It was a good week for James Wood.

The Nationals’ top prospect was named the International League Player of the Week for the week of May 6-12 and he cracked MLB Pipeline’s top five in the publication’s updated Top 100 Prospects rankings.

Across six games against the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders (Yankees), the 6-foot-7, 234-pound outfielder posted a .455 batting average while slugging five home runs with a double and 12 RBIs.

Wood went 10-for-22 during the week against a Scranton/Wilkes-Barre pitching staff that had the lowest batting average against in the International League (.226) coming into the six-game series.

Wood, 23, has played in all 35 games for the Red Wings and leads the team with a .346 average, 33 runs scored, 11 doubles, a .444 on-base percentage and 25 walks. His seven home runs and 23 RBIs rank second on the team this season, behind Travis Blankenhorn in both.

CHICAGO – Erick Fedde holds no grudges against the Nationals. He can’t fault them for giving up on him after the 2022 season, the latest in a string of disappointing seasons for the organization’s 2014 first round pick.

“I definitely understand them moving on,” he said Monday. “I never pitched well.”

While that’s not entirely true – he did pitch well in brief stretches during his time in D.C. – Fedde’s overall performance with the Nats was nothing to be proud of. In 102 big league games (88 starts) over six seasons, he went 21-33 with a 5.41 ERA and 1.523 WHIP. He never came close to pitching like an ace. He was perpetually competing with the likes of Joe Ross and Austin Voth for the final spot in an otherwise star-studded rotation.

That kind of resume doesn’t exactly lead to enticing contract offers. And when nobody came calling with a major league deal after the Nationals non-tendered him in November 2022, Fedde decided the best place to go was across the Pacific Ocean. He signed a $1 million contract with the NC Dinos of the Korean Baseball Organization, truly a life-changing decision.

“I think the biggest reason to go over there was I wasn’t going to be on the Triple-A/big league/DFA train that I’ve seen,” he said with a laugh. “Just somewhere I was going to get the ball every fifth day. I was going to have a chance to throw 175-plus innings. And work on some stuff.”

CHICAGO – The Nationals’ series opener against the White Sox was postponed due to heavy rain that descended upon the area this afternoon and doesn’t promise to let up all night.

The two teams will play a traditional doubleheader Tuesday, with the first game starting at 4:40 p.m. Eastern and the nightcap to follow 30-to-45 minutes after conclusion of the opener.

Though it was warm and muggy earlier in the day, the skies began to darken by midafternoon. The grounds crew at Guaranteed Rate Field preemptively rolled out the tarp and covered up the infield before either team could take batting practice, and for good reason: It started raining hard only a few minutes later.

Rather than wait it out for hours and hope conditions improved enough to get the game in tonight, officials called it off slightly more than an hour before scheduled first pitch at 7:40 p.m. Eastern. Neither scheduled starting pitcher began to warm up.

Trevor Williams, tonight’s originally scheduled starter, will now pitch Game 1 on Tuesday, opposed by right-hander Chris Flexen. Mitchell Parker will start as scheduled Tuesday, taking the mound for the nightcap against former Nationals righty Erick Fedde.

After leading Major League Baseball in OPS (1.733), slugging percentage (1.133) and on-base percentage (.600) this week, Nationals outfielder Eddie Rosario has been named National League Player of the Week. The announcement was made this afternoon on MLB Network.

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Rosario went 7-for-15 (.467) with a double, three homers, five RBI, five walks, three stolen bases and seven runs scored during the week. He hit safely in all five games, including two multi-hit efforts. He reached base safely in 12 of 20 plate appearances along the way.

Beyond this week, Rosario leads Major League Baseball in OPS (1.616) and slugging percentage (1.045) and is tied for the National League lead with four home runs since May 4. He has hit safely in seven straight games, going 10-for-22 (.455) with a double, four homers, seven RBI, six walks, four stolen bases and 10 runs scored during the streak.

This marks Rosario’s third career Player of the Week award (Aug. 2023 and Aug. 2017) and the first award won by a Nationals player this season.

CHICAGO – It was a warm, muggy morning and early afternoon here in the Windy City, but it has turned dark and, well, windy in the last 30 minutes. There’s a storm approaching, and they just rolled the tarp out to cover up the infield at Guaranteed Rate Field. This could be a problem throughout the evening.

