ATLANTA – There’s big news today about Dylan Crews, if you haven’t seen it yet, but the top prospect won’t be making his major league debut until Monday. Between now and then, the Nationals have a three-game series with the Braves this weekend, and that’s a challenge in itself, even if Atlanta has been dealing with a ton of injuries and is no longer a shoo-in to make the playoffs.

This is a big start for MacKenzie Gore, whose once-promising season has been slipping away over the last two months. In his last 10 starts, the left-hander is 1-5 with a 7.09 ERA, with an ugly 38-to-29 strikeout-to-walk ratio. He’s got to find a way to throw strikes tonight, but he’s also got to find a way to throw quality strikes, keep his pitch count down and at least get through five innings having given his team a chance.

The challenge is no easier for the Nationals at the plate, because they have to face Chris Sale. The likely National League Cy Young Award winner frontrunner at this point with a 14-3 record and league leading 2.62 ERA. One of those losses, though, did come to the Nats back on June 7, when Sale allowed only two runs over seven innings but was outdueled by Jake Irvin in a 2-1 victory.

WASHINGTON NATIONALS at ATLANTA BRAVES
Where: Truist Park
Gametime: 7:20 p.m. EDT
TV: MASN, MLB.tv
Radio: 106.7 FM, 88.7 FM (Spanish), MLB.com
Weather: Clear, 81 degrees, wind 8 mph left field to right field

NATIONALS
RF Alex Call
LF James Wood
1B Juan Yepez
C Keibert Ruiz
DH Andrés Chaparro
2B Ildemaro Vargas
3B José Tena
CF Jacob Young
SS Nasim Nuñez

ATLANTA – The Nationals are calling up Dylan Crews to make his major league debut. Against Juan Soto and the Yankees.

Crews, the No. 2 overall pick in last summer’s draft, will be promoted from Triple-A Rochester prior to Monday night’s series opener against the Yankees, a source familiar with the decision confirmed. The 22-year-old outfielder’s first big league game will be a star-studded affair, with fellow top prospect James Wood joining him in the Nats lineup against a Bronx Bombers lineup led by Aaron Judge and former Nationals star Juan Soto.

The news of Crews’ pending promotion, which was first reported by 106.7 The Fan’s Grant Paulsen, comes three days prior to his planned debut. That mirrors the timeline the Nats used when promoting Wood to make his debut July 1, also the Monday night opener of a homestand, also against an opponent from New York (the Mets).

Unlike Wood (one of five prospects acquired from the Padres in the August 2022 blockbuster trade for Soto and Josh Bell), Crews hasn’t dominated in the minors this season. He enters Friday night’s game with a solid-but-unspectacular, .272/.343/.456 slash line, 21 doubles, 13 homers, 68 RBIs and 25 steals in 99 total games split between Double-A Harrisburg and Triple-A Rochester. But Crews has steadily improved as the season has progressed and over his last 19 games sports a .309/.370/.531 slash line.

It remains to be seen how Crews fits into the Nationals lineup and outfield, but he has most frequently led off for Rochester while playing center field. He has, however, shifted to right field the last two days, and that figures to be his most likely initial position in the majors, with Wood starting in left field and Gold Glove Award candidate Jacob Young in center.

Juan Yepez joined the Nationals on July 5, taking over the first base job for the struggling, demoted Joey Meneses, and proceeded to hold that job every day. For more than a month.

It wasn’t until Aug. 13 that someone else started at first base, in this case rookie Andres Chaparro. Even then, Yepez remained in the lineup, serving as the Nats’ designated hitter for the next three nights.

Finally on Sunday, after starting 37 consecutive games since his call-up from Triple-A Rochester, Yepez got to rest. He wasn’t in the lineup for the first time, though he still wound up appearing in the game as a pinch-hitter.

At this point, his production had cooled off. After posting a gargantuan slash line of .330/.380/.523 through his first 28 games, he saw those numbers plummet to .132/.191/.132 over an 11-game stretch that concluded with another game off Wednesday evening.

“It’s late-August,” Yepez said. “Some of us are tired. Some of us are going good. That’s how baseball works.”

Not that expectations were high for Patrick Corbin when this season began, but even the least optimistic observer out there had to assume the left-hander would reach his 100th career win along the way, and probably not that far along the way.

