SAN FRANCISCO – When Cole Henry loaded the bases with one out in the bottom of the eighth Saturday afternoon, Miguel Cairo could have stuck with his rookie setup man and given him a chance to pitch his way out of the jam. The Nationals led by three runs. There was at least some margin for error.

Cairo, though, didn’t hesitate to walk straight to the mound and hold his left arm out, signaling toward the bullpen in right-center. He wanted the lefty. He wanted Jose A. Ferrer, even if he was now asking his newly anointed closer to produce a five-out save before ever recording a simple three-out one.

“I was just like: I’ve got to worry about today. I cannot worry about tomorrow,” the interim manager said. “That was the best matchup. Their good hitters were coming up. I’ll just take my chances with him.”

Ferrer proceeded to reward his manager’s faith in him and make his first save since replacing Kyle Finnegan a memorable one. He allowed one of the three inherited runners to score via Wilmer Flores’ sacrifice fly. But he struck out Matt Chapman with a 99 mph fastball to end the eighth. Then he pitched out of another jam in the ninth, inducing a game-ending double play out of Patrick Bailey to lock up the Nats’ 4-2 win.

It had been nine days since the Nationals dealt Finnegan to the Tigers at the trade deadline, eight days since Cairo coyly refused to name his new closer, noting the world would find out once he was in a situation to use him.

SAN FRANCISCO – James Wood set the tone with a desperately needed leadoff homer. Paul DeJong and Josh Bell added on with a pair of homers themselves to extend the lead. Brad Lord and the new-look back end of the bullpen then took care of the rest, pitching the Nationals to their first truly conventional win since the trade deadline.

Behind three early solo homers, headlined by Wood’s first blast in a month, the Nats toppled the Giants 4-2 this afternoon, getting another strong start by Lord and a gutsy, five-out save from new closer Jose A. Ferrer.

The Nationals’ only other win since the July 31 deadline was a 2-1 walk-off victory over the Athletics. This one came via a more normal path, with early offense and a quality start putting them in position entering the late innings. But it still required nine outs from a completely remade bullpen, and we finally saw today what exactly that now looks like.

It included left-hander Konnor Pilkington retiring the side in the bottom of the seventh. It included Cole Henry getting the bottom of the eighth but getting pulled after loading the bases with one out. And so it concluded with Jose A. Ferrer recording a five-out save, escaping the eighth-inning jam with only one inherited runner crossing the plate before escaping a two-on jam in the ninth thanks to a game-ending double play off the bat of Patrick Bailey.

"I'm really excited about this opportunity," Ferrer, who earned his first save since assuming the closer's job following Kyle Finnegan's trade to Detroit, said via interpreter Mauricio Ortiz. "I just want to thank them for putting me in this position, to be closer of the team. It's a huge responsibility, because you come in to close the game. Your teammates played really hard the whole game. You just want to come out, get those three outs and take the win."

Anyone inside Nationals Park this afternoon who claimed to know what to expect from Cade Cavalli’s first major league start in nearly three years was guilty either of wishful thinking or doom-and-gloom soothsaying.

Truly, there was no way to know what would happen when the soon-to-be 27-year-old took the mound for the first time since Aug. 26, 2022, because every piece of evidence since then offered conflicting clues.

Between major elbow surgery, several setbacks in his rehab, several dominant starts and several ugly starts at Triple-A Rochester over the last three months that all added up to a 6.09 ERA, Cavalli’s road back to D.C. was anything but smooth. The Nationals gave him the ball tonight hoping for the best but acknowledging the worst was equally possible.

And then, lo and behold, the organization’s 2020 first-round pick went out there and pitched exactly as he and everyone else had long dreamed about at the sport’s highest level. With the best repertoire of pitches any of this team’s starters has displayed in some time, Cavalli tossed 4 1/3 scoreless innings during what wound up a 2-1, walk-off win for the Nationals over the Athletics.

CJ Abrams’ bottom-of-the-ninth RBI single to left scored Robert Hassell III, who was aggressively waved around third by Ricky Gutierrez and slid in ahead of an off-line throw by A’s left fielder Tyler Soderstrom. And the Nats celebrated for the first time in a week, having snapped a six-game losing streak in dramatic fashion.

After a frantic final 48 hours, the dust has settled and the trade deadline has passed. The Nationals had their most active late-July since 2021, with interim general manager Mike DeBartolo making five deals involving six veterans traded away for 10 prospects in return. They didn’t make any earth-shattering moves, but swap out a sizeable group of players who didn’t figure into the club’s long-term plans for a larger group of young players who could some day.

