Juan Soto could’ve skipped the Home Run Derby, and nobody would’ve batted an eyelash. He already put on a show last year at Coors Field, and given most sluggers’ reluctance to partake in the annual pre-All-Star Game competition, he would’ve been excused had he said no this time.

Soto, though, embraces the idea of going head-to-head with some of baseball’s best power hitters, especially on this stage. And then when you consider the positive effect last year’s Derby seemed to have on his second half performance, there was no way he was going to decline the invitation for Monday’s big show at Dodger Stadium.

“I mean, for me, it worked last year,” he said with a laugh this afternoon. “You see the second half that I had. I’m just going to try and see how it feels in there, and try to enjoy the show. At the end of the day, it was really good. It was really fun. I enjoyed it a lot, and I’m going to try to do the same thing. Being around all those stars, being a part of it, even if I don’t win I’m going to try to enjoy it as much as I can.”

Soto joins an already impressive field, with back-to-back defending champion Pete Alonso, Ronald Acuña Jr., Kyle Schwarber and Albert Pujols having committed so far, and three more names still to come.

“I would love to see Albert hitting bombs,” Soto said of Pujols, whose first Derby appearance came in 2003 when Soto was 4. “He was amazing when he was in his first Home Run Derby, and I want to see how fun it can be. It might be his last Home Run Derby.”

On the heels of a rough road trip against division contenders, the Nationals return home this week, with another four-game series against the Braves looming before the All-Star break. Before that, though, comes a quick two-game interleague series with the Mariners. It’s the first time these two franchises have met since 2017, only the sixth head-to-head series ever between them. (The Nats will return the favor with a two-game trip to Seattle next month.)

The Mariners, unfortunately, are as hot as any team in baseball right now, riding an eight-game winning streak into this series. They’ve done with excellent pitching, including from tonight’s starter: Chris Flexen, who hasn’t allowed more than three runs in any of his last eight starts. The right-hander shut out the Padres over 6 2/3 innings in his last start July 4, which means he’s had plenty of rest entering tonight’s outing.

Josiah Gray was great in his last start, striking out a career-high 11 in a 3-2 win at the Phillies six days ago. The right-hander will look to pick up where he left off tonight against a Mariners lineup that ranks 11th in the American League in runs and batting average, though seventh in homers and second in walks.

All of this, of course, is contingent upon the weather. The forecast isn’t great, with strong storms expected throughout the region late this afternoon and this evening. Given that this is only a two-game series, with a 12:05 p.m. start Wednesday, you’d think they won’t be so quick to postpone tonight. But as always, we’ll see what Mother Nature (and MLB) has in store.

SEATTLE MARINERS at WASHINGTON NATIONALS
Where: Nationals Park
Gametime: 7:05 p.m. EDT
TV: MASN2, MLB.tv
Radio: 106.7 FM, MLB.com
Weather: Thunderstorms, 84 degrees, wind 8 mph out to right field

We’ve reached the final week of the first half of the season, the All-Star break looming after that, not to mention the 2022 MLB Draft (which begins Sunday night). And then looming right after that, of course, is the trade deadline.

Three weeks from today, on Aug. 2, the fates of contenders and rebuilding clubs alike will be shaped with a flurry of deals. And though the Nationals don’t figure to be as active as they were one year ago, when they traded away eight players in the span of 24 hours, they almost certainly will be active.

A year ago, general manager Mike Rizzo was still trying to decide if he’d be a buyer or seller at the deadline. The events of a disastrous July made that decision crystal clear by month’s end. This time around, there’s no question if the Nats will be sellers. The only question is how many players will be dealt before the deadline.

Let’s be clear, though, about one key factor here: The Nationals don’t have the two big-time trade chips they did last year. There is no Max Scherzer and there is no Trea Turner for Rizzo to dangle to a contender and receive multiple top prospects in exchange for.

(Sure, Rizzo could theoretically put Juan Soto up for sale and see just how huge the return would be. But there’s been no indication from anyone that’s part of anyone’s plan at the moment. The Nats have given every indication they intend to continue to try to sign Soto long-term. And even if that doesn’t happen yet, he’s under club control another 2 1/2 seasons and is still viewed as the centerpiece of their next contending roster, if the rebuild proceeds as the organization hopes it will.)

We saw this happen last year.

Everyone was panicking because Juan Soto’s overall offensive numbers weren’t up to his superstar standards about one-third of the way through the season. Then around mid-June, he started heating up at the plate and went into the All-Star break as one of the game’s hottest hitters.