Corbin needed only three victories to get there. And even if the Nationals’ intention was to move the long-struggling veteran to the bullpen once Cade Cavalli or Josiah Gray was healthy, he surely would’ve achieved the milestone by then.

And yet here was Corbin taking the mound this afternoon to face the Rockies, making his 26th start of the season, his win total stuck on 99 as his ERA once again approached 6.00. Cavalli and Gray remain on the injured list, as does Trevor Williams, so Corbin still isn’t in danger of losing his spot in the rotation anytime soon.

But at long last, he can breathe a sigh of relief. He has finally reached the century mark, thanks to perhaps his best start of the year.

With six innings of one-run ball and a season-high eight strikeouts, Corbin never let the Rockies get anything going at the plate. And thanks to some long-awaited run support from his teammates, he and the Nats cruised to an 8-3 victory in their series finale against Colorado.

Upon returning to the dugout following his three-run homer Wednesday night, Luis García Jr. approached his manager with a wide smile.

“Before the at-bat, he had mentioned to me to look for a ball up,” García said, via interpreter Octavio Martinez. “And the pitch that I hit out was actually up. So I came back and told him: ‘It was right where you said.’”

It was both the latest example of García’s breakthrough season on the field and the relationship he and Davey Martinez have developed over years, helping make this breakthrough season possible.

No player on the Nationals roster received as much criticism from Martinez this spring as García, who after a disappointing 2023 was told it was time to either step up or risk losing his job. At the time, there was reasoned speculation Trey Lipscomb might soon supplant him at second base.

Five months later, García has a stranglehold on the job and has shown no signs of letting it go. The 24-year-old enters today’s series finale against the Rockies with a .294 batting average (sixth in the National League), 22 doubles, 15 homers, 62 RBIs, 19 stolen bases and a .794 OPS that leads all eligible regulars on the Nats.

It’s another surprisingly gorgeous August day here in the nation’s capital, where the home team has a shot at a series win if it can beat the Rockies again this afternoon. The Nationals won Wednesday night in convincing fashion, thanks to an effective and efficient start from Mitchell Parker and a consistent offensive attack highlighted by Luis García Jr.’s three-run homer.

Can Patrick Corbin duplicate Parker’s seven innings of one-run ball? That might be a bit too much to ask out of the veteran left-hander, who for the sixth straight start will be taking the mound in search of his 100th career win. (He entered the season with 97, by the way.) Corbin did enjoy back-to-back quality starts a month ago against the Reds and Padres. In four starts since then, he sports a 10.38 ERA, with 21 runs allowed in only 17 1/3 innings.

The Nats did a nice job at the plate Wednesday night against Rockies right-hander Tanner Gordon. They’ll try to keep that up today against right-hander Cal Quantrill, who did toss a quality start against them two months ago at Coors Field. Quantrill has struggled since then, though, with a 7.23 ERA over his last eight games, with 10 homers surrendered in that time.

WASHINGTON NATIONALS vs. COLORADO ROCKIES
Where: Nationals Park
Gametime: 1:05 p.m. EDT
TV: MASN, MLB.tv
Radio: 106.7 FM, 88.7 FM (Spanish), MLB.com
Weather: Mostly sunny, 77 degrees, wind 7 mph left field to right field

NATIONALS
RF Alex Call
SS CJ Abrams
LF James Wood
C Keibert Ruiz
2B Luis García Jr.
3B José Tena
DH Juan Yepez
1B Joey Gallo
CF Jacob Young

Mitchell Parker has endured through three disastrous starts in the last five weeks, once failing to get out of the first inning, once failing to get out of the third inning and most recently getting torched by the Phillies for nine runs.

Those outings could’ve completely spoiled the left-hander’s rookie season, left him spiraling out of control or perhaps even facing a demotion to Triple-A Rochester. Instead, Parker has found a way to shrug them off and right his ship before it goes too wayward.

And with seven sparkling innings tonight to lead the Nationals to an easy 6-1 victory over the Rockies, he enjoyed perhaps his best display of resiliency yet.

"This is who we saw earlier," manager Davey Martinez said. "This is who he can be."

Parker cruised through Colorado’s lineup tonight, needing only 83 pitches to complete seven innings for the fourth time in his 23 big league starts. The 24-year-old remains a work-in-progress, and his 4.26 ERA suggests there’s still plenty of room for improvement (and especially consistency).