Now, what’s left after all that? A host of questions that still need answering. Which we’ll attempt to do right here in our morning-after explainer …

WHY DIDN’T THEY TRADE JOSH BELL OR PAUL DEJONG?
Because, quite frankly, there weren’t any takers. DeBartolo said he attempted to make deals that would have given both veterans an opportunity to play on contenders before becoming free agents, but “ultimately nothing came together.” So while the five other vets on expiring contracts (Kyle Finnegan, Michael Soroka, Amed Rosario, Andrew Chafin, Luis Garcia) did get traded, Bell and DeJong did not and remain with the club as the calendar shifts to August.

HOW SERIOUS WERE THEY ABOUT TRADING MACKENZIE GORE?
Obviously, not serious enough to actually pull the trigger on what would’ve been the team’s biggest deadline deal since the blockbuster that brough Gore to D.C. in the first place three years ago. DeBartolo said two weeks ago he would listen to any offers that came his way from other clubs, but he viewed the 26-year-old lefty as a key part of their core group of young players they’re ultimately trying to win with. And he stayed true to his word. Though there were calls from a number of interested parties, none was willing to meet the exceptionally high price DeBartolo established for his ace. So Gore remains a National.

DID ALEX CALL REALLY FETCH THE BEST PROSPECT RETURN OF ANYONE?
Based on MLB Pipeline’s rankings, yes. The two players the Dodgers sent in exchange for Call (right-handers Sean Paul Liñan and Eriq Swan) now rate as the Nationals’ 10th and 12th best prospects, with the two players they acquired from the Cubs for Soroka (outfielder Christian Franklin, shortstop Ronny Cruz) each one notch below in spots No. 11 and 13. How did that happen? Well, DeBartolo sold high on Call, who over the last two seasons produced a solid .297/.388/.432 slash line across 350 plate appearances in a part-time role. He also comes with a whopping four remaining years of club control and two minor league options as well. That’s probably why L.A. was willing to give up a couple of decent prospects in return.

Kyle Finnegan said he couldn’t wait to get back on the mound tonight and erase the sting of Friday night’s disastrous ninth inning. The Nationals closer got his wish. And made the most of the opportunity.

Handed a two-run lead in the top of the ninth, Finnegan shut down the Padres and finished off a 4-2 victory before a boisterous Saturday night crowd of 31,136 that waited out a 1-hour, 5-minute rain delay and was rewarded for its patience with a much-needed victory by the home team.

Finnegan needed it as much as anyone. The slumping closer entered with a 4.37 ERA and zero saves (with three blown saves) since June 6. He avoided any drama this time, retiring the side and giving his teammates a chance to celebrate at the center of the diamond.

"Any pitcher will tell you: After a bad one, you don't want to stew on it for too long. You want to get back out there and put it behind you," Finnegan said. "So I was excited for the opportunity to do that tonight. Happy that they had the faith in me to go back out there and get the last three outs."

"I told him right now: It doesn't matter who's coming up to hit, you're my closer," interim manager Miguel Cairo said. "Go out there and just do your job. And he did it today."

ANAHEIM, Calif. – For eight innings, the Nationals did just enough to keep today's series finale against the Angels close, overcoming missed opportunities, missed calls and missed locations to at least put themselves in position to win.

It was, quite frankly, the kind of game they lost too many times over the last week and a half during a Southern California road trip that featured as many one-run losses as wins of any margin (three apiece).

And then when it really mattered, a Nats team wrapping up a miserable month found a way to deliver and head home finally feeling better about itself for the first time in a long time.

With a ninth-inning rally against future Hall of Fame closer Kenley Jansen, then a three-run rally keyed by several youngsters in the 11th and the first three-inning relief appearance of Kyle Finnegan's career, the Nationals pulled off a rousing, 7-4 victory at Angel Stadium that felt as significant as any other during this disappointing season.

"We haven't done as well as we'd like in the wins department this road trip," Finnegan said. "But I feel like we've played pretty good baseball. So to win a game like this - last game of a long road trip away from home, guys away from their families, grind one out in extra innings - I feel like it's good for our morale."

LOS ANGELES – Michael Soroka was cruising, - dominating, if we’re being honest - a Dodgers lineup that rarely finds itself in such a position. And thanks to Nathaniel Lowe’s latest clutch blast, the Nationals were in control at Chavez Ravine, looking to pull off what could only be considered an improbable weekend series victory over the defending World Series champs.

