The Morning Briefing: August 22

Good morning, Washington Nationals fans.

Apologies for there being no briefing yesterday, but my fiancée and I had our wedding menu tasting Tuesday evening and I had a long training workshop at my day job yesterday. Here are the latest headlines and analyses around the Washington Nationals and Major League Baseball for today, August 22.

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Welcome to the Morning Briefing!

Leading this Morning's Briefing: Parker Rebounds

Mitchell Parker, although not helped out by his defense, got strafed in the first and fourth innings of his previous start against the Phillies last Thursday, and you could tell watching that game that it ate at him (he is not a guy who shows much emotion under any circumstances). Given a chance to bounce back against either the worst or the second-worst team in the National League (depending on whether or not the day ends in 'y'), Parker delivered seven innings of one-run ball, striking out six Rockies along the way. Getting 23 cromulent starts and counting out of someone who was likely thought of as a possible spot starter in the spring (remember, he had next to no AAA experience entering the year, and that little bit was ugly) is a win for the organization.

Last Game Out

Parker pitched well, and in the third inning got a nice cushion courtesy of a Luis García Jr. three-run bomb to center field to make the score 5-0. The Nats eventually won 6-1, and Davey Martinez felt so comfortable that he put Tanner Rainey out there to pitch for the second night in a row.

Nationals Headline of the Day: Low Leverage

This is from last Monday, but it amused me and I thought it would be appropriate here. Tanner Rainey is having (although he hasn't pitched enough innings to qualify) by far the lowest-leverage season of any reliever since Fangraphs started tracking such things.

Down on the Farm

It was a great day for organizational pitching! Tyler Stuart made his AAA debut and retired the first nineteen Lehigh Valley Iron Pigs he saw before hitting Austin Hays with a pitch; he eventually departed after 6 2/3 innings of one-run ball, striking out six and walking none. At AA, Andry Lara pitched six innings while only conceding two runs, but still took the L as the Senators were shut out. Finally, at low-A Fredericksburg southpaw Alex Clemmey struck out five in five scoreless innings.

Featured Baseball Story of the Day

The Nats lead the majors in stolen bases, but Cincinnati Reds shortstop Elly de la Cruz leads all players, and became just the fifth player to record 20 home runs and 60 steals in a season yesterday, joining Ronald Acuña Jr., Eric Davis, Joe Morgan, and Rickey Henderson. Pretty august company.

Former National of the Day

Alex Avila joined Bob Carpenter in the broadcast booth last night, so let's throw him some love. Avila, the son of former Detroit Tigers general manager Al Avila, played the last of his thirteen MLB seasons as a catcher with the Nationals in 2021, missing a substantial portion of the season thanks to suffering bilateral calf strains while playing second base in an emergency situation on July 1st. For his career Avila hit .233/.348/.393, being named an All-Star and winning a Silver Slugger with the Tigers in 2011.

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