The Morning Briefing: September 10

Good morning, Washington Nationals fans.

Here are the latest headlines and analyses around the Washington Nationals and Major League Baseball for today, September 10.

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: Getting to 72 Will Be Tough

The Nats have to win eight or more of their remaining nineteen games to best last season's record, which is more psychologically important than any other kind of important for a rebuilding team. Ten different players have made their major league debuts this season, and all but two are currently on the active roster. A few others such as Juan Yepez, José Tena, and Eduardo Salazar have gotten more rope here than they would have with their previous organizations to prove themselves as big leaguers, and while the results of both crops of rookies have not been universally great there has been a significant step forward in identifying some of the key pieces of the next contending Nats team. So if they don't get to 72 wins, they can hang their hat on that peg.

Last Game Out

No game yesterday, but now the Nats will be playing every day (barring weather mishaps) through Sunday the 22nd.

Nationals Headline of the Day: 19 Days Remaining

Yesterday over at TalkNats, Andrew Lang wrote a bit about the pending offseason for the Nationals, which will be an incredibly important one if they are to make the next step toward competing.

Down on the Farm

There were no minor league games yesterday, but the FredNats get going in the Carolina League playoffs tonight at 7:05, with recent acquisition Alex Clemmey getting the start in game one of a three-game series.

Featured Baseball Story of the Day

Jackson Merrill was one of the few top Padres prospects who didn't come to Washington in the Juan Soto trade, and now the Maryland native is instrumental to the Fathers' playoff hopes and a strong contender in a loaded NL Rookie of the Year field. Dennis Lin of The Athletic wrote about his surprising power and the boost it has provided to San Diego.

Former National of the Day

Speaking of the Padres, how about some love for Craig Stammen? Drafted in the 12th round out of Dayton in 2005, Stammen pitched mostly as a reliever for the Nats from 2009-15, starting 19 games apiece in 2009 and 2010 but coming out of the bullpen a further 191 times. He was a quality long man and fireman depending on the situation, and after missing the 2016 season due to surgery he resurfaced with the Padres, appearing in 333 games over six seasons for them. Stammen retired at the end of the 2022 season, but remains one of the best relief pitchers ever developed by the Nats.

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.