If you’re of the belief the Nationals could exceed expectations and be a surprise wild card contender next year, you’re probably also of the belief Dylan Crews and James Wood, plus perhaps Brady House and Robert Hassell III, are going to play a big role in the club’s ascension.

That may very well become reality. Any or all of those top prospects could make his major league debut in 2024 and make an immediate impact for a lineup that could use some more thump to go along with CJ Abrams, Keibert Ruiz and Lane Thomas.

But it’s also entirely possible none of that happens. Before any of those prospects can become contributors in D.C., they need to actually make it to D.C. And before any of them can do that, they need to actually have success in the upper levels of the minor leagues.

At this moment, all are underwhelming at Double-A Harrisburg to some extent.

Wood, widely believed to be closest to major-league-ready of this group, has mashed 16 homers and driven in 46 runs in 76 games at Double-A. That’s good. His .223 batting average and .315 on-base percentage are less good. And his 109 strikeouts in 324 plate appearances really aren’t good.

It’s only human nature to look at a calendar these days, see the word “September” in big, bold letters across the top and start thinking about the end of the 2023 season fast approaching.

Which is exactly the kind of mindset that will get a young ballclub in trouble.

“I think it’s very easy to look at the finish line and not worry about what’s at hand,” Lane Thomas said.

Were the Nationals doing that over the weekend when they were swept by the Marlins in a four-game series? Were they already counting down the days until they head home for the winter, feeling like they’ve already accomplished what they’re going to accomplish this year, no matter what still takes place the rest of the way?

The on-field results certainly lend some credence to that theory. It’s not that the Nationals got swept by Miami, or that they’ve now lost five in a row after an impressive 17-9 run through the bulk of August. It’s how they looked as they got swept.

If the last week of baseball represented a slow devolve of what had been an uplifting summer for the Nationals, the top of the first inning this afternoon was undoubtedly the low point.

Josiah Gray looked simultaneously lost and irate on the mound after a ragged opening frame that seemed to spell certain doom for the right-hander and his team against a Marlins club that has owned them the last two seasons.

But Gray figured things out just enough to stop the bleeding, and when his teammates rallied to tie the game against Sandy Alcantara, it looked like the weekend might just be salvaged. Until a sloppy top of the ninth spoiled everything and sent the Nats to yet another loss against Miami.

The Marlins scored two runs off closer Kyle Finnegan via two singles, a throwing error and another bloop single, taking a 6-4 lead they would hold in the bottom of the inning to secure the victory on a sweltering Sunday afternoon on South Capitol Street.

Asked to keep the game tied, Finnegan wound up taking his first loss since June 9. He got himself in trouble with a pair of singles sandwiched around a strikeout of Josh Bell, then watched the go-ahead run score on an ill-advised defensive play.

Here’s some good news for you on this Sunday morning: This is the last time the Nationals will face the Marlins this season. Here’s some bad news: They’ve got to face Sandy Alcantara in today’s series finale, trying to avoid a four-game sweep and trying to avoid falling to 2-11 against Miami this year.

Alcantara isn’t having a Cy Young season; he’s 6-12 with a 4.23 ERA. And the Nats did hit him around the only time they faced him this year, scoring five runs on 10 hits back on June 16. They’ve got a very different lineup right now, though, with several young players who have never faced the electric right-hander before. We’ll see how they fare against him.

Josiah Gray gets the start for the Nationals, and this is an important one for him, no matter the opponent. Gray lasted only two innings in Toronto on Monday night, pulled after throwing a whopping 63 pitches. He has not been the same guy he was in the first half of the season, and he’s suddenly in danger of seeing all the good things he did earlier get lost in the shuffle with a rough finish. A bounceback performance today against a Miami team he held to one earned run over seven innings back in June would be wonderful.

WASHINGTON NATIONALS vs. MIAMI MARLINS
Where: Nationals Park
Gametime: 1:35 p.m. EDT
TV: MASN, MLB.tv
Radio: 106.7 FM, MLB.com
Weather: Sunny, 91 degrees, wind 7 mph out to right field

NATIONALS
SS CJ Abrams
RF Lane Thomas
DH Keibert Ruiz
LF Travis Blankenhorn
2B Jake Alu
3B Ildemaro Vargas
1B Dominic Smith
C Drew Millas
CF Jacob Young

The Nationals signed Trevor Williams in December to help stabilize the back of their rotation, enticing the veteran right-hander with a two-year, $13 million deal after he had success as a swingman for the Mets.

