Despite a 16-win improvement in 2023, the Nationals were careful not to call last year a success. Even though they jumped from 55 to 71 victories, they still lost 91 games for their fourth straight losing season.

“I don't think that it's a successful season, but it's a very encouraging season,” said general manager Mike Rizzo on Sept. 13, 2023. “Nobody wants to aim to win 70 games in a season. We want to win 97 games in the season. So that's our goal. That's always been our goal. But this is a good step in the right direction to that.”

The Nats looked like they were going to take a similar step in that direction this year. Through the first 77 outings in late June, they were on pace to win about 80 games. That would have been close to another double-digit win improvement from last year and close to their first finish at or above .500 since winning the World Series in 2019.

But from that point on, starting with a three-game sweep at Petco Park at the hands of the Padres (which also helped turn San Diego’s season around), the Nats went 33-52 (.388) the rest of the way en route to finishing with the same 71-91 record they had in 2023. Although this year, they did finally end their four-year streak of finishing last in the National League East, with the woeful Marlins residing in the division’s basement.

So if last year was more “encouraging” than a “success,” what’s the word the Nats would use to describe the 2024 season?

When Patrick Corbin signed a six-year, $140 million contract with the Nationals on Dec. 7, 2018, it was praised as yet another massive free agent signing to reinforce one of the best starting rotations in baseball.

The left-hander, who chose to sign with the Nats over a Yankees team he grew up rooting for, joined Max Scherzer, Stephen Strasburg and Aníbal Sánchez in Washington’s rotation after going 11-7 with a 3.15 ERA, 1.050 WHIP and 11.1 strikeouts-per-nine-innings rate in an All-Star season in Arizona.

His first year in a Curly W cap was everything he and the Nats could have hoped for. He finished 14-7 with a 3.25 ERA and some National League Cy Young Award votes before becoming a postseason hero while helping the Nats win their first World Series championship by being credited as the winning pitcher of Game 7 of the Fall Classic.

But after making his first career appearances in October (five of them coming out of the bullpen), Corbin’s career in D.C. took an unexpected turn for the worse.

Starting with the pandemic-shortened 2020 season, Corbin statistically became one of the worst pitchers in the major leagues over the next five years of his contract.

Wins and losses aren’t the only measures of success, especially for a rebuilding team. But for a rebuilding team like the Nationals, who believe they are closer to competing than not, the win-loss column is a good marker for improvement.

The five seasons since the 2019 World Series championship have been marred by sub-.500 records, bottoming out with 107 losses in 2022. But the Nats made a lot of progress last year, with a 16-win improvement in 2023. And they were on pace earlier this year to make even more progress by the end of the season.

Eleven days ago, the Nats were only four victories away from surpassing last year’s 71 wins with 13 games remaining. But after a long slump, they were running out of time to achieve that.

Now after a 7-4 loss to finish a sweep at the hands of the Royals, the Nats need to win at least two games against the Phillies this weekend to match last year’s win total and sweep the National League East champions (who are still playing for home-field advantage in the postseason) to surpass it.

"Once again, we just couldn't score any more runs," said manager Davey Martinez after the game.

With the minor league season over, the Nationals player development staff has turned its attention to the various offseason leagues and which young prospects will participate in the coming months.

The official rosters for the Arizona Fall League were announced yesterday, with seven Nationals prospects set to play for the Salt River Rafters: outfielder Robert Hassell III, third baseman Cayden Wallace, catcher Maxwell Romero Jr., right-handers Michael Cuevas and Chase Solesky, and left-handers Matt Cronin and Dustin Saenz.

Hassell is the highest-rated player of the group, ranked as the Nats’ No. 9 prospect by MLB Pipeline and No. 14 by Baseball America. The 23-year-old returns to the AFL for the third straight season after only playing in two games before breaking the hamate bone in his right hand in 2022 (the same year he was acquired by the Nats in the blockbuster Juan Soto and Josh Bell trade with the Padres) and impressing in 20 games last year.

Finally healthy as a non-roster invitee to spring training, Hassell entered this season with high hopes. He started the year strong at Double-A Harrisburg, but another hand/wrist injury limited him to 85 games between the Senators, High-A Wilmington and Triple-A Rochester.

Across the three levels, he slashed .241/.319./.328 with a .647 OPS, five home runs and 28 RBIs in just 362 plate appearances. So the Nats want him to get more at-bats this fall before spring training next year.