People debated whether or not he should participate in the Home Run Derby, an event known for ruining hitters’ swings, after finally rediscovering his rhythm at the plate. But Soto did it anyway, hitting 46 home runs before being eliminated in the semifinals by eventual champion Pete Alonso.

“This is the time of year where I think he does start heating up,” Davey Martinez said of Soto. “I don't know why that is, because he always has his streaks in the beginning when he hits the ball really well. But he's swinging the bat really well right now.”

We’re now seeing almost the same story play out in 2022, which again brings up the question: Should Soto participate in the Home Run Derby?

ATLANTA – The rules say every team needs at least one representative in the All-Star Game, so despite a disappointing season, we knew there would be at least one Nationals player going to Los Angeles for this year’s Midsummer Classic.

That player is Juan Soto, announced on the “MLB All-Star Selection Show” on ESPN.

“It feels great to be part of it representing the Washington Nationals,” Soto said of his selection after today’s loss to the Braves. “It feels great to be out there and be on the list of all the All-Stars that the Washington Nationals have had in the past. And to be around those guys, it feels great.”

There was a lot of speculation as to whether Soto or Josh Bell or both would join Davey Martinez on Braves manager Brian Snitker’s National League team at Dodger Stadium. Now we know it will just be the left-handed slugging outfielder going to his second straight All-Star Game.

“It means a lot not only for me, but for the organization,” Soto said. “To represent the Washington Nationals out there and knowing that Davey is coming with me is gonna be great. We'll see how fun it's gonna be and how excited we will be.”

ATLANTA – When it rains, it pours. An ironic use of that phrase on a beautiful day just outside downtown Atlanta.

But it’s true for the Nationals, who dropped their fourth straight game and were swept by the Braves with today’s 4-3 loss in 12 innings in front of 32,053 at Truist Park.

Jordan Weems, who pitched two impressive scoreless innings Friday night, was charged with the bottom of the 12th. The Nats intentionally walked Matt Olson to put two runners on for the right-hander. Austin Riley, who hit the tying home run in the eighth inning, stepped up to the plate and delivered the game-winning RBI single.

Tanner Rainey put up two zeros in the 10th and 11th innings, not without some tense moments, though.

Going back to the seventh, Davey Martinez brought in Kyle Finnegan to face the top of the Braves order and protect a 3-2 lead. Finnegan struck out the side easily, and since he last pitched Wednesday, he was plenty rested to go back out for a second inning.

ATLANTA – Hunter Harvey was seen in the Nationals clubhouse this morning before the series finale against the Braves at Truist Park. His hair is hard to miss.

That meant a roster move was coming. When it became official about 30 minutes later, the Nats had reinstated Harvey, optioned Joan Adon to Triple-A Rochester and transferred Jackson Tetreault to the 60-day injured list.

“I've been feeling a lot better since the last time, so that's always a plus,” Harvey said at his locker of his recovery from a right pronator strain. 

The Nationals placed him on the injured list on April 21 after he pitched only 2 ⅔ scoreless innings over four appearances. Now after missing 71 games, he’s finally back.

“It took a little bit longer than we wanted to,” Harvey said of his rehab. “I had a couple of setbacks, but we took a little bit extra time and made sure everything was OK, and now I feel a lot better than I did before.”

ATLANTA – The Nationals need a win today to salvage this three-game series against the Braves and end this mostly miserable road trip on a high note.

Paolo Espino will lead them on the mound as he makes his sixth consecutive start. The right-hander hasn’t posted similar numbers as a starter to those he did when he was strictly a reliever. In 20 appearances out of the bullpen, he had a 2.03 ERA over a mainly low-leverage 26 ⅔ innings. Since he joined the rotation on June 12, Espino is 0-2 with a 4.91 ERA in 22 innings over five starts. He gave up three runs in one inning of relief against the Braves in his second outing of the season on April 12.

For the offense, Ian Anderson may present the best opportunity to do some damage off a Braves starter. The right-hander is 7-5 with a 5.09 ERA over his first 16 starts of the season. He gave up four runs on six hits and four walks in four innings plus three batters against the Nats on June 13. He has a 9.82 ERA in just 11 innings over his last three starts.

César Hernández is on the bench and not in his usual leadoff spot, with Luis García batting first instead. Manager Davey Martinez also has Juan Soto and Josh Bell swapping places in today's batting order.

All-Stars will be announced later today, so we’ll see soon who will be the Nationals’ representative in the Midsummer Classic.

ATLANTA – There was reason for optimism heading into this Patrick Corbin start.

