Good morning, Washington Nationals fans.

Here are the latest headlines and analyses around the Washington Nationals and Major League Baseball for today, July 12.

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Welcome to the Morning Briefing! Haden here for my final morning briefing. It’s been a blast writing these for you all for the past year. I hope you enjoyed reading as much as I have enjoyed writing. If you want to keep up with myself and my work you can follow me on Twitter.

Anyways, the Nats lost to the Mets, again, and now head to Milwaukee for their final series before the break. Let’s talk about it.

Leading this Morning's Briefing: Nats swept leading into the last series

Well would you look at that, the Nationals were swept. The offense scored just seven runs in the series as the pitching staff allowed 20 runs. That there is an easy recipe for a sweep.

Washington Nationals get swept by the New York Mets with a 7-0 loss this afternoon.

Richard, Kelsey Tucker • Jul 11, 2024

Flushing, NY - The Washington Nationals lost this afternoon against the New York Mets, 0-7. With today’s loss, the Nationals got swept in their series against the Mets and are now 42-52 overall. Looking for better results this weekend, Washington will travel to Milwaukee for a series against the Brewers. The Nationals are in a stretch of 17 straight ga…

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At this point, it would take a miracle for this roster to reach the postseason. Because of that, all eyes should focus on the draft, this year and next. The Nationals have the 10th overall pick in the draft this year. Top arms Chase Burns and Hagen Smith will certainly be off the board before that pick, as will bats Charlie Condon, Jac Caglianone, and Travis Bazzana. The rest comes down to who teams prefer on draft day.

On the prep side, the two big names are Bryce Rainer and Konnor Griffin. Rainer has two-way potential and plus defense on the left side of the infield. He has a fine hit tool but he is certainly a power-over-hit type of build. Griffin has even better speed, defense, and power, but has major red flags in his hit tool. The Nats have succeeded (Brady House) and failed (Elijah Green) with players in that demographic.

Keep up-to-date with the latest information about player injuries from around the Nationals organization with our brand-new injury tracker.

Among college players, Nick Kurtz has the highest chance of falling to the Nationals. He was a preseason favorite to go first overall, but after some tough luck and injuries, his stock has fallen a bit. He is a lock at first base, which puts a ton of pressure on his bat if he has any shot at being an above-average regular. For that reason, the Nats may opt for someone higher on the defensive spectrum.

The dream scenario is JJ Wetherholt or Braden Montgomery falling to the Nationals at 10. They’d easily become the third or fourth-best prospect in this system. They’d also provide the Nats with some ease of mind in case one of the mega-star prospects does not live up to their massive expectations.

The final two names that are on the outside looking in are Tenesse’s second baseman Christian Moore and ECU starting pitcher Trey Yesavage. Both are just outside that top tier of college players, and the Nationals may opt to save a little bit in the first round to snag more prep talent in the second and third rounds.

The Nats take on the Brew Crew

The NL Central best Milwaukee Brewers host the Nats this weekend. Jackson Rutledge will get the start for the Nationals as the Brewers send out their ace RHP Freddy Peralta (6-4, 3.95 ERA). First pitch is at 8:10 p.m. ET and the game will be televised on MASN2.

Down on the Farm

The Red Wings took down the Worcester Red Sox 6-3. Stone Garrett hit a home run and a double. Brady House had two doubles. Even Carter Kieboom went 2-2 with three walks.

The Harrisburg Senators lost 5-2 to the Richmond Flying Squirrels. Daylen Lile and Andrew Pinckney both got a hit.

The Blue Rocks lost 5-1 to the Brooklyn Cyclones. Jose Atencio tossed a great seven innings while striking out seven.

The FredNats swept the doubleheader 1-0 and 2-0. Cristhian Vaquero went 2-2 with a walk. Marcus Brown and Everett Cooper III each hit a double.

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