If they’re able to play, the Nationals open a three-game series with the White Sox, hoping for better results against these guys than they had over the weekend against the darker colored Sox from Boston. They’re going to need to do more offensively, for sure, and a return to earlier form from CJ Abrams would sure help.

The Nats will also hope Trevor Williams can keep doing what he’s done all season. The right-hander has allowed a total of two runs over his last four starts, and he still hasn’t served up a homer in seven starts this year.

WASHINGTON NATIONALS at CHICAGO WHITE SOX
Where: Guaranteed Rate Field
Gametime: 7:40 p.m. EDT
TV: MASN2, MLB.tv
Radio: 106.7 FM, 88.7 FM (Spanish), MLB.com
Weather: Rain, 66 degrees, wind 7 mph right field to left field

NATIONALS
SS CJ Abrams
CF Jacob Young
LF Eddie Rosario
1B Joey Meneses
2B Luis García Jr.
DH Nick Senzel
C Keibert Ruiz
3B Trey Lipscomb
RF Victor Robles

BOSTON – Eddie Rosario had a forgettable April. In fact, he’s had forgettable Aprils throughout his 10-year career.

In 19 games last month, the 32-year-old outfielder slashed .053/.115/.070 with a .185 OPS, no home runs and no RBIs. He had one double as his lone extra-base hit. Even his three games in March were better: 273/.250/.636 with an .886 OPS, one homer and three RBIs.

That left him with a career slash line of .205/.248/.369 with a .617 OPS in March/April, by far his worst months of the year.

But when the calendar flipped to May, so did his production at the plate.

Rosario is now slashing .417/.533/.958 with a 1.492 OPS in nine games in May, which is over 1.300 points higher than his OPS in April.

BOSTON – Today felt like it was going to be a weird day at Fenway Park. The Nationals and Red Sox had played two quick, nondescript games to start this three-game series. Plus, it was Mother’s Day.

Something a little more interesting had to happen, right?

Well, something more interesting definitely happened and then some as the Nats fell to the Red Sox 3-2 in the series finale in front of 29,250 fans.

"We made some mistakes," manager Davey Martinez said after the game. "A dropped fly ball, ran into some outs on the bases and it cost us. It might have cost us the game, you don't know that. But when you make those kinds of mistakes, it's definitely gonna hamper the way you finish the game.

The wackiness started from the get-go.

BOSTON – After running out the same lineup for the first two games against the Red Sox, Davey Martinez mixed it up for Sunday’s finale at Fenway Park.

Jacob Young and Trey Lipscomb are getting rare days off today. Victor Robles returns to center field with Jesse Winker in left and Eddie Rosario in right, while Ildemaro Vargas takes over at third base and Nick Senzel serves as the designated hitter. And Riley Adams is giving Keibert Ruiz some rest for just the fourth game since returning from the injured list with a case of influenza.

“Jacob has been playing. He's just been beat up a little bit, so I want to give him a day,” Martinez said during his pregame media session. “Give Lipscomb a day and get Vargas in there. For me, it's about keeping all these guys engaged and keeping them fresh. Riley's in there today, Senzel's back in the day. But these young guys are playing really well. I gotta make sure I take care of them and that they're fresh. Here we go today. Try to go 1-0 today.”

Neither Young nor Lipscomb made the Opening Day roster out of spring training. But both were early call-ups and have been getting the majority of the playing time in their respective positions. Young has played in 30 of the Nats’ first 38 games, starting 27 of them. Lipscomb has played in 29 games, starting all but one of them.

Young is fourth in the National League with 12 stolen bases and started his career a perfect 25-for-25 in stolen base attempts, which is tied for the fourth-longest streak to start a major league career. He is also one of three current major league players to have at least a .275 average, 20 runs and 10 stolen bases (Trea Turner and Bobby Witt Jr.).

BOSTON – Happy Mother’s Day to all the moms out there! I hope each and every one of you gets to enjoy your special day. I want to give a special shoutout to my own mom, Darlene, back at home and to all the mothers in my life.

This Mother’s Day will be extra special for the Nationals if they can beat the Red Sox and leave Fenway Park with a series win.

Jake Irvin gave them one of the best starts of his career yesterday, but that wasn’t enough in a 4-2 loss. MacKenzie Gore will look to replicate Irvin’s efforts with a better final result.