The thinking: Williams could provide valuable innings for a rotation that was short on proven arms, then potentially transition to the bullpen if enough young starters established their worth.

As the season enters its final weeks, Williams’ performance suggests his hold on a starting job should be tenuous. But without enough young alternatives presenting themselves, the Nats may have no choice but to just stick with the struggling right-hander the way Davey Martinez stuck with him today during a disastrous outing.

Williams was battered around Nationals Park by a Marlins lineup that launched four homers off him in the span of four innings en route to an 11-5 blowout that spoiled an otherwise splendid September Saturday afternoon at the yard.

The homers kept getting more damaging, from a pair of seemingly harmless solo shots to a pair of three-run blasts that put the game out of reach no matter how many outs still needed to be recorded.

Johnny DiPuglia, the Nationals’ longtime head of international scouting, has resigned after nearly 15 years with the organization, creating an opening for a prominent position within the front office as its longtime general manager continues to negotiate his own extension.

DiPuglia confirmed his resignation but did not offer details of the move, which was first reported by the Washington Post.

Initially hired in 2009, DiPuglia was tasked with overhauling a Latin American scouting and development operation that was in disarray following a scandal involving the falsifying of supposed top prospect Esmailyn Gonzalez’s name, age and playing ability. That scandal wound up costing both former GM Jim Bowden and special assistant Jose Rijo their jobs, with Mike Rizzo ascending to the GM position and hiring DiPuglia away from the Red Sox, where he served as Latin American scouting director.

Over the ensuing decade-plus, DiPuglia, 60, was rewarded with several promotions, most recently named vice president and assistant GM for international operations in November 2019. One month later, he was honored at baseball’s Winter Meetings with the Professional Scouts International Scout of the Year Award.

Under DiPuglia’s watch, the Nationals both spent considerable money on Latin American prospects and watched several of them become major leaguers, with Juan Soto headlining a group that also includes Victor Robles, Luis García, Joan Adon, Jose A. Ferrer, Wander Suero, Reynaldo López, Wilmer Difo, Jefry Rodriguez and Israel Pineda.

One bad week isn’t going to undo everything positive the Nationals have done over the previous six weeks. But you’d sure rather not let this losing streak linger much longer, right? They’ve dropped three in a row, not to mention five of their last six, for the first time since the first week of July.

They’ll try to reverse that trend this afternoon against a Marlins team that continues to beat them with far more regularity than anyone around here would prefer. Aside from a solid couple of days in Miami last weekend, the Nats have been abysmal against their division foes: 2-9 this season, 6-24 over the last two seasons.

A lineup that has struggled but did manage three solo homers Friday night will be facing veteran Johnny Cueto, whose season has twice been disrupted by stints on the injured list, once for biceps tendinitis and most recently for a viral infection. What the crafty 37-year-old, who was roughed up in his last four starts before getting sick, has left in the tank is anyone’s guess.

Trevor Williams gets the start for the Nationals, hoping to build off back-to-back strong outings against the Phillies and these same Marlins. He allowed only two runs and went seven innings Sunday in Miami, taking a tough-luck 2-1 loss. After using six of his seven relievers during Friday’s 11-inning loss, Davey Martinez could certainly use a comparable start today from Williams.

WASHINGTON NATIONALS vs. MIAMI MARLINS
Where: Nationals Park
Gametime: 4:05 p.m. EDT
TV: MASN, MLB.tv
Radio: 106.7 FM, MLB.com
Weather: Sunny, 84 degrees, wind 7 mph out to left field

Lane Thomas didn’t like it when someone would bring up his homerless streak to begin the season, and he didn’t like it when someone would bring up his torrid power display through the early portion of the summer. So he obviously didn’t want someone to bring up the fact he had been in another long homerless streak prior to Friday night’s game.

“It’s a long season. I think at some point you go through a little drought,” he said. “It felt good to put a few good swings on it tonight.”

Thomas did put several good swings on the ball Friday against the Marlins, most notably on his leadoff homer in the bottom of the third. That 430-foot blast to left field was his 21st home run of the season, but his first in a long time.

Thomas notably hit his first homer of 2023 on May 1. He proceeded to hit 20 of them over his next 86 games, a stretch that ended Aug. 8. Since then? Nothing until Friday, a 21-game stretch that saw him bat just .221 and slug just .299.

The outfielder has always been streaky since joining the Nationals, but he seemed to turn a corner earlier this year when he went on a sustained tear at the plate that made him a bona fide All-Star candidate and perhaps solidified his place in the organization’s plans beyond this season.

