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Here are the latest headlines and analyses around the Washington Nationals and Major League Baseball for today, July 24.
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Welcome to the Morning Briefing!
Leading this Morning's Briefing: Padres Still Have Nats' Number
I think I speak for most Nats fans when I say that we will be glad to see the back of Jurickson Profar for the final time tomorrow. Profar and Luis Arraez homered on back-to-back pitches in the fifth, which was all the Padres needed as the Nats were shut out for the eleventh time in 2024.
Last Game Out
DJ Herz pitched pretty well, but the Padres got him for two solo home runs in a 4-0 victory in which the Nats yet again made a JAG pitcher (Randy Vásquez in this case) look like Greg Maddux. Vásquez threw all of 68 pitches over his six shutout innings, and the San Diego bullpen was only forced to throw 34 more to record the final nine outs of the series opener.
Nationals Headline of the Day: Former Travel Teammates Reunite
James Wood and Jackson Merrill played on the same travel baseball team as fourteen-year-olds and were drafted by the same franchise a round apart in 2021. Yesterday they shared a major league diamond together for the first time, albeit on opposing teams, as the Athletic details here.
Down on the Farm
Featured Baseball Story of the Day
ESPN senior writer David Schoenfield theorizes the top ten trades that could happen at the deadline, with the Nats sending Lane Thomas and Kyle Finnegan to Seattle at #10. Also of possible interest to Nats fans, Schoenfield has the White Sox trading Erick Fedde to the Astros at #4.
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