When the Nationals traded Hunter Harvey to the Royals, there was concern about replacing such an important member of the bullpen. When they traded Dylan Floro to the Diamondbacks, the challenge of getting the ball to closer Kyle Finnegan became even more daunting. And when Derek Law landed on the injured list, the situation looked downright bleak.

Now consider how well the Nats bullpen has actually performed despite those seemingly killer losses: Over the last two weeks, the remaining group owns a 1.95 ERA, tops in the majors.

It’s true. The team might be 5-9 during that span, but rarely has it been the bullpen’s fault, with only two of the losses charged to relievers. All this in spite of the fact manager Davey Martinez has been forced to adjust roles on the fly, often using inexperienced arms in situations of consequence out of necessity.

“All of these guys, they’ve just got to be ready,” Martinez said. “Mainly right now, it’s matchups and how we see fit.”

For much of the season’s first half, Martinez’s mid-to-late-game strategy was fairly simple. Finnegan was the closer, with Harvey the setup man. Floro usually pitched the seventh inning, unless the opponents had several left-handed hitters due up, in which case Robert Garcia would get the assignment. Law would be used prior to that point, often entering in the sixth or even fifth inning if needed.

The Nationals have scored 14 runs over their last six games. It will not surprise you to learn they’ve gone 1-5 in those games. Scoring runs is good. Not scoring runs is bad. It would really help their chances tonight if they could score some runs.

The Nats will be facing a Rockies starter who has made only six big league appearances before, four of them losses, none of them wins. Right-hander Tanner Gordon is 0-4 with a 7.00 ERA, having allowed 40 batters to reach base in 27 innings, giving up seven homers in the process. A sixth-round pick of the Braves in the 2019 Draft, he throws a low-90s fastball, a slider and a changeup. This is someone the Nationals should believe they can hit tonight.

Mitchell Parker, meanwhile, starts for the home team. The rookie left-hander put together back-to-back quality starts against the Brewers and Angels, then got absolutely roughed up by the Phillies for nine runs in three-plus innings last week. That one start raised his ERA from 3.83 to 4.44. He really needs to get himself back on track tonight.

WASHINGTON NATIONALS vs. COLORADO ROCKIES
Where: Nationals Park
Gametime: 6:45 p.m. EDT
TV: MASN, MLB.tv
Radio: 106.7 FM, 88.7 FM (Spanish), MLB.com
Weather: Mostly clear, 73 degrees, wind 9 mph left field to right field

NATIONALS
RF Alex Call
SS CJ Abrams
LF James Wood
C Keibert Ruiz
2B Luis García Jr.
3B José Tena
DH Andrés Chaparro 
1B Joey Gallo
CF Jacob Young

Watching the Nationals slog their way through Tuesday night’s 3-1 loss to the Rockies, and contemplating a lineup that has been held to a grand total of 14 runs over its last six games (five of them losses), it was hard not to look forward and ask the question surely on everyone’s minds right now.

When is the rest of the calvary coming?

The Nats have been fielding a lineup for a while that does feature several potential young building blocks: James Wood, CJ Abrams, Luis Garcia Jr., Keibert Ruiz, Jacob Young. The rest of the lineup, though, continues to feature placeholders, some of whom could theoretically be part of the long-term plan, though the odds are still against that actually coming to fruition.

So it’s not wrong to end each night looking not only at the major league box score, but at the Triple-A Rochester box score to check in on the big-name prospects who are still waiting for the call. Most notably, Dylan Crews and Brady House.

Crews is one of the top rated prospects in the sport, the second overall pick in last summer’s draft considered one of the surest bets in recent history. While the two players drafted directly before (Paul Skenes) and after (Wyatt Langford) have been big leaguers for months now, Crews remains a minor leaguer. One with good-but-not-great numbers.

Not that the Nationals have fielded an imposing lineup often this season, but the group Davey Martinez currently has at his disposal isn’t exactly going to leave opposing pitchers quaking in their boots.

Tonight’s batting order against the Rockies included a leadoff hitter with a career .696 OPS, a 7-8-9 triumvirate with a combined four homers this year and a No. 3 hitter who has been in the majors for all of one week and wasn’t a highly rated prospect at the time of his promotion.