The sixth inning, though, has been Soroka’s personal nightmare most of the season. And today, it became not only Soroka’s nightmare, but Jose A. Ferrer’s as well. Only to be upstaged minutes later by the absolute disaster Ryan Loutos and Cole Henry made of the seventh inning.

Thus did the Nats somehow turn a three-run lead into an eight-run deficit in the span of about 25 minutes at Dodger Stadium, suffering one of their worst meltdowns of the year en route to a 13-7 loss that doesn’t begin to hint at how winnable this game actually was at one point.

Max Muncy’s grand slam off Ferrer flipped the affair from Washington's to Los Angeles' favor. Shohei Ohtani’s three-run triple off Loutos added to the misery. And Muncy’s three-run homer off Henry – giving the veteran infielder seven RBIs in two innings – felt downright embarrassing to the Nationals, who were in prime position to win not only this series but the season matchup with the Dodgers, only to go down in flames in the finale.

"I don't think you want to look at the score. A loss is a loss, whether you lose by one or you lose by six," said center fielder Jacob Young, whose team trailed by 10 before scoring four runs in the top of the ninth off position player Kiké Hernández. "I thought we actually played a pretty good game, and they had two big swings that blew it open and caused it to be uglier than it was. It was a chance to win a series, and that's what we wanted to do when we came here. We just didn't get it done."

If this wasn’t rock bottom for the Nationals, it sure felt like it. Mitchell Parker already had dug his team into a six-run hole with an abbreviated start that left many in the crowd booing with disapproval. Then came the 2-hour, 14-minute rain delay. Then once play resumed and the prospect of post-midnight baseball loomed, Jackson Rutledge gave up two more runs to a Marlins team that was piling on a Nats club stuck in a downward spiral with little hope of escape.

And then as Friday night was turning into Saturday morning, the home team decided to finally get its act together. If only it had been enough.

Despite a spirited rally that included seven runs scored between the seventh and eighth innings, the Nationals still ultimately fell short during an 11-9 loss to Miami, their sixth straight.

Unable to overcome Parker’s early struggles on the mound and then some shaky bullpen work later, the Nats fell to the Marlins for the third time in four head-to-head matchups this season, kicking off a critical homestand against two of the National League’s bottom-feeders with the kind of loss that will only leave all affected parties feeling worse than they already did.

"We're a good team. I think there's just a lot of ups and downs in baseball," said James Wood, who did his part tonight with three hits and four RBIs. "We know we're a good team. We know we're capable of being an elite offense. When stretches like that happen, you can't really panic over them."

NEW YORK – For the first time since the 2022 Juan Soto blockbuster trade with the Padres, six players from that deal were on the field at the same time. Who would have thought back then it would be at Citi Field three years later?

With Soto now playing for the Mets, the former National could look across the field to see Josh Bell (who joined him in going to San Diego) back with the Nats and four of the five prospects they were traded for in MacKenize Gore, CJ Abrams, James Wood and Robert Hassell III.

And wouldn’t you know it, most of those pieces from one of the biggest trades in major league history played big roles in tonight’s game.

The outcome was not a welcomed sight for the Nats, who lost 5-4 in 10 innings to the National League-leading Mets in front of 38,472 fans in Queens.

And although it probably was a welcomed sight for the Nats to see Abrams and Gore as the catalysts early in the game, it was not so to see Jose A. Ferrer and Kyle Finnegan blow it late.

SEATTLE – On a night when there was plenty for the Nationals to feel good about, the first three-hit game of Josh Bell’s season stood out from the pack Wednesday night.

Bell entered the night with a .151 batting average and .289 slugging percentage, a slow start even by his traditional standards. He delivered in the Nats’ 9-0 win over the Mariners, though, launching an opposite-field homer in the second, then singling and scoring in the fourth and singling again in the ninth. He even came within a few feet of another home run in the eighth, the ball caught just shy of the wall in center field.

“You can’t help but root for Josh Bell,” manager Davey Martinez said of the 32-year-old designated hitter. “The guys love him. We love him. And when he goes oppo like that, it’s huge. Hopefully he stays like that for a while.”

There’s the rub. Every time it has looked like Bell might be poised to break out of his season-long slump the last two months, he’s fallen back into the same funk.

Bell is a notoriously slow starter: His career .692 OPS in April is the lowest of any month. But he has also shown a propensity for getting hot right after that: His career OPS in May is a robust .820.

CINCINNATI – The Nationals’ 4-1 victory over the Reds early Sunday evening was made possible by MacKenzie Gore’s gutsy five innings in the rain, and by Luis García Jr. and CJ Abrams’ clutch hits in the seventh that gave them the lead for good.