Well, today is seemingly the day. Almost seven years after signing a six-year, $140 million deal as a free agent, Patrick Corbin will make what is likely to be his last start with the Nationals this afternoon against the Royals.

Corbin’s impressive debut season and postseason heroics in 2019 have been well documented. So too have been his struggles in the years since being credited as the winning pitcher in Game 7 of the World Series. But through all of that, the veteran left-hander has always been praised for being able to take the ball every five days.

He’ll likely do so for the last time in a Nationals uniform with a 6-13 record, 5.58 ERA and 1.506 WHIP over his first 31 starts this season. If Corbin can turn in one final quality start, he would end his Nats career on a high note with a possible nice ovation from the fans in attendance.

On the other side of the mound, Michael Wacha will make his 29th start for the Royals with a 13-8 record, 3.28 ERA and 1.194 WHIP. If the veteran right-hander can keep this struggling Nats offense in check, the Royals will take one step closer to their first postseason berth since winning the World Series in 2015.

But the Nationals need a win. A week and a half ago, they were only four victories away from surpassing last year’s 71-win total. Now they need to win three of their last four games to achieve that.

As the final week of the major league season gets underway, the Nationals took some time this afternoon to honor some of their top minor league players at the conclusion of the season on the farm.

The Nationals today announced the winners of their 2024 minor league awards, with those not already on the major league roster joining the team in D.C. for a pregame ceremony before the series opener against the Royals:

* Hitter of the Year – Dylan Crews
* Pitcher of the Year – Travis Sykora
* Defensive Player of the Year – Elijah Green
* Baserunner of the Year – Darren Baker
* Nationals Way Award – Daylen Lile and Brad Lord

Although Crews, 22, is currently playing every day with the Nationals, the top prospect in the sport, per MLB Pipeline, had a strong season in the minors leading up to his major league promotion.

He finished his 2024 minor league campaign hitting .270 with 21 doubles, six triples, 13 home runs, 68 RBIs, 36 walks, 25 stolen bases and 60 runs scored in 100 games between Double-A Harrisburg and Triple-A Rochester. He ranked in the top four in Washington’s system in extra-base hits (second, 40), triples (second), slugging percentage (third, .451), OPS (third, .793), RBIs (third), doubles (tied for third), home runs (fourth), average (fourth) and stolen bases (tied for fourth) prior to his big league call-up on Aug. 26.

The easy part of the Nationals’ 2024 schedule is over. After yesterday’s 4-2 win over the Marlins (against whom they finished 11-2 this season), the Nats no longer have any sub-.500 teams remaining on their schedule.

Starting tonight, the Nats final 13 games come against the 81-68 Mets (three games), the 76-73 Cubs (four games), the 82-68 Royals (three games) and the 90-59 Phillies (three games). Three of those teams enter today in a playoff spot, with Chicago five games out of the final National League Wild Card spot.

While the Nationals themselves are not playing for a playoff spot this year, they are relishing in their opportunity to play spoiler ahead of the postseason. And since these games are meaningful for the opposition, this young Nats team can benefit from playing important matchups late in the year.

“Hey, look, we got a chance to do some special things still, right?” manager Davey Martinez said. “The biggest thing that I want them to learn is the mindset of playing in September and getting into October. That's going to be (it). I tell these guys, we talked about this before, physically, you guys are all strong enough to do it. It's the mental game right now. There are a lot of things you play for at the end of the year. Let's focus on just staying where your feet are and staying in the moment.

“And there is still something to play for right now. We could be the spoilers, which does mean a lot to not only us, but other teams. And put wins on the board. Try to go 1-0 every day from here on out. That's the ultimate goal for us right now, is to understand that winning is important. If we're going to do what we want to do, and that's to get to another championship, we got to learn how to win and win every day.”

There’s not much to complain about on a Sunday afternoon in mid-September in Washington, D.C. The summer’s heat and humidity have departed the region for the year. And there were matters of sport of all kinds happening in the area on a lovely sunny, 70-degree day in the District.

As it pertained to the local baseball club, this afternoon went as easily as a Sunday morning to wrap up the penultimate homestand of the 2024 season. With a 4-3 victory in front of 18,265 fans on South Capitol Street, the Nats finished this homestand 4-2 and the season series 11-2 against the Marlins.

