Good morning, Washington Nationals fans.

Here are the latest headlines and analyses around the Washington Nationals and Major League Baseball for today, July 1.

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Welcome to the Morning Briefing! Haden here. The Nats DFA’d Eddie Rosario to make room for James Wood. Let’s talk about it.

Leading this Morning's Briefing: Nationals lose weekend series; call up top prospect Wood

Since you have already gotten multiple emails from us about James Wood making his major league debut I won’t dilly-dally my points. The Nationals have called up a player who has the highest offensive upside in the minors.

Sam Dykstra of MLB Pipeline showcased this best with a series of tweets when the news broke. James Wood has five of the six highest exit velocities across the MLB and Triple-A Nats’ squads, would be third in the majors for average exit velocity, and recorded more instances of elite sprint speed than everyone on the Nats but Jacob Young combined.

This also means that Eddie Rosario’s time with the Nationals is over. He needed to perform to justify holding Wood down until he passed some significant dates, but failed to do so. He was one of the worst players in the majors so far this season, and replacing him, even if it was with Alex Call, should help the Nationals down the stretch.

Nats Fans, Get Inside the Game with Our Exclusive Slack Community (Paid Subscribers Only)

Richard • Jul 1, 2024

Calling all die-hard Nationals fans! ⚾️ We're excited to announce the launch of our exclusive Slack community, designed specifically for Nats Report paid subscribers. This is your chance to connect directly with fellow Nats enthusiasts, stay on top of breaking news, and dive deeper into the world of Washington Nationals baseball.

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Over the weekend the Nationals lost the series to the Rays 2-1. Jacob Young provided most of the offense of that game, hitting two doubles and stealing a bag. Mitchell Parker struck out five in as many innings but allowed two runs.

The Nationals offense erupted in game two, winning 8-1. The Rays struggled to see the ball out of the Nationals’ pitchers’ hands, as the team combined for 11 strikeouts and allowed just two hits. One of those hits was a solo home run and was the only hit Jake Irvin allowed. CJ Abrams led the game off with a solo home run, cementing his case for the All-Star team after a dominant June. Luis García Jr. notched three hits and a walk in the game.

In the final game of the series, it was the Nationals who could not see the ball as they accumulated 16 strikeouts. Joey Meneses was the largest of the accumulators, striking out in all four plate appearances.

The Nationals now play the New York Mets for their mid-week series. Unfortunately for the Nationals, the Mets have the full support of McDonald’s mascot Grimace. It will be a tough series, but thankfully the Nats will have James Wood by their side.

DJ Herz will take the mound for the Nationals. LHP Sean Manaea (5-3, 3.89 ERA) will do the same for the Mets. First pitch is at 6:45 p.m. ET and the game will be televised on MASN.

Down in the Minors

Rochester Red Wings score 12 runs to defeat the Indianapolis Indians in the series finale.

Richard • Jun 30, 2024

Rochester, NY - Today, the Rochester Red Wings concluded their series against the Indianapolis Indians with a 12-8 win. The Red Wings won five out of six games against the Indians this week. The Rochester Red Wings will end June with a 15-11 record and start the second half of the 2024 season with a 5-1 record.

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The Senators lost 2-0 to the Erie SeaWolves. Brady House missed multiple games this week, including this game. Andrew Pinckney and J.T. Arruda were the only Senators to notch hits.

The Blue Rocks’ Sunday game against Hudson Valley Renegades was rained out. T.J. White went 2-4 with a home run on Saturday as the Blue Rocks lost 4-3.

The Fred Nats won 2-1 over the Salem Red Sox. Marcus Brown, Armando Cruz, Murphy Stehly, and Sammy Infante each got a hit. Bryan Polanco tossed an excellent game, striking out seven over six innings and allowing just one hit.

Featured Story of the Day

Orlando Cepeda, Hall of Fame first baseman, passes away via AP


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