But the only way the Nats were going to be able to celebrate the win at the end of a long weekend and an even longer road trip was for their bullpen to protect that three-run lead.

It may not sound like much of an accomplishment. Bullpens should be counted on to protect three-run leads, yes? This bullpen, of course, did very little in the season’s first month to deserve that kind of trust.

But over the last several days, beginning Thursday in Philadelphia and continuing throughout the weekend in Cincinnati, the Nationals relief corps started pitching like a more reliable unit. And so by the time they took the mound at Great American Ball Park on Sunday, there seemed to be less fear of pending disaster and more confidence about a job well done than there had been at any previous point this year.

It all started with Jorge López, who was given the ball for the bottom of the sixth in relief of Gore. Like the bullpen as a whole, the veteran right-hander endured through a miserable opening month, owner of a 10.57 ERA on April 16 after he was ejected for allegedly throwing at the Pirates’ Andrew McCutchen.

PHILADELPHIA – The Nationals made a move to bolster their bullpen today, signing Andrew Chafin to a $1 million, major league deal. But the veteran left-hander won’t be joining the team until Friday in Cincinnati, and with Colin Poche designated for assignment to clear a roster spot for him, the Nats were left with a depleted relief corps for tonight’s series finale against the Phillies, one that featured only one lefty.

So it was up to bench coach Miguel Cairo, filling in for Davey Martinez while the manager was away at the funeral of his longtime agent, to figure out how to cobble together the final four innings of a tight ballgame against a tough opponent with limited resources at his disposal.

And when the Nationals found a way to survive, getting four scoreless frames from the trio of Jose A. Ferrer, Jorge López and Kyle Finnegan, they were able to breathe a sigh of relief and enjoy a hard-earned, 4-2 victory at Citizens Bank Park.

“I don’t think there’s anybody in this clubhouse that was worried,” first baseman Nathaniel Lowe said. “It was just a matter of time before the guys get their feet under them. … It’s OK to believe in your teammates and understand they’re all going through something and trying to find a way to be the best version of themselves. Really happy with the result tonight.”

It didn’t come easy. Ferrer allowed one runner he inherited from Brad Lord to score in the sixth but wound up recording six outs to bridge the gap to the back end of the bullpen. López had to face the heart of the Philly lineup and put two guys on base, but survived by inducing a 5-4-3 double play out of Nick Castellanos. Finnegan then overcame a two-out triple by Johan Rojas to notch his 10th save, avenge back-to-back blown save opportunities earlier in the week and ensure Lord would come out of this with his first career win.

DENVER – The style of game could not have been more different. Saturday’s delayed series opener was a Coors Field special, with both teams finishing in double digits. Today’s opener of a day-night doubleheader was the rare pitchers’ duel in this hitters’ haven, teams having to scratch and claw for each run.

And yet the ultimate outcome still boiled down to the same scenario from the previous afternoon: Could Nationals relievers cobble together enough big outs late to preserve a slim lead and make sure a dominant start didn’t go to waste?

Yes, yes they could. With aplomb.

Behind five clutch outs from Jose A. Ferrer to close out the seventh and eighth innings, then three more outs from Kyle Finnegan to close out the game, the Nats escaped with a 3-2 victory over the Rockies, giving themselves a chance to sweep both the doubleheader and the series later tonight.

It was a much-needed effort from perhaps the only two members of the bullpen Davey Martinez can trust right now. Ferrer and Finnegan teamed up to close out Saturday’s wild 12-11 win in which the bullpen nearly blew a 10-run lead. This one felt far more conventional, even though nothing in this ballpark ever is.

They finally got the early offense they’ve been craving since Opening Day. They just couldn’t sustain it. Or prevent the game from getting away from them late.

The formula wasn’t a carbon copy of the Nationals’ last week, but the final result was: a 6-4 loss to the Diamondbacks that leaves them 1-6 for the second time in the last three years.

As was the case in most of those previous losses, the Nats were right there in this one to the end, with opportunities to emerge victorious. And as was the case in most of those previous losses, they were unable to do what was necessary to get over the hump.

"It's one pitch, one at-bat," right-hander Jake Irvin said. "Just timely things. Play 162 of them, the game starts to reward you for doing the right things."

A tie game through six turned into a two-run deficit in the seventh when Jose A. Ferrer gave up the decisive runs. The hard-throwing reliever, who was charged with Tuesday’s loss in Toronto after allowing two runs in the eighth, was one pitch away from posting a zero