MacKenzie Gore set the pace en route to his ninth win of the year, despite a prolonged first inning.

“Just command wasn't there from the get-go," Gore said after the game. "And then we got going.”

After issuing a leadoff walk and a two-out walk, the southpaw needed 31 pitches, only 16 of which were strikes, to get out of a scoreless top of the first. But he settled in from there to produce yet another strong stat line against the Marlins.

CJ Abrams remains out of the Nationals lineup for this afternoon’s finale against the Marlins. It’s the third straight game the young shortstop will miss, but the team remains hopeful he could be available off the bench to pinch-hit.

Abrams was scratched from the lineup before Friday’s game after jamming his left shoulder while making a diving play at short Thursday night. Nasim Nuñez will make his third straight start in place of Abrams, playing shortstop and batting ninth. The switch-hitting Rule 5 pick has gone a combined 0-for-6 over the last two games.

“We're gonna hold him back,” manager Davey Martinez said of Abrams during his pregame media session. “We'll hope that maybe he can pinch-hit today. He's still feeling it a little bit, so we'll keep him down. He's getting treatment and everything. Hopefully, he can pinch-hit today and then be ready to go tomorrow.”

The Nats didn’t schedule any further testing for Abrams, specifically an MRI, and are confident there isn’t any significant damage to his shoulder.

“No, the doctor looked at it and said it's just an impingement,” Martinez said. “He thinks there's nothing damaged in there.”

The easy part of the Nationals’ 2024 schedule comes to a close today. After this final game against the Marlins, the remaining four opponents over the season’s final two weeks are all over .500, with three of them entering today in a playoff position.

With a win this afternoon, the Nats will improve to 11-2 against the Fish, a good sign that the script has finally flipped between these two teams as they head in different directions moving forward.

MacKenzie Gore will look to get back on track after a rough outing his last time out against the Braves. The young lefty is 1-0 with a 1.38 ERA and 19 strikeouts in two starts against Miami this season.

Adam Oller will make his sixth start for the Marlins in today’s finale. The right-hander is 1-3 with a 5.40 ERA and 1.388 WHIP. He was charged with six runs, seven hits and three walks in five innings against the Pirates in his last outing. The 29-year-old has never faced the Nationals in his three-year career.

CJ Abrams is missing from the lineup for a third consecutive game. The 23-year-old originally was left out of Friday's lineup with a sore left shoulder.

MIAMI – When the Nationals walked into the clubhouse at loanDepot park on Tuesday, a familiar face joined them.

Cade Cavalli, still rehabbing from his March 2023 Tommy John surgery in nearby West Palm Beach, once again made the trip down from the team’s spring training facility to spend some time around the team. Ever since his surgery, nearly every time the Nats have been in Miami, Cavalli has joined them.

But this time, he was not alone. Another familiar face joined him on the trip down to Miami. One that has not been seen since spring training.

Mason Thompson, also recovering from Tommy John, was all smiles as he walked into the clubhouse on Tuesday and was greeted by his teammates for the first time since his surgery in March. And while his target date to return is still sometime in 2025, he has been encouraged with how his own rehab process has gone.

“I feel great,” Thompson said. “Still a little ways out from throwing, I think sometime in October is kind of the set date. But I feel great. I feel, honestly, better than I did prior to surgery. Arm feels good. Body feels good. Feeling strong and just looking forward to getting back out there.”

MIAMI – The Nationals have had their issues with the Marlins over the past two seasons. Entering this season, they were 6-26 against Miami between 2022 and 2023, including going an abysmal 2-11 last year.

But that script has completely flipped this year, with the Nats posting a perfect 8-0 record against their lowly National League East rivals and outscoring them 54-20 coming into tonight’s two-game series finale.

Looking to extend that eight-game winning streak against the Marlins, the Nationals fell just short despite a late rally that gave them the lead in the eighth inning. In the end, Derek Law surrendered the walk-off hit in the 10th inning as the Nats dropped their first game of the season to the Marlins 4-3.

After the Nats went quietly in the top of the 10th, Law entered from the bullpen to face the Marlins’ Nos. 9-1-2 hitters. A groundout to second moved the automatic runner to third and set up Xavier Edwards’ walk-off single to send the announced crowd of 6,156 home happy.

The outcome was almost different though. Facing a 2-0 deficit in the eighth inning and with only five baserunners up until that point, the Nats put together another late rally against the Marlins bullpen.

