Joey Meneses led the charge, hitting four home runs in a matter of 25 innings, while CJ Abrams was 6-for-12 over the weekend after being inserted into the leadoff spot. Dominic Smith and Stone Garrett also went yard in Sunday’s 7-2, series-clinching victory, while Patrick Corbin got the win on the mound, his first at Nationals Park in over a month.
Washington has won four of their last five series, with the lone loss coming in a four-game sweep last week against Cincinnati.
The Nats went into the All-Star Break with a record of 36-54 (.400), still 24.5 games back of first-place Atlanta and six behind fourth-place New York in the NL East standings.
The Nats, who are also 13 games back in the NL Wild Card race, begin the second half of the 2023 campaign on Friday with a three-game weekend set in St. Louis. Next week, Washington remains in the Midwest from Monday through Wednesday against the Cubs before returning to Nationals Park next weekend for three games against San Francisco.
This Week’s Opponent
The Cardinals (38-52) took two of the last three games in Chicago last weekend against the White Sox to generate a little momentum going into the break.
Sitting in last place in the NL Central Division, St. Louis doesn’t have nearly as much ground to make up for a potential postseason push. The Cardinals enter the second half of the season just 11.5 games back of first-place Cincinnati.
Trevor Williams (5-5, 4.45 ERA) will get the nod tonight for the Nats against Miles Mikolas (5-5, 4.23 ERA); Washington’s Jake Irvin (2-5, 4.60 ERA) will face Steven Matz (0-7, 4.65 ERA) on Saturday night; and All-Star Josiah Gray (6-7, 3.41 ERA) will oppose Jack Flaherty (6-5, 4.27 ERA) on Sunday afternoon.
St. Louis All-Star third baseman Nolan Arenado (.283 batting average; 19 HR; 62 RBI; .850 OPS) and first baseman Paul Goldschmidt (.284 average; 15 HR; 46 RBI; .844 OPS) led the Cardinals to wins in the first two games out of three at Nationals Park last month before Washington avoided the sweep with a win in Game Three.
Gray perfect in Seattle
Gray, the Nationals’ lone representative in Tuesday’s All-Star Game in Seattle, made the most of his opportunity on the big stage.
Making his debut in the Midsummer Classic, Gray tossed a perfect, 1-2-3 bottom of the third inning against three Texas Rangers — star rookie Josh Jung flied out to center; catcher Jonah Heim struck out; shortstop Marcus Semien grounded out to third.
With the second pick in the 2023 MLB Draft…
The Nationals knew going into the weekend that they would essentially have their pick of a few potential superstars — the top pitcher and the top hitter in the draft — by virtue of owning the No. 2 overall pick. When the Pirates announced that they were selecting pitcher Paul Skenes, Washington pulled the trigger on his LSU teammate, outfielder Dylan Crews, who had an outstanding final season of college baseball for the national champion Tigers.
“He’s always been a guy that we’ve watched since he was in high school,” Nats General Manager Mike Rizzo said of Crews. “We have a really good history with him. He’s been a terrific, consistent player throughout his career, and he’s the type of guy that we want here in Washington.
“He’s a terrific person, he’s got great character, he’s very competitive, he’s a winner and he’s got a great skill set, and I think he’s a guy that’s going to fit right in here and be one of the leaders.”
Washington added Miami third baseman Yohandy Morales with the first pick of the second round (40th overall) for added talent and depth at the hot corner.
Going into day two of the draft on Monday, there was still a ton of talent available when the Nats were up again at No. 71 — the first pick in the third round — and they went with right-handed pitcher Travis Sykora out of Round Rock HS in Texas.
Sykora, who’s listed at 6-foot-6, 232 pounds, is committed to the University of Texas, but there’s a pretty good chance that he’ll jump right into the minors.
“[Sykora] is a big physical specimen that has a really good feel of the pitch for a guy that throws so hard,” Rizzo said in a recent interview. “And he’s a guy that, again, we were happy to see down there at 71, and even happier that we had a strategy in place that gives us an opportunity to sign the player.”
The rest of the new Nats
The Nationals’ other draft choices went as follows: 4th Round, Pick 102 — OF Andrew Pinckney, Alabama; 5th Round, Pick 138 — SS Marcus Brown, Oklahoma State; 6th Round, Pick 165 — 2B Gavin Dugas, LSU; 7th Round, Pick 195 — C Ryan Snell, Lamar; 8th Round, Pick 225 — LHP Jared Simpson, Iowa; 9th Round, Pick 255 — RHP Thomas Schultz, Vanderbilt; 10th Round, Pick 285 — SS Phillip Glasser, Indiana; 11th Round, Pick 315 — RHP Gavin Adams, Indian River State; 12th Round, Pick 345 — RHP Travis Sthele, Texas; 13th Round, Pick 375 — LHP Liam Sullivan, Georgia; 14th Round, Pick 405 — OF Elijah Nunez, TCU; 15th Round, Pick 435 — RHP Mikey Tepper, Liberty; 16th Round, Pick 465 — RHP Austin Amaral, Stetson; 17th Round, Pick 495 — RHP Merrick Baldo, Loyola Marymount; 18th Round, Pick 525 — C Nate Rombach, Dallas Baptist; 19th Round, Pick 555 — RHP James Ellwanger, Magnolia West HS (Texas); 20th Round, Pick 585 — RHP Isaac Ayon, Oregon.
Future’s so bright…
The organization’s top two prospects — right fielder James Wood and third baseman Brady House — participated in the MLB All-Star Futures Game last weekend in Seattle as well.
Wood, a second-round pick by San Diego in the 2021 draft, batted clean-up for the National League’s stars of tomorrow on Saturday in a 5-0 blanking of the American League. He’s currently the fifth-best prospect in all of baseball, according to MLB Pipeline.
The 20-year-old, who is expected to make his way to the majors as soon as the end of the season, finished 0-for-1 with a walk and a groundout, but loved every second of the experience. He has produced a .262 batting average (.880 OPS) with 71 hits, 14 home runs, 57 RBI and 13 stolen bases with Double-A Harrisburg this season.
House, also listed among the top 100 overall prospects at No. 71, began his year with Single-A Fredericksburg before getting the call-up to High-A Wilmington last month. He was 1-for-1 in the Futures game with a run scored in his lone at-bat. He’s hitting .304 on the season (.890 OPS) with 59 hits, 9 homers, 34 RBI and 8 steals between the two affiliates.
This Week’s Schedule
- Friday at St. Louis, 8:15 p.m. (MASN)
- Saturday at St. Louis, 7:15 p.m. (MASN)
- Sunday at St. Louis, 2:15 p.m. (MASN)
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