His overall numbers still weren’t great in the form of a 4-10 record and 5.68 ERA over his first 17 outings. But he had been really effective over his last two starts with a 1.20 ERA, 16 strikeouts and three walks over a combined 15 innings. He pitched eight innings of one-run ball and recorded a season-high 12 strikeouts on June 28 against the Pirates and then pitched another seven innings of one-run ball on Monday against the Marlins.

But the third time was not the charm for Corbin this afternoon at Truist Park, as he was charged with four runs over six innings in a 4-3 loss to the Braves before a crowd of 40,632 fans.

Like a lot of his outings, Corbin had his ups and downs throughout this start. He faced the minimum in four of his six innings, with 1-2-3 innings in the third and sixth, and double-play balls in the second and fifth. It was the first and fourth innings where he struggled.

In the bottom of the first, ​​Corbin almost worked around a Ronald Acuña Jr. leadoff single as he retired the next two batters. But Austin Riley hit a slider over the plate into the left-field seats for a two-run homer and an early 2-0 Braves lead.

ATLANTA – The Nationals received an encouraging report on Aníbal Sánchez’s latest rehab start with Triple-A Rochester.

And with Monday’s off-day and the four-day All-Star break the following week, the Nats’ rotation could be in line to get some rest, a boost and a reset.

Sánchez completed 5 1/3 innings with four hits, two runs (one earned), three walks and three strikeouts in his fourth rehab start last night (third with Rochester). He threw 87 pitches, 54 for strikes, against the 23 batters he faced, a little more than the five innings and 75 pitches he was originally scheduled to throw.

“Yeah, he threw 5 1/3, 87 pitches. He threw the ball well,” Davey Martinez said during his pregame meeting with the media. “He had a couple of walks in there, but he felt good. So today he'll rest, he'll throw a bullpen, we'll see where he's at. And then we'll figure out what's next for him.”

Looking at the schedule, five days from yesterday would be Wednesday’s matinee finale against the Mariners. As the rotation currently stands, Josiah Gray would be in line to start Tuesday’s opener after Monday’s off-day, and Joan Adon’s spot would come up Wednesday.

ATLANTA – It’s a new day and the Nationals will be looking to get past last night’s disaster, which saw them lose 10-2 in the series opener with a 75-minute rain delay and another position player pitching.

They’ll turn to Patrick Corbin to set the tone for them on the mound this afternoon. Although the overall numbers still aren’t great (4-10 record and 5.68 ERA in 17 starts), the veteran lefty has been very impressive over his last two starts, pitching to a 1.20 ERA with 16 strikeouts and three walks over a combined 15 innings. He did, however, give up six runs in just 2 ⅔ innings here at Truist Park in his second start of the season. Here’s hoping things have changed since the last time Corbin faced the Braves.

After mustering only Juan Soto’s two-run home run off Charlie Morton last night, the Nats offense hopes to be more productive against Kyle Wright, who has been one of the more consistent starters in the league. The 26-year-old right-hander is 9-4 with a 2.91 ERA over 16 starts this season, and he should be plenty fresh after only pitching four innings and throwing 71 pitches (both season lows) in his last start against the Cardinals. (Manager Brian Snitker removed him as a precaution after the Braves jumped out to a 6-0 lead.) 

Wright hasn’t faced the Nats since 2020, but is 1-1 with a 7.71 ERA in four career appearances (two starts) against Washington.

The weather here is once again not great for baseball. The light rain falling is supposed to clear around the scheduled 4:10 p.m. first pitch, but then it’s supposed to storm all night starting around 6-7 p.m.. They may be able to start this game. Whether or not they finish is a different story.

ATLANTA – Part of the rebuilding process, especially if you want to make it a quick turnaround back to contention, is finding diamonds in the rough. Whether that’s in the draft, international market or free agency, adding productive pieces that may have been overlooked by other teams is a good way to put together a contender.

It’s still early with a small sample size, but Jordan Weems is hoping to be one of those diamonds in the rough for the Nationals.

You may look at his overall numbers and think there’s no way. A 29-year-old right-handed reliever who has been cast off by three other teams? Who was drafted in 2011 but didn’t make his major league debut until 2020 as a 27-year-old? Who has a 6.53 ERA in only 25 big league outings? Who had a 7.27 ERA and 1.731 WHIP in just 8 ⅔ innings over eight appearances coming into Friday’s series opener in Atlanta?

How is that a diamond in the rough?

Well, if you take a look at Weems’ more recent numbers, you'll find there are some positive developments that suggest he’s perhaps turning a corner. At the very least, he’s turning himself into a reliable arm out of Davey Martinez’s bullpen.