MIAMI – While watching a Nationals game, whether in person or on TV, odds are you will see their top prospect sitting on a perch along the railing of the dugout during the game.

You’ll have to wait an inning, however, because Dylan Crews doesn’t have much time to watch the game from there while batting leadoff for manager Davey Martinez’s club.

Crews has only played in seven major league games entering tonight’s finale against the Marlins. But Wednesday's game will be the sixth time in eight appearances the rookie outfielder will hit in the leadoff spot.

That spot has typically been where CJ Abrams hits, including Crews’ major league debut when the young outfielder hit second. But the Nats’ young shortstop has been bumped down the order to try to take some pressure off him as he looks for more success at the plate.

In the meantime, Martinez thinks Crews’ approach suits him well as a leadoff hitter.

MIAMI – After a nice, clean game last night, the Nationals now have a chance to sweep the Marlins in this quick two-game series before heading up to Pittsburgh. A win would also keep their winning streak against Miami alive.

Like Patrick Corbin on Tuesday, MacKenzie Gore is looking to build off two strong starts. He completed six innings of one-run ball against the Braves in Atlanta and then he held the Yankees to two runs over six innings last week. Gore was excellent against the Marlins in his one other start against them this year, holding them to one run with 10 strikeouts over seven frames.

The Marlins are sending out another rookie right-hander in Valente Bellozo. The 24-year-old is 2-2 with a 4.32 ERA and 1.344 WHIP in eight major league starts since debuting in June. Although he has shown flashes of promise (holding the Royals, Reds and Phillies scoreless over a combined 17 ⅔ innings), he also has struggled at times in giving up five or more earned runs in three of his starts, including in each of his last two.

WASHINGTON NATIONALS at MIAMI MARLINS
Where: loanDepot park
Gametime: 6:40 p.m. EDT
TV: MASN, MLB.tv
Radio: 106.7 The Fan, DC 87.7 (Spanish), MLB.com
Weather: Indoors

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

MIAMI – Ballplayers usually have an opposing ballpark they enjoy playing in outside of their home stadium. Usually, it’s one within the division where you play multiple times a year. The more you play there, the more comfortable you get and the better numbers you post.

For Keibert Ruiz, that ballpark might just be loanDepot park.

The 26-year-old Nationals catcher just enjoyed another successful night at the plate in Miami. He started Tuesday’s 6-2 win over the Marlins 3-for-3 and a triple shy of the cycle. He finished 3-for-4 with a double, a homer, two runs scored and an RBI.

“Don't try to do too much, look for my pitch and just trusting myself,” Ruiz said after his sixth multi-hit game in Miami, 10th overall against the Marlins. “I've been working on some things in the cage, and just gotta have the plan and bring it to the game.”

“He laid off some pitches and got the ball up a little bit and just smoked some balls,” said manager Davey Martinez. “So it was good to see him have a good day today. It really was. He's been working hard.”

MIAMI – The Nationals needed Monday’s off-day in Miami to get past an ugly weekend back at home.

While still a young team – Sunday’s starting lineup averaged 24.4 years old, younger than each of the lineups posted by Triple-A Rochester and Double-A Harrisburg that day – the Nats were uncharacteristically sloppy in the field on Saturday and Sunday. They were outscored 19-4 and charged with five errors over the last two games against the Cubs.

“We could have used the day off, for sure,” manager Davey Martinez said before tonight’s opener of a two-game set against the Marlins. “But when I went back and I looked at the game yesterday, to me, those were just really mental mistakes. Nothing physical about it. Just, it's September.”

It is September and there is less than a month left in the season. But what the Nationals displayed on the field over the weekend is not who they are and not what they want their young team to become.

Well, after yesterday’s off-day, the Nats cleaned up their act and played good baseball en route to a 6-2 win over the Marlins in front of an announced crowd of 6,854 at loanDepot park. Maybe a day off in the South Florida sun is all they needed.

MIAMI – Cade Cavalli last stepped on a mound on June 21 with High-A Wilmington. It was the third – and last – of his official rehab starts as he continued his recovery from last year’s Tommy John surgery. And it was the most encouraging of his rehab outings to date: He pitched three scoreless, hitless innings.

The initial target date for his major league return was in late June/early July, which was established after his March 2023 surgery. It was approaching and there was legitimate hope he would rejoin the Nationals rotation for the second half of the season.