So, as uninspired as the Nats’ 3-1 loss this evening was, it could not have taken very many by surprise. What, exactly, was this particular lineup expected to produce beyond CJ Abrams’ solo homer in the sixth?

The Nationals didn’t produce anything else of consequence against Rockies starter Austin Gomber or the two relievers who followed. And in the process, they wasted another solid outing by DJ Herz, who overcame an unsightly top of the first to actually put together one of his best starts in a while.

"We try to get guys in a position for them to be successful, because they've done it in the minor leagues," said Martinez, who had Alex Call leading off, Andrés Chaparro batting third and a 7-8-9 of Riley Adams, José Tena and Jacob Young. "Up here, it's a little different. I think it's more or less trying to get experience on the pitcher, the guys they're facing. Perfect example today: This guy threw three breaking balls in a row. A lot of guys didn't think he would do it, when a lot of times he did do it. ...

It’s been more than two months since Joey Gallo last played for the Nationals, a significant hamstring strain having brought his season to an immediate halt on July 11 in Detroit. The team’s lineup that evening included a host of names no longer affiliated with the organization: Lane Thomas, Jesse Winker, Eddie Rosario, Nick Senzel.

Finally activated off the 10-day injured list today, Gallo is healthy but not in the Nats lineup for tonight’s series opener against the Rockies. The lineup instead includes a host of names playing at Triple-A two months ago: James Wood, Juan Yepez, Alex Call, Andrés Chaparro, José Tena.

“It’s funny, because when I was down there, a lot of these guys I met down there. And now they’re up here,” Gallo said “I actually know everybody really, really well. I don’t know if it’s a good thing that I know everybody, because I was hurt. But it’s cool. It’s a new clubhouse, but it’s the guys I already knew and was hanging out with down there.”

Gallo spent the last two weeks at Rochester on an extended rehab assignment, during which he hit three homers, drove in eight runs, walked 11 times, struck out 12 times and saw action both at first base and in right field.

The extra work, he believes, was necessary after the long layoff.

The last week was not especially kind to the Nationals, who went 2-4 on their road trip to Baltimore and Philadelphia, at times looking overmatched by two of the best teams in baseball. The good news: They’re back home and facing a team with a worse record in the Rockies. At 46-79, Colorado is tied with Miami for the worst record in the National League, with only the wretched White Sox even worse than them across the majors.

The Nats still need to play well the next three days, of course, and they’ll hope DJ Herz can keep up what he’s been doing the last few weeks on the mound. After a midseason hiccup, Herz has gotten back on track, with a 3.04 ERA over his last five starts, including a quality start last week at Camden Yards. He struggled a bit at Coors Field earlier this summer, though, lasting just 3 2/3 innings in the thin mountain air.

The Nationals did not see Austin Gomber in that late-June series in Colorado. The left-hander enters with a 4.82 ERA and 24 homers allowed in 125 innings but did produce quality starts in two of his last three outings. The Nats have a big bat back in the lineup, with Joey Gallo finally activated off the 10-day injured list after a two-week rehab stint at Triple-A Rochester. He replaces Travis Blankenhorn, who was optioned to Triple-A.

The Nats also activated Robert Garcia off the bereavement list and optioned Orlando Ribalta to Rochester, giving them three lefties in the bullpen for the first time this season.

WASHINGTON NATIONALS vs. COLORADO ROCKIES
Where: Nationals Park
Gametime: 6:45 p.m. EDT
TV: MASN2, MLB.tv
Radio: 106.7 FM, 88.7 FM (Spanish), MLB.com
Weather: Clear, 73 degrees, wind 11 mph in from left field

BALTIMORE – The smile on Orlando Ribalta’s face was still there Wednesday afternoon, some 19 hours after he made his major league debut in the ninth inning of the Nationals’ 9-3 victory over the Orioles.

It was far from a perfect debut; he retired only two of the five batters he faced and had to be pulled when his pitch count got too high. But the experience nonetheless was one Ribalta will never forget.

“I obviously had a lot of adrenaline going, but I know it’s part of the environment, being the first time,” he said. “It was the best thing. It was really cool.”

Promoted from Triple-A Rochester along with first baseman Andres Chaparro, Ribalta was thrown right into the proceedings, handed the ninth inning with the Nats holding a comfortable lead. Davey Martinez hoped the 26-year-old right-hander could record the final three outs of the game, but the manager ultimately had to summon Derek Law to finish it off.