ATLANTA – It’s been hit or miss for Erick Fedde this year. Really, it’s been hit or miss for Erick Fedde throughout his career. But he hasn’t been put under the microscope until these past two seasons as he has solidified himself in the Nationals rotation.

Sometimes he’s sharp and can use his arsenal effectively to turn in a quality (if not better) start, although he typically gets himself into high pitch counts.

Other times he’s flat and serves up easy pitches for the opponent to hit, which puts his team in a hole and also drives up his pitch count.

Tonight’s series opener against the Braves was the latter as a five-run second inning doomed Fedde and the Nats en route to a 12-2 loss in front of 41,725 fans at Truist Park.

Fedde put himself in a small deficit from the start. In the first inning, he served up a solo home run to Matt Olson on an inside and slightly elevated cutter. He needed 16 pitches to complete the first frame, a pretty standard start for the right-hander.

ATLANTA – Less than 24 hours after exiting Thursday’s series finale in Philadelphia, Luis García is back in the Nationals lineup for the series opener in Atlanta. A sigh of relief can be heard throughout the organization.

Ehire Adrianza replaced García at shortstop in the bottom of the seventh inning of the 5-3 loss to the Phillies after García grounded out to lead off the top of the sixth, clearly grimacing and holding his right side as he jogged back to the dugout. Manager Davey Martinez said after the game that the young shortstop was dealing with a "stomach issue.”

It must have been a quick bug, similar to what Nelson Cruz dealt with when Martinez scratched him from the lineup late Tuesday with an illness. García is feeling well enough to play tonight.

“He had an upset stomach yesterday,” Martinez said during his pregame session with the media. “He said he woke up, he felt a lot better. So I told him to make sure he drinks a lot of fluid. It's hot. So we'll keep an eye on him. He said he feels good.”

García felt something coming on before yesterday’s game, but told his manager he was good enough to play. He ended up getting worse as the game went on.

ATLANTA – Greetings from just outside downtown Atlanta, where the Nationals are making their second visit to Truist Park this year.

I can confirm the Nats won’t have to face Kyle Schwarber over this three-game series, but alas, another National League East opponent awaits in the Braves. The Nats are a woeful 7-30 on the season within the division and have won just two out of their last 21 games against their rivals. Although the Nats have played the Braves the least so far, they’ve had the most success against Atlanta, winning a three-game set here in early April despite getting swept at home over three games last month. 

Erick Fedde will look to continue a strong stretch in which he’s pitched to a 2.82 ERA over his last four starts. That stretch started when he allowed three runs in 5 ⅓ innings against these Braves on June 15. The key for Fedde will be to, once again, get quick outs and not get himself into deep counts so as to keep his pitch count down and get deeper in the game.

Charlie Morton will take the mound for the Braves in tonight’s opener. The veteran right-hander is 4-3 with a 4.34 ERA over his first 16 starts, but like Fedde, he’s been pitching really well as of late. Over his last four starts, Morton has a 1.35 ERA with 35 strikeouts to just four walks. This will be his first time facing the Nats this season after having gone 4-6 with a 5.23 ERA over 13 career starts against Washington. 

Luis García is in tonight’s lineup after leaving yesterday’s game in Philadelphia with a stomach illness.

As he stood inside the clubhouse at Nationals Park last week, seeing a few unfamiliar but mostly familiar faces, Tres Barrera felt like he was home.

“This is what you work for,” the 27-year-old catcher said. “This is where you want to be.”

Barrera hadn’t been in D.C. yet this season, not necessarily through any fault of his own but rather because of the organization’s increased catching depth acquired over the last calendar year. After spending a large chunk of the summer of 2021 in the big leagues, he was bumped down to Triple-A Rochester following the acquisitions and promotions of Keibert Ruiz and Riley Adams, leaving him the third wheel on a roster that only had room for two catchers.

Ruiz is the unquestioned No. 1 guy behind the plate, now and presumably for many years to come. Adams quickly assumed the No. 2 role after his acquisition from the Blue Jays last July. That left Barrera on the outside looking in, even though his performance at the big league level suggested he was worthy of staying.

In 30 games with the Nats last season, 27 of them starts, Barrera hit a solid .264 with an impressive .374 on-base percentage, two homers, 10 RBIs and a .758 OPS. He caught only one of 20 basestealers, but still managed to produce 0.5 WAR (per Baseball-Reference’s formula).

PHILADELPHIA – Joan Adon found himself on the mound pitching another game for the Nationals this afternoon, the struggling rookie with a league-leading 11 losses and an ERA approaching 7.00 pressed into service again when his club needed a fill-in starter.