But that target date and Cavalli’s whole rehab process was shaken up by a subsequent case of the flu and a period in which he experienced “dead arm” when he threw a ball.

“We shot for a date and we tried everything possible to get there. And sometimes the arm just doesn't respond like we wanted it to,” said Cavalli, who once again met the Nats in Miami from the team’s spring training facility in West Palm Beach, where he was rehabbing. “It wasn't anything horrible. Good news is we're still healthy. Just had to slow it down a little bit. It's part of the TJ recovery, as you know. It's 15 to 18 months for a reason, so we're just taking it slow and easy. Making sure that it's right and that it's the right time when I get back, so that we don't have to have another setback, hopefully.”

Setbacks happen in long rehab processes. Cavalli and the Nats just didn’t expect him to have two of them in quick succession when he was sick and then felt like he wasn’t throwing as well as he should have at that point in the rehab.

MIAMI – Hopefully, the Nationals used an off-day on Labor Day to reset and forget about this weekend’s series against the Cubs, in which they were swept in three games at home. Maybe spending the rare holiday off-day in the South Florida sunshine is just what they needed.

And what better way to shake off a home sweep than a division rival that you are perfect against this season? That’s right, after struggling against the Marlins over the past couple of years, the Nats enter this quick two-game set 7-0 against the National League East basement-dwellers.

Patrick Corbin will look to extend his streak of back-to-back impressive outings when he takes the ball tonight. Corbin finally earned that elusive 100th career win by holding the Rockies to one run over six innings on Aug. 22. He followed that up with six shutout innings against the Yankees last week. The lefty was roughed up for seven runs (four earned) in four innings when he started here on April 28, but the Nats offense backed him up and stormed back for a 12-9 win.

Max Meyer will make his 11th start of the season for the Fish. The rookie right-hander is 3-4 with a 5.44 ERA and 1.383 WHIP this season. He has yet to face the Nats in his young career and has given up at least four runs in five of his last six starts.

WASHINGTON NATIONALS at MIAMI MARLINS
Where: loanDepot park
Gametime: 6:40 p.m. EDT
TV: MASN, MLB.tv
Radio: 106.7 The Fan, DC 87.7 (Spanish), MLB.com
Weather: Indoors

CJ Abrams has been the Nationals’ primary leadoff hitter since July 7, 2023. When he wasn’t leading off, he was hitting second.

Until last night when manager Davey Martinez moved his All-Star shortstop down to the No. 7 hole. The idea was simple: Take some pressure off the young star so he can break out of this slump that is endangering his overall season.

Since July 7, the one-year anniversary of his promotion to the leadoff spot, Abrams’ season has been going in a downward spiral. Over 41 games entering last night, he slashed .169/.239/.288 with a .526 OPS, five doubles, one triple, four home runs, 16 RBIs, eight walks and 42 strikeouts.

“I was hoping that he worked some things out and got out of the funk,” Martinez said of the lineup change decision. “I wanted to see how he reacted to everything. And it's been going on for a while. I've been wanting to do it for a while. And I thought, let's do it now and see if we can get him back so he finishes the season off strong. … Nothing wrong with it. I told him, ‘Hey, you’re gonna play. You’re our starting shortstop. Just remember one thing: When the game starts after the first inning, you become a hitter. That’s it.’”

Abrams started last night’s game against the Cubs 0-for-3 with two strikeouts while batting seventh.

The Nationals were riding high this week. They saw another one of their top prospects make his major league debut on Monday, then proudly watched him lead a group of other young stars in beating the Yankees twice in three games.

But the Cubs entered this series riding high, too. They found themselves back over .500 and slowly nearing the playoff race again as winners of nine of their last 12 games coming into tonight’s three-game series opener on South Capitol Street.

In the end, only one team could keep the good times rolling with another win, and unfortunately for the home team it was the visitors who came away with a 7-6 victory in front of 28,792 fans on a misty, breezy night at Nationals Park.

Something had to give between the Nats rotation and Cubs offense to start this holiday weekend set.

Nationals starters have combined to post a 1.94 ERA and 1.098 WHIP while striking out more than one batter per inning and never once allowing more than two earned runs over their last nine games. Cubs hitters have combined to score 73 runs over their last seven games, averaging 10.4 runs per game.