Ribalta, whose head admittedly was spinning under the circumstances, will continue to get opportunities now that he has arrived in the big leagues. The Nationals hope to learn more about the physically imposing reliever over the season’s final seven weeks, determining if he looks like he could be part of the 2025 bullpen or not.

BALTIMORE – The Nationals have not yet closed the gap with the Orioles that has existed for multiple seasons now. One of these teams is headed for its second straight October appearance. The other is spending the next seven weeks identifying which players will be part of a team attempting to win in 2025 and which players will not.

But the gap is shrinking, and the four head-to-head matchups between the two interleague rivals this year underscored that. After getting swept by Baltimore last season and scoring a grand total of one run in the process, the Nats split the Battle of the Beltways this season and actually outscored their opponents by five runs along the way.

Tonight’s finale was right there for the taking, as well, and could’ve given the Nationals their first series victory over the Orioles since 2018. But a lack of offense doomed them on a night when DJ Herz pitched well but took a hard-luck, 4-1 loss at Camden Yards.

Herz allowed just two runs over six strong innings, both runs scoring on one swing in the bottom of the first. His teammates couldn’t match those numbers, though, one night after busting out for nine runs on 15 hits during a lopsided victory.

Tuesday’s big win, coupled with a 3-0 victory back in May in D.C., allowed the Nationals to go 2-2 against Baltimore for the season. And the two losses were highly competitive: a 7-6, 12-inning loss in May, then tonight’s tightly contested affair.

BALTIMORE – Davey Martinez gathered his entire coaching staff together on the Nationals’ off-day and told the group he had an announcement to make: Every one of them was being invited back for the 2025 season.

Prior to Tuesday’s series opener against the Orioles, all of them – pitching coach Jim Hickey, hitting coach Darnell Coles, bench coach Miguel Cairo, first base coach Gerardo Parra, third base coach Ricky Gutierrez, catching and strategy coach Henry Blanco, bullpen coach Ricky Bones, pitching strategist Sean Doolittle and assistant hitting coach Chris Johnson – signed their new contracts. And this afternoon, Martinez made it public, ensuring his full staff not only will return for another season but was made aware long before the current season ends.

“I really wanted to get it done now,” Martinez said. “This way, there’s a little bit of unity, and all the guys know they’ll be back, instead of doing it at the end of the year. I really feel like this is a good corps, and we work really good together. And they’re doing a great job with the kids. For me, it was important to get it done as soon as possible.”

This was a significant departure from the 2023 season, when Martinez (who signed his contract extension in late-August) didn’t make decisions on his coaches until October, making several changes to what had been a tight-knit staff.

With all of the current coaches on one-year deals, speculation had been growing there could be more changes coming this fall, most notably at the hitting coach position. Ultimately, Martinez – with the blessing of general manager Mike Rizzo and Nationals ownership – gave a vote of confidence to everyone, and didn’t make anyone – including the players – have to sweat out the season’s final seven weeks before learning who would be back in 2025.

BALTIMORE – The Nationals have not exactly enjoyed much success against the Orioles in recent years. They entered 2024 having lost 10 of their last 11 to Baltimore, having scored a grand total of one run in four head-to-head games last season. Well, the narrative appears to have flipped at last. The two teams split the series in D.C. back in May. And then the Nats won handily, 9-3, Tuesday night here at Camden Yards. Which means at worst they’ll split the season series, with a shot at winning it for the first time since 2018 if they can win tonight’s finale.

Davey Martinez would love to keep the offense going from 24 hours ago. The Nationals not only scored nine runs, they rapped out 15 hits, 10 of which featured an exit velocity in triple digits. Boy, have they been waiting for something like that. Now, how much of Tuesday’s output was familiarity with Trevor Rogers, and how much was something else? Perhaps we’ll find out tonight when they face Dean Kremer, who enters with a 4.70 ERA but has won each of his two previous career starts against the Nats, including 6 2/3 innings of shutout ball last year.

The Orioles have never seen DJ Herz before, because the left-hander made his major league debut several weeks after the two teams met earlier this season. Herz’s last start was disrupted by rain, so it’s hard to evaluate that performance. He was solid in each of his three previous starts, going five innings each time and never allowing more than two runs.

