The Morning Briefing: August 27

Good morning, Washington Nationals fans.

Here are the latest headlines and analyses around the Washington Nationals and Major League Baseball for today, August 27.

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Welcome to the Morning Briefing!

Leading this Morning's Briefing: All Rise

The Washington Nationals hit several balls hard last night, but unfortunately Alex Verdugo and Aaron Judge - twice - made spectacular catches at and in one case over the wall to rob the Nats of at least eight total bases if not more, with Judge also doubling off James Wood after taking away Andrés Chaparro's home run from the first row of the red seats in left center field. Judge did not homer, but Gleyber Torres and Jazz Chisholm did, and the Yankees won 5-2. As expected, Juan Soto got a standing ovation in his first plate appearance, but we need those "COME home SO-to!" chants to be a bit louder today and tomorrow, people.

Last Game Out

In his debut, Dylan Crews went 0-for-3 with a walk, striking out in a big spot after the Nats got runners on second and third with nobody out (and, naturally, failed to score). He also came close to getting an epic assist at home on a D.J. LeMahieu sacrifice fly, doing everything right but for the throw being a little up the first base line. He also held Judge to a single on a ball that hit the bullpen gate in the right field corner.

Nationals Headline of the Day: All About Crews

Before Dylan Crews made his debut yesterday, his hometown Little League team won the Little League World Series on Sunday against Chinese Taipei, and Crews had a chance to reflect on his baseball roots.

Down on the Farm

No action yesterday on the farm, but keep an eye on outfielder Andrew Pinckney, promoted to fill Crews's spot in Rochester. His stats in the hitters' graveyard of Harrisburg are unremarkable on the surface, but everything about his profile should remind you of Lane Thomas, and he has a chance to have that kind of pro career.

Featured Baseball Story of the Day

Jake Mintz of Yahoo! Sports wrote about five things from the weekend, including Judge getting on pace to break his own AL home run record and Shohei Ohtani joining the 40-40 club with a walk-off grand slam.

Former National of the Day

Speaking of the 40-40 club, one of its members achieved the feat in his lone season with the Nationals. Alfonso Soriano hit 46 home runs and stole 41 bags in the 2006 season in one of the best free agent walk years in baseball history, earning him a nine-figure contract from the Chicago Cubs that winter. For his career Soriano hit .270/.319/.500 with 412 home runs and 289 stolen bases.

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