Good morning, Washington Nationals fans.

Here are the latest headlines and analyses around the Washington Nationals and Major League Baseball for today, May 28.

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 scored eight runs yesterday. The team DFA’d Victor Robles, ending a tumultuous few years with the center fielder, and Lane Thomas returns.

Leading this Morning’s Briefing: Early runs, Parker’s brilliance led Nats to W

While the early runs were great, Mitchell Parker dominated the Braves lineup last night. While the three runs he allowed in the seventh will be a blemish on the start, he looked excellent.

His slider in particular was extremely effective. While opposing hitters swung over 72 percent of the time against it, they whiffed half the time against it. Even if they laid off the pitch entirely, he still got called strikes on two of the six sliders that did not generate a swing. Combine that with a fastball that he was throwing in the zone regularly and you’ll excel against a good team.

It is still shocking how big of a leap Parker has taken between seasons. Just a few months ago, many worried that he was a reliever long term due to an  excessive walk rate in Triple-A. He now has a 4.5 percent walk rate in 44.1 major league innings, the fourteenth lowest among pitchers with at least 40 innings according to Fangraphs.

On the other side of the ball, the Nationals broke out in a big way yesterday. CJ Abrams hit a home run and Lane Thomas notched two doubles in his return from the injured list. The entire lineup contributed, totaling 15 hits on the day.

Washington wins big in Atlanta on Memorial Day

Henry Basilica • May 28, 2024

ATLANTA — Today, the Washington Nationals kicked off a four-game series against the Atlanta Braves with a win, 8-4. The Nationals’ record is now 24-28, with an on-the-road record of 14-15. They beat the Atlanta Braves, who are without Ronald Acuna Jr.

Read full story →

To honor the Victor Robles DFA, Jacob Young got picked off at first prior to Abrams’s home run. Thankfully he did not make any errors, otherwise, he too would be on the chopping block.

While it is not shocking that Vic was the one to go, I still don’t think it should be him. Despite the errors in the field, he still provides more value in the grass and on the basepaths than Joey Meneses does. Offensively, it is a coin toss.

The Nationals get tough LHP Max Fried (4-2, 3.38 ERA) as their opposing pitcher. I would expect a significantly different lineup from yesterday trotted out today by the Nationals. The Nationals will call upon Jake Irvin (2-5, 3.79 ERA) to keep them in the game. First pitch is at 7:20 pm ET and the game will be televised on MASN2.

Down in the Minors

Just one minor league game yesterday, but the rest of the teams start their series today.

The Rochester Red Wings host the St. Paul Saints.

The Harrisburg Senators lost 7-3 to the Binghamton Rumble Ponies. Eight of the nine Senators notched a hit yesterday, but with none going for extra bases, they failed to drive in enough runs to keep up with the Rumble Ponies.

The Wilmington Blue Rocks hit the road to play the Bowling Green Hot Rods.

The FredNats also hit the road, playing the Down East Wood Ducks.

Featured Story of the Day

MLB umpire Ángel Hernández retiring after 3 decades via ESPN

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.