The Nationals’ winning month of August was defined by success late in games, both at the plate by an opportunistic lineup and on the mound by a lockdown bullpen.

On the first night of September, they showed it might be tough to keep that going through the season's final month.

Despite rallying to tie the game in the bottom of the 10th, the Nationals couldn't overcome an ugly top of the 11th and wound up on the wrong end of an 8-5 loss to the Marlins, suddenly their fifth loss in six days.

Robert Garcia and Mason Thompson, the Nats' fifth and sixth relievers of the night, combined to allow those four decisive runs in the 11th, the first of those scoring in the form of the automatic runner, the others scoring in more conventional fashion.

Garcia, returning to the mound after a two-inning, 28-pitch appearance Thursday night, surrendered three straight singles to open the inning. Thompson then replaced him and immediately served up a two-run homer to Garrett Hampson to cap the rally and make it all the more difficult for the Nationals to bounce back again in the bottom of the inning.

Afforded the opportunity to expand their roster now that the calendar has shifted to September, the Nationals chose to add an outfielder with some prior big league experience and a reliever who has already made several stints in D.C. this season.

The Nats promoted outfielder Travis Blankenhorn and right-hander Amos Willingham from Triple-A Rochester, adding the one extra position player and one extra pitcher allotted by Major League Baseball for the season’s final month.

This is the fourth time the Nationals have called up Willingham, who has allowed 14 runs and 24 hits in 14 innings as a big leaguer. He may not stick here for long, with MacKenzie Gore set to return from bereavement leave in the coming days and Tanner Rainey nearing completion of his rehab assignment from last summer’s Tommy John surgery.

Blankenhorn, who spent the entire season in Rochester to this point, should get a more extended look as the Nats try to evaluate several players who are trying to force their way into the club’s long-term plans before top prospects Dylan Crews, James Wood, Brady House and Robert Hassell III make their major league debuts.

A 27-year-old outfielder with 26 games of prior big league experience with the Twins and Mets, Blankenhorn was a non-roster invitee to spring training and then spent the last five months at Triple-A, where he hit .262/.360/.517 with 23 homers and 75 RBIs across 455 plate appearances.

As well as they played for a good six weeks, the Nationals are kind of slipping a bit of late. They’ve lost four of their last five games, and a big part of the problem has been a lack of offense. The Nats have scored only 10 runs over those five games, totaling 30 hits, only six of those for extra bases. More, obviously, is needed.

The return of Lane Thomas to the lineup after missing Thursday’s game with a tight back would help, though he’s been slumping himself. Perhaps newly promoted outfielder Travis Blankenhorn, called up from Triple-A Rochester this afternoon, will provide a spark and some power.

Jake Irvin gets the start for the Nationals, and he quietly has become their most consistently effective starter. Over his last 13 outings, the rookie right-hander has a 3.64 ERA. And he’s allowed two or fewer runs in seven of those starts, often completing six innings. Another such performance tonight against the Marlins would be great.

The Nats have another arm in their bullpen as well, with Amos Willingham recalled from Triple-A as the roster expands to 28 active players. Reliever Rico Garcia, who had been on the 15-day injured list, was released to clear a 40-man spot for Blankenhorn.

WASHINGTON NATIONALS vs. MIAMI MARLINS
Where: Nationals Park
Gametime: 7:05 p.m. EDT
TV: MASN, MLB.tv
Radio: 106.7 FM, MLB.com
Weather: Clear, 76 degrees, wind 6 mph out to left field

Major league rosters expand to 28 players today, allowing teams to carry two extra players from now through the end of the regular season.

For general manager Mike Rizzo and the Nationals, there are a couple of different ways they can utilize the extra spots.

“We talked about a few things,” manager Davey Martinez said before last night’s opener against the Marlins. “Mike and the crew upstairs are really bearing down and figuring out what we want to do and which direction we want to go in.”

Teams are allowed to have a maximum of 14 pitchers in September. The Nats will call up one pitcher and have a 10-man bullpen at least for the weekend while starter MacKenzie Gore is on the bereavement list, which means he has to miss at least three games.

If Gore needs more time before returning, the Nationals will still be able to start Patrick Cobin on regular rest thanks to Monday’s off-day and the six-man rotation. The extra man in the bullpen also helps as added insurance. Left-hander Joe La Sorsa was activated to the roster yesterday to take Gore’s roster spot for now.

Last week, the Nationals were finally able to break their curse of the Marlins that was nearing two full seasons. Having yet to beat them this season, the Nats took two of three in Miami over the weekend en route to a 5-4 road trip.