Gore boasts a 2-3 record, 3.44 ERA, 1.471 WHIP and 11.1 strikeouts-per-nine-innings rate over his seven starts to date. The southpaw was roughed up for six runs in just three innings Sunday against the Blue Jays. But the lineup bailed him out in what would be a wild back-and-forth finish, ending in a Nats victory. Today he’ll try to get out to a good start like Irvin and Patrick Corbin have done this weekend.

Brayan Bello returns from the injured list to make his sixth start of the year. The right-hander went down with right lat tightness on April 24 (retroactive to April 21). He is 3-1 with a 3.04 ERA and 1.050 WHIP over his first five starts. His last start came on April 19, when he pitched six shutout innings with seven strikeouts against the Pirates.

BOSTON – Mother’s Day across baseball is always special. The players and coaches wear special pink-trimmed hats, jerseys and gear. Teams often put out videos of players wishing their moms and wives a happy Mother’s Day. Even mascots get to celebrate with their moms.

But this Mother’s Day is extra special for Joey Meneses thanks to a message from his mom, Lupita Ramirez, on Friday.

The Nationals are playing their first series at Fenway Park since 2020. Before the opener on Friday, many of the young players took a tour of the historic ballpark, including the iconic Green Monster.

Meneses was one of them. Despite playing in the Red Sox’s minor league system in 2021, the 31-year-old had never played at Fenway before this weekend.

Friday also just happened to be Mother’s Day back in his home country of Mexico. So when he was done with the tour, Meneses sent a video of the Green Monster to his mom, whose reply manifested what would happen Saturday in the second inning.

BOSTON – The Nationals returned to Fenway Park on Saturday afternoon in search of a series win over the Red Sox. A victory today would lock up their second series win in their last three and third in their last five. Plus, it would put them two games over .500 for the first time since June 30, 2021.

But despite Jake Irvin pitching one of the best starts of his career, a late Red Sox rally buried the Nats in a 4-2 loss.

Robert Garcia entered the eighth inning of a 2-2 game looking to keep the game tied. Pinch-hitter Rob Refsnyder hit a one-out infield single that dribbled up the third base line and never went foul. Garcia got pinch-hitter Romy Gonzalez to hit a ground ball to CJ Abrams, but the young shortstop tried to turn the double play by himself and threw the ball into the Red Sox dugout.

With Gonzalez on second, the Nats intentionally walked the right-handed Tyler O’Neill to bring up the lefty Rafael Devers, who proceeded to end a seven-pitch battle with a two-run double to left to send the 30,995 fans in Boston into a frenzy.

“Tried to throw a slider first pitch and see if I can get him to swing. It wasn't a great one, it moved away," Garcia said after the game. "I fell down 2-0, which was fine. I got right back in the count, evened it out 2-2. I threw a high fastball and he looked very uncomfortable. Surprised, kind of taken aback about, probably, the velo and the way it was thrown. So I figured that we're gonna go there. Because that's my best pitch. Fastball has been my best pitch, we're going right after him in that situation. I didn't execute my location and he beat my best pitch today.”

BOSTON – Davey Martinez managed his bullpen to perfection in last night’s 5-1 win over the Red Sox.

In a 3-1 game at the seventh-inning stretch and facing the Nos. 2-4 hitters in Boston’s lineup, the Nationals manager made the decision to go with Hunter Harvey in that moment instead of saving him for his usual spot in the eighth.

Harvey issued a leadoff walk to Rob Refsnyder, but quickly erased the baserunner with a double play ball from Tyler O’Neill. Then he got Rafael Devers, perhaps the Red Sox’s most feared hitter, to strike out on a curveball in the dirt.

That left Dylan Floro for the eighth to potentially pass the ball to closer Kyle Finnegan in the ninth. Floro retired the side in short order with three groundouts on 10 pitches.

“It's nice to have some veteran guys that understand how to pitch in high-leverage situations, especially in the back end of the bullpen,” Martinez said before Saturday’s game at Fenway Park. “Dylan fits that mold. Jacob (Barnes) fits that mold as well. But it was nice to know that, hey, the top of their lineup is tough. We could use Harvey in that moment. And then I like Floro in the middle to the bottom of that lineup. So we did it that way yesterday. Floro has been throwing the ball really well. We talked a lot about how he missed some spring training. But now he's got his feet underneath him, he's throwing the ball well.”