WASHINGTON NATIONALS at BALTIMORE ORIOLES
Where: Camden Yards
Gametime: 6:35 p.m. EDT
TV: MASN2, MLB.tv
Radio: 106.7 FM, 88.7 FM (Spanish), MLB.com
Weather: Clear, 84 degrees, wind 6 mph in from left field

NATIONALS
SS CJ Abrams
DH Juan Yepez
LF James Wood
1B Andrés Chaparro
2B Luis García Jr.
C Keibert Ruiz
RF Alex Call
3B Ildemaro Vargas
CF Jacob Young

BALTIMORE – When the Nationals signed Harold Ramirez to a minor league contract on June 15, then called him up to the majors a week later, the intention was clear: Add a proven big league hitter to a lineup and bench that could use more of them, the kind of bat that could help a team win more games and perhaps even keep itself in a wide-open National League wild card race.

When the Nats designated Ramirez for assignment prior to Tuesday night’s game against the Orioles, the intention was also clear, if dramatically altered from two months prior: It’s time to prioritize young players who may have a future with the organization than older ones who don’t.

It wasn’t so much about Ramirez’s production. The soon-to-be 30-year-old hadn’t been great, but he hadn’t been awful, either. It was about creating a roster spot – and playing time – for Andres Chaparro, a 25-year-old rookie acquired two weeks ago from the Diamondbacks for Dylan Floro who theoretically could figure into the team’s long-term plans.

Chaparro, let’s be clear, is not a top-rated prospect. He was the return for two months of a veteran setup man, not two years of a productive everyday player. But his Triple-A numbers over the last two seasons – a .282/.363/.500 slash line with 51 doubles and 48 homers in 242 games – were hard to ignore.

And given the current state of the Nationals, who are sorely lacking in power, especially from the corner infield positions, it made all the sense in the world to get Chaparro up here now and get an extended look at him.

BALTIMORE – In their season-long search for more offensive punch, the Nationals tonight found plenty of it from one key piece of their long-term plan and one unexpected new piece of the puzzle who might just play his way into the long-term plan if he keeps this up.

Behind the second four-hit night of James Wood’s young career and a record-setting three-double night from Andrés Chaparro in his major league debut, the Nats busted out at the plate during a 9-3 victory over the Orioles.

Facing a Baltimore pitching staff that held them to a grand total of 15 runs in their last nine head-to-head matchups, the Nationals put forth one of their best offensive showings in a while, their highest scoring output against the Orioles since May 22, 2021, when their lineup included Trea Turner, Juan Soto and Ryan Zimmerman.

The names involved tonight can’t come close to comparing to that trio, but given how inexperienced they are, who can say with any certainty what they will become when it’s all said and done?

Wood, the top-rated prospect in baseball not long ago, continued to hit the ball extremely hard with three singles and a double that all boasted an exit velocity of at least 99.5 mph. Chaparro, a power-hitting corner infielder stuck at Triple-A the last two seasons but acquired two weeks ago from the Diamondbacks for reliever Dylan Floro, put on the kind of power display the Nats have dreamed of getting all year from their first basemen.

BALTIMORE – As this season transitions from one of early dreams of a surprise run to one that’s still primarily focused on the future, the Nationals decided to make a pair of transactions today that will give them a chance to look at two more young players at the expense of veterans.

The Nats promoted first baseman Andrés Chaparro and reliever Orlando Ribalta from Triple-A Rochester prior to this evening’s series opener against the Orioles and cleared space for both by designating designated hitter Harold Ramírez and reliever Jordan Weems for assignment.

“We want to take a look at some of these young kids,” manager Davey Martinez said. “Both have done really well at Triple-A.”

Indeed, Chaparro and Ribalta have been knocking on the door, performing at a level worthy of consideration. Now each will get an opportunity to make his major league debut.

Acquired just two weeks ago at the trade deadline in a last-minute deal with the Diamondbacks for Dylan Floro, Chaparro went on a tear at the plate in 10 games with Rochester. The 200-pound corner infielder hit four homers with 10 RBIs, a .419 on-base percentage and 1.076 OPS, picking up right where he left off with Arizona’s Triple-A affiliate in Reno, where he batted .332 with 19 homers and 75 RBIs in 95 games.