 1, 2021

Upcoming Games:

• Friday, October 1, 2021: Boston Red Sox vs. Washington Nationals; 7:05 pm EDT
• Saturday, October 2, 2021: Boston Red Sox vs. Washington Nationals; 4:05 pm EDT
• Sunday, October 3, 2021: Boston Red Sox vs. Washington Nationals; 3:05 pm EDT

Top Of The Morning, Nationals Fans,

Sorry for not sending out your Morning Briefing’s this week. I’ve been dealing with a cold that has made its way through my house this week.

There are only three games left in the Washington Nationals 2021 season, and the Boston Red Sox are coming to town. Even though the Nationals season is coming to an end, there are still a lot of storylines and interesting items to talk about in the coming days, so make sure that you visit The Nats Report all off-season long. We will be covering all the latest rumors, news, and analysis during the off-season!

Boston comes to town for the weekend. Well, the Boston Red Sox are coming to town for the last homestand and series for the 2021 season. With the Sox coming to town, Kyle Schwarber makes his return to Nats Park. Even though he was with the team for less than a season, he surely was fun to watch and it should be interesting to see the reception Nationals fans will give him this weekend. One thing is for sure, let’s hope that he doesn’t hit monster home runs in a Red Sox uniform.

Brandon has our last series preview for 2021, here.

Patrick Corbin’s Horrible 2021. Patrick Corbin’s 2021 season came to end this week and boy what a disaster it was. Corbin struggled all season long and it showed in his record. Corbin ended up 9-16 with a 5.82 ERA in 31 starts, and also gave up a Nationals record of 37 homers during the season. Let’s hope that by pitching well in his last four out of his final five starts gives him some good momentum into the 2022 season because the Nationals need him to regain his form.

2019 NL Wild Card Game … It’s been two years since Juan Soto’s hit in the 2019 NL Wild Card Game that drove in three runs and led the Washington Nationals to beat the Milwaukee Brewers 4-3. It feels like a lifetime ago, and a lot and I mean a lot has changed since that October night at Nationals Park.

One thing that hasn’t: that game sprang the Nationals to winning one the best World Series in Baseball. Just in case you need a pick me up this morning, here's a great video to kick off your Friday morning.

ICYMI: What’s Going on with the Washington Nationals Pitching Development Program? In a culture that is highly reliant on data and analytics for making all different types of decisions, why is it that the Washington Nationals invest so much of its salary into its pitching staff, lagging behind other Major League Baseball teams in its pitching development program? Here’s the full story.

Could Major League Baseball Return to Montreal? An important meeting could take place very soon in Tampa Bay, Florida on the future of baseball in Montreal. We have the full information here.

MLB Postseason…. Four in a Row for the Braves. Last night, the Atlanta Braves clinched first place in the NL East. It was the fourth time in a row by defeating the Philadelphia Phillies 5-3. After clinching the NL East, Fredde Freeman discussed what it means to him clinching four NL East titles in a row. “Four in a row is hard,” Freeman said. “I can’t imagine those 1990s teams and how they did all that. This is a great feeling. This is right up there with 2018 for me. This year had so many ups and downs and so many things could have derailed the season.”

Atlanta is locked in as the NL's No. 3 seed against the second-seeded Brewers, who will host Game 1 of the NLDS on Friday, Oct. 8, on TBS.

The AL Wild Card Game will be on ESPN, Tuesday, October 5 at 8:08 pm EDT first pitch and the NL Wild Card Game will be on TBS, Wednesday, October 6 at 8:10 pm EDT first pitch. The NL Wild Card Game will feature the Los Angeles Dodgers and the St. Louis Cardinals, and the matchup for the AL Wild Card has yet to be determined.