BOSTON – The Nationals pulled off a win last night with Patrick Corbin on the mound, thanks to five strong innings from the veteran lefty. The offense also staked him to an early lead and then provided two insurance runs in the ninth inning.

Now with a victory already in hand, they turn to two of their better starters for the remainder of the series: Jake Irvin and MacKenzie Gore.

Irvin takes the ball this afternoon with a 2-3 record, 3.72 ERA and 1.190 WHIP. The right-hander was charged with four unearned runs in his last start against the Blue Jays. He’s given up two earned runs or fewer in four of his last five outings. If you take out his rough start against the Dodgers (six runs in 4 ⅔ innings), Irvin has a 2.65 ERA over his six other starts.

Cooper Criswell takes the mound for the Red Sox. Although he has made major league appearances in each of the last three seasons, the 27-year-old still holds his rookie status. The right-hander has pitched well over his first five appearances (four starts) this season, going 2-1 with a 1.74 ERA and 1.065 WHIP. He hasn’t given up more than two runs in any of his appearances, but he hasn’t pitched more than five innings either.

If the Nats offense can jump on him early again, that should set them up for more success, especially with Kyle Finnegan not pitching last night. 

BOSTON – It had been 25 days since his last game with the Nationals. And it had been three days and two games since he had been activated off the injured list. But on Friday night, Victor Robles finally made his return to a big league game.

And what a triumphant return it was.

Robles landed on the IL on April 4 with a left hamstring strain, another frustrating injury sidelining the soon-to-be 27-year-old outfielder who is trying to find a place in this organization’s future. He ended up missing 29 games, the most by any injured Nats player this year, not including the three on the 60-day IL.

Although he was reinstated Tuesday afternoon, he didn’t play in either game against the Orioles. And then Thursday’s off-day prolonged his return even more.

But finally Robles saw his name written on the lineup card yesterday inside the visiting clubhouse at Fenway Park, batting ninth and playing right field instead of his usual position in center field. It didn’t matter. He was finally playing.

BOSTON – The Nationals arrived at Fenway Park with a rough history in the landmark ballpark.

Entering tonight’s opener of a three-game series, they were 15-24 all-time against the Red Sox and 5-13 at Fenway.

But the 2024 Nationals do not care much for history. They came to face a streaky Red Sox team with a similar record as their third straight American League East opponent. And they came away victorious.

The Nationals beat the Red Sox 5-1 to get back over .500 on a cold 51-degree Boston evening in front of an announced crowd of 31,313 fans. And they did so with some nifty two-out hitting and gutsy pitching, including from starter Patrick Corbin.

Facing right-hander Tanner Houck, who entered tonight’s start with a 1.99 ERA and 0.971 WHIP over his first seven outings, the Nats were able to put pressure on him with two outs in the early innings.

BOSTON – As the Nationals got settled into the cramped visiting clubhouse at Fenway Park, Joey Gallo learned that his next rehab game with Triple-A Rochester was postponed due to inclement weather about four hours south in Scranton/Wilkes-Barre.

Davey Martinez was hoping his first baseman/designated hitter, who has been on the injured list since April 26 with a left shoulder AC sprain, would carry over his strong night at the plate last night into tonight with the Red Wings.

“Joey Gallo is rehabbing in Rochester still,” Martinez said ahead of tonight’s opener against the Red Sox. “Today got rained out, so they got no game today.”

Gallo went 2-for-5 with a double and three-run home run in the Red Wings’ 14-12 loss to the RailRiders last night. It was his first multi-hit game and extra-base hits over his five rehab games, a good sign the 30-year-old is getting his timing back after hitting .122 with a .597 OPS and three home runs in his first 23 games with the Nats.

“He hit a home run and a double. He's starting to swing the bat a little bit better,” Martinez said. “They said he feels good. Just like everybody else, he's just trying to get his timing back. Hopefully, he continues to play. The rainouts are not good, but I want him to get as many at-bats as he possibly can before we bring him back up here. But we also want to make sure that this doesn't linger and that it goes away. But he said he feels good.”

BOSTON – Hello from historic (and chilly) Fenway Park! This weekend is my first time shipping up to Boston since I was a young lad, a trip I don’t necessarily remember. So I’m very excited to be your trusty beat reporter live from Bah-stan.

