The Morning Briefing: August 9

Good morning, Washington Nationals fans.

Here are the latest headlines and analyses around the Washington Nationals and Major League Baseball for today, August 9.

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!

Leading this Morning's Briefing: Nats Struggle in Extras

Since the "Manfred Man" ghost runner rule first came into effect for the pandemic-shortened 2020 season, the Washington Nationals are 17-26 in extra-inning games, 3-8 this year, and 25-42 (.373) over the entirety of manager Davey Martinez's tenure. A big part of that has been a lack of high-strikeout relievers in the bullpen for most of that time, but this is a team that just does not execute clean baseball very often when the games drag on. The top of the tenth last night went like this: throwing error by CJ Abrams trying to get the lead runner, safety squeeze that turned into an RBI bunt single, bunt with Ildemaro Vargas dropping throw from Robert Garcia for a forceout, pop-up to Abrams, strikeout, fisted flare single (64 mph) into shallow left, pitching change to Joan Adon, ground ball single up the middle, flyout to right, Nats wind up needing four runs to tie, can't even get their ghost runner across when it's Jacob Young. Garcia had to get five outs and that still wasn't enough. The struggles with #thelittlethings continue.

Last Game Out

The 9-5 loss was a long one, with an official game time of 3:26 that did not account for two separate rain delays totaling just over two hours. DJ Herz walked in a run in the first and had a hard time finding the plate over 2.2 innings. Eduardo Salazar, Jacob Barnes, and Derek Law held things down until the ninth with everything knotted at two runs apiece. Then Kyle Finnegan pitched poorly in a non-save situation - as he is often wont to do - and got lost in his feelings after giving up a two-run double that then became a three-run double because he wasn't backing up home plate and Alex Call's (accurate) throw skipped off of wet grass and into a camera well. Down to their last strike, the Nats found new life when Luis García Jr. went oppo taco into Section 106, where one lonely fan remained to retrieve the baseball. And then the wet fart of a tenth inning happened. The Giants wound up taking three out of four from the Nats, and now the Nats welcome the Angels for a weekend series.

Nationals Headline of the Day: Everyday Derek

Over at the MASN website, Mark Zuckerman has a column about the slippage of the (young) rotation as a whole the past few weeks and how that relates to the team's struggles of late, the possible resurgence of Keibert Ruiz after a dreadful first half of the season, and the most interesting part, that Derek Law is on pace to pitch 101 innings in 81 games this year. The Nats have never had a 100-inning reliever (the last time anyone did was 2006) and only three 90-inning relievers.

Down on the Farm

AAA Rochester was the only team that wasn't rained out yesterday on account of Tropical Storm Debby, and Andrés Chaparro obliterated his third baseball in two days as he continues to make a case for a promotion to the majors.

Featured Baseball Story of the Day

Over at the MLB website, Will Leitch wrote about five interesting storylines to keep track of, including Vladimir Guerrero Jr. and Ketel Marte sneakily being MVP candidates, and asking whether it's time to worry about the Atlanta Braves.

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.