Entering tonight, the Nats were hoping to continue their change of future against a division rival while also continuing their strong play over the last two months.

Those hopes were lost to the wind in a 6-1 loss in front of 17,428 fans on a breezy night in the District.

Joan Adon faced the Marlins for the second time in less than a week. But he could not replicate the six scoreless innings he tossed Friday in Miami.

“The first outing last week, I had a good feeling of all my pitches," Adon said, via interpreter Octavio Martinez. "I knew I just had a real good feeling of every pitch and I felt like I had a lot more energy. Today, for some reason, my energy was low and I didn't feel the same way about my pitches. I just didn't have the same feeling.”

Finally back home, the Nationals are feeling the effects of their 10-game road trip that took them to four different cities in 11 days.

Lane Thomas was scratched from manager Davey Martinez’s original lineup for tonight’s homestand opener against the Marlins after he still felt stiffness in his back. The right fielder was replaced by Alex Call in the seventh inning of yesterday’s loss to the Blue Jays after telling his manager he felt his back tighten up on him during the game, which Martinez said three days playing on artificial turf can do.

“We just scratched him,” Martinez said during his pregame media session. “He's still a little bit tight, so I don't want to take a chance. He's gonna get worked on and hopefully, he's available to pinch-hit.”

Everyone else in the lineup moved up the order, putting Joey Meneses in Thomas’ usual No. 2 spot behind leadoff man CJ Abrams. Against Marlins lefty Braxton Garrett, the Nats have Jake Alu in left field, Jacob Young in center and Alex Call in right.

Martinez wasn’t prepared to definitely announce his lineup during his pregame press conference, but he was prepared to announce Josiah Gray will start Sunday’s finale after the right-hander threw his routine bullpen session today.

After a successful 5-4 road trip, the Nationals have returned home to begin a nine-game homestand, starting with four games this weekend against the Marlins.

A team they have struggled to beat since the start of last season, the Nationals finally won a series against the Fish, taking two of three against their division rivals in Miami last weekend. While the Nats have been winning over the last two months (29-19 in their last 47 games), the Marlins have been falling down the standings by dipping below .500 for the first time since May with a loss to the Rays last night.

Joan Adon will get his second start against the Marlins in less than a week. He impressed Friday by completing six shutout innings with no walks and three hits while earning just his third major league win. The young right-hander will try to reverse his fortunes at home tonight: He has a 10.29 ERA over two starts at Nationals Park compared to a 2.25 ERA in his two road starts.

Braxton Garrett will also get his second chance at the Nationals in less than a week, as he was Adon’s opposition last week in Miami. The left-hander turned in a quality start with three runs over six innings, but that was enough to charge him with the loss. He tossed six innings of one-run ball with eight strikeouts here back in June.

There was a pregame roster move to report: The Nationals placed MacKenzie Gore on the bereavement list and recalled Joe La Sorsa to the active roster. Gore was possibly in line to start Sunday if the Nats decided to give Josiah Gray extra rest after his bullpen session tomorrow. If not Gore nor Gray for Sunday, they could use a bullpen game instead, especially with rosters expanding to 28 players tomorrow.

TORONTO – Some assorted news and notes coming out of the finale of the Nationals’ four-city, 10-game road trip …

* Carter Kieboom was called up from Triple-A Rochester the day the trip began, way back on Aug. 20 in Williamsport, Pa. He didn’t appear in that game but was in the lineup the following night at Yankee Stadium and homered on the first pitch he saw in the majors in nearly two years.

Kieboom would go on to start seven of the remaining nine games of the trip, sitting once in New York and once in Toronto. He would hit two more homers and finish 7-for-26 with a double, three homers, five RBIs and six strikeouts.

In five of those games, though, Kieboom was pulled either in the eighth or ninth inning for defense. Davey Martinez, wanting to give his team its best chance at closing out wins, has had Ildemaro Vargas finish games at third base, a move that notably paid off Tuesday night when Vargas made a tough play on a slow bouncer with the bases loaded.

Martinez is prioritizing defense, but he also has been protecting Kieboom, who missed all of 2022 following Tommy John surgery and then missed more time this season with shoulder trouble stemming from his rehab from the major elbow procedure. That will probably remain the case for the time being, which Kieboom understands, even though he insists his arm feels strong now.

TORONTO – They left Washington some 10 days ago, bound for the Little League Classic in Williamsport, Pa. They’ll finally return home tonight, having played games in four cities across four states and two countries.