The Nats are nearing the end of a wicked 14-game stretch against American League teams. After these three games against the Red Sox, they’ll head to the south side of Chicago to face a different shade of sox and wrap up three weeks’ worth of interleague play. Entering tonight, the Nats are 7-7 against AL teams and 11-8 on the road.

Patrick Corbin makes his eighth start in the opener. He’s 0-3 with a 6.45 ERA and 1.8095 WHIP. Though he once again got roughed up early in his last outing, he actually turned in a quality start with three runs over six innings against the Blue Jays. The veteran lefty needs to get off to better starts, however: He’s given up 16 runs in innings 1-3 compared to nine in innings 4-6.

Corbin is 0-2 with an 8.22 ERA and 2.478 WHIP in two career starts at Fenway, the last one coming in 2016.

Tanner Houck makes his eighth start for the Red Sox, going 3-3 with a 1.99 ERA and 0.971 WHIP over his first seven with all but one coming in as a quality start. He pitched a complete-game shutout against the Guardians on April 17, while holding them to just three hits and striking out nine. He has pitched three scoreless outings on the year. He has a 9.1 strikeout-per-nine-innings rate and his 2.08 Fielding Independent Pitching leads the major leagues.

Kyle Finnegan had pitched in 241 big league games before taking the mound Tuesday night at Nationals Park. Appearance No. 242 carried more weight than usual.

“This one, for whatever reason, felt a little more meaningful,” the right-hander said afterward. “It’s been a while since we’ve been over .500. We’ve been putting in all the work behind the scenes, and to see it starting to come to fruition has been exciting. And to do it against Baltimore in this series is special.”

Finnegan’s 62nd career save was his first as a member of a Nationals team with a winning record. That fact wasn’t lost on the 32-year-old, who has become one of the organization’s longest-tenured pitchers but not long enough to have experienced the good old days when meaningful baseball was played on a nightly basis on South Capitol Street.

So Tuesday’s 3-0 victory over the Orioles, with Finnegan recording the final three outs and then receiving high-fives from teammates as pink LED lights glowed above and a crowd of nearly 30,000 roared with approval, was arguably the biggest game he’s ever pitched.

One night later, he found himself right back in the spotlight, posting another zero in the top of the 10th to give his teammates a chance to win in the bottom of the inning. They couldn’t pull that one off, ultimately losing 7-6 in the 12th, but it was through no fault of their closer.

After a year where he tore it up at Double-A and Triple-A and finished the 2023 season with 29 homers and 99 RBIs – leading the O’s farm in both – Coby Mayo is raking again.

Heston Kjerstad played with him with last year and this season and said Mayo has basically been locked in all spring and all year.

“Especially after playing with Coby last year, there is room for improvement, but he was already a really good hitter. So, for him to improve this year is really impressive. Still really young and for me, he’s more mature at the plate. He’s using all parts of the field a little bit better. Not just trying to pull everything.

“He has realized if he just makes contact, he hits the ball hard. He doesn’t have to try to produce that," said Kjerstad. 

In a combined 140 games last year with 78 at Bowie and 62 at Norfolk, Mayo, 22, hit .290/.410/.563/.973.

It’s easy to draw comparisons between the Nationals and Orioles. The two teams are 35 miles apart, and over the past six years have each undergone their own organizational rebuilds, which are now at different stages.

Of course, the Nationals won the World Series in 2019. The Orioles began their rebuild that year after a 47-115 season in 2018, which led to the hiring of executive vice president/general manager Mike Elias and manager Brandon Hyde, and the drafting of Adley Rutschman with the No. 1 overall selection.

The Nats didn’t start their rebuild until halfway through the 2021 season by trading Max Scherzer and Trea Turner to the Dodgers. Then it really became a reality the following summer when they traded Juan Soto to the Padres for a package of five top prospects while the superstar outfielder was still two years away from free agency.

The time in between the respective rebuilds gave the Orioles a head start, and here they are six years later with one of the best records in baseball fresh off an American League East title and their first postseason appearance since 2016.

That’s where the Nationals hope to be in the coming years. But with the way the first edition of this year’s Beltway Series went – a two-game split with a wild back-and-forth finale last night – the similarities between the two teams are even more striking.