The assignment, against a tough Phillies lineup, wasn’t advantageous for the young right-hander, but the Nats had little choice but to put him out there and hope for the best.

The end result was rather predictable. Adon labored through four innings and was charged with four runs, sending the Nationals on their way to a lackluster 5-3 loss in the series finale at Citizens Bank Park.

A game that saw Adon struggle on the mound and Juan Soto struggle in the field also saw Luis García depart with an apparent injury. The young shortstop was pulled after the sixth inning, replaced by utility man Ehire Adrianza due to what manager Davey Martinez termed a "stomach issue," even though García could be seen wincing and grabbing his right side after grounding out to second in his final at-bat.

"No, he started feeling real sick," Martinez said.

PHILADELPHIA – It was only 15 pitches, all fastballs, thrown with care off the bullpen mound at Citizens Bank Park this afternoon. But for Sean Doolittle, it was the most significant step yet in his attempted return from a sprained elbow ligament.

And the fact he came out of today’s session feeling strong physically was reason enough for Doolittle to remain optimistic about the rest of his long rehab process.

“The first one, you really just want to come out of it feeling OK,” the Nationals reliever said. “It’s a little bit like spring training. I haven’t thrown off a mound in three months. … I was really happy with how my body was moving. The execution was a little rusty, for sure. But the ball was coming out of my hand good. All around, pretty good.”

Since landing on the injured list in mid-April after only five appearances to begin the season, Doolittle has been waiting to get back to this point again. He knew at the time the partial tear of his ulnar collateral ligament could eventually require Tommy John surgery, but his decision to get a platelet-rich plasma injection and then slowly build his arm back up after a requisite period of rest seems to have worked to this point.

There are still several more significant steps for Doolittle to take. He’s scheduled to throw another bullpen session either Sunday or Monday, still sticking with fastballs only, before adding off-speed pitches his next session after that. At some point after that, he’ll be cleared to face live hitters again, then go a minor league rehab assignment.

PHILADELPHIA – On the heels of the best performance of the season from one of their young starters, the Nationals now hand the ball to another young starter for today’s series finale at Citizens Bank Park, hoping Joan Adon can come anywhere close to doing what Josiah Gray did Wednesday night.

Nobody’s expecting that kind of dominance from Adon, but the Nats do expect/hope for some signs of legitimate improvement from the rookie right-hander, who returns after a brief stint at Triple-A Rochester to take the rotation spot that opened up when Jackson Tetreault went on the injured list with a stress fracture of his right scapula.

Adon faced these Phillies in his last big league start, June 17, when he allowed four runs on seven hits over five innings. He did strike out six and only walk one, and club officials were encouraged by much of what they saw, especially the way Adon finished strong by retiring the last seven batters he faced.

The Nats faced Bailey Falter during that same series in D.C., scoring three runs in five innings against the lefty. All three runs came off the bat of Josh Bell, who blasted two homers that evening and will be licking his chops to get another crack at Falter today.

WASHINGTON NATIONALS at PHILADELPHIA PHILLIES
Where: Citizens Bank Park
Gametime: 4:05 p.m. EDT
TV: MASN, MLB.tv
Radio: 106.7 FM, MLB.com
Weather: Mostly cloudy, 80 degrees, wind 7 mph in from right field

PHILADELPHIA – The Nationals’ 3-2 win over the Phillies on Wednesday was made possible by Josiah Gray’s six dominant innings (which included a career-high 11 strikeouts). It was made possible by Luis García’s clutch two-run double in the top of the seventh. And it was made possible by the lockdown work of the back end of the bullpen, most notably Tanner Rainey in the bottom of the ninth.

The beleaguered closer entered this game having just suffered through back-to-back ragged outings in D.C., blowing a save by surrendering a two-run homer with two outs in the ninth against the Marlins on Sunday, then taking the loss the following afternoon after serving up a 10th-inning two-run homer.

So when Rainey took the mound Wednesday night, tasked with protecting a one-run lead against a fearsome Phillies lineup, forgive anyone watching for having worst-case-scenario visions creeping into the mind.

No worries, though, because Rainey turned in his best performance in weeks, retiring the side to earn the save.

Things did get off to a shaky start. Rainey issued three straight balls to Darick Hall to open the ninth, forcing both Steve Cishek and Andres Machado to start warming in the Nats bullpen in a hurry. But once he responded with three straight strikes to Hall, the last of which notched his first strikeout of the inning, the right-hander was back on track.