Along the way, the Nationals promoted their top pick from this year’s draft to Double-A, agreed to a new contract with their manager, worked toward a new deal with their general manager, saw a burgeoning young outfielder break his leg and learned their onetime ace has made the decision to retire because he couldn’t get his arm healthy again.

They also won more games than they lost, putting themselves on the verge of completing one of their best months of baseball in nearly four years.

The Nats lost to the Blue Jays today, 7-0, failing to pull off a sixth consecutive series victory. Patrick Corbin reverted back to the form that has been on display too much over the last three seasons, and a tired lineup was shut down by Chris Bassitt.

But as they pack up and finally prepare to head home after the longest road trip of the year, it’s impossible for the Nationals to view the overall situation around here as anything but positive.

TORONTO – When the Nationals put out their rotation plan for this weekend’s series against the Marlins, Josiah Gray’s name was listed for Sunday’s finale at Nationals Park. Asked about that, though, Davey Martinez admitted that may not remain the plan.

“I’m going to be honest with you: That could change,” the manager said today. “We’re going to treat it as if he’s going to start on Sunday. He’s going to go through his bullpen work. But I’m going to be out there and watch him through his bullpen. If I see any red flags or anything, then we might do something different.”

Gray just wrapped up a disappointing month, one in which he went 0-3 with an 8.44 ERA and failed to complete four innings in three of his five starts. It reached a low point Monday night against the Blue Jays when the right-hander was pulled after throwing 63 pitches in only two innings, allowing four runs on four hits and four walks.

After that game, Martinez suggested the Nationals might need to look at giving Gray a break, or at least some extra rest after this stretch has derailed what was a breakthrough, All-Star season for the 25-year-old.

For now, they’re still tentatively planning to send him to the mound Sunday afternoon to face the Marlins on five days’ rest. But that plan will remain tentative until Gray throws his Friday bullpen session in front of Martinez and pitching coach Jim Hickey.

TORONTO – It’s a dreary Wednesday here north of the border, so the roof at Rogers Centre will probably be closed for the first time this series as the Nationals and Blue Jays face off one more time. A win today for the Nats would incredibly make it six consecutive series won, eight of their last nine.

And if it’s a matinee series finale, that means Patrick Corbin is pitching, a product of the six-man rotation that has been used for several weeks now. Not that Corbin has been bothered by it. Quite the contrary, he’s been quite good this month, going 2-0 with a 2.70 ERA, the Nats winning three of his four starts. And the left-hander continues to pitch well against American League foes, going 4-0 with a 1.73 ERA against the Mariners, Rangers, Red Sox and Yankees this summer.

After getting a pair of big home runs Tuesday night from Carter Kieboom and Keibert Ruiz, the Nationals will try to keep the offense going today against Chris Bassitt, the former Athletics and Mets right-hander who enters 12-7 with a 4.00 ERA, having surrendered five homers over his last 24 2/3 innings.

WASHINGTON NATIONALS at TORONTO BLUE JAYS
Where: Rogers Centre
Gametime: 3:07 p.m. EDT
TV: MASN, MLB.tv
Radio: 106.7 FM, MLB.com
Weather: Indoors

NATIONALS
SS CJ Abrams
RF Lane Thomas
1B Joey Meneses
DH Keibert Ruiz
3B Carter Kieboom
LF Jake Alu
3B Ildemaro Vargas
C Riley Adams
CF Jacob Young

TORONTO – Jacob Young veered slightly in and slightly to his right, calling off his left fielder to catch Daulton Varsho’s fairly routine fly ball to center for the second out of the bottom of the eighth inning Tuesday night, looked up and saw Alejandro Kirk take off from third and came to a quick conclusion.

“There’s no one else on base,” he said. “So you can kind of let it fly.”

And let it fly he did. Standing 297 feet from the plate at the time he made the catch, Young fired a perfect strike to catcher Keibert Ruiz, who hauled it in and tagged the unsuspecting Kirk a split-second before his foot crossed the plate, all the while making sure not to block the runner’s path and risk getting called for obstruction.

Thus did the Nationals pull off a thrilling 8-2 double play to end the eighth with a two-run lead intact, the emotional high point of a 5-4 victory over the Blue Jays that also included a dramatic ninth-inning escape by closer Kyle Finnegan.

The ninth-inning jam made for the most harrowing moment of the night, but Young’s throw one inning prior was the moment everyone in the visitors’ clubhouse at Rogers Centre most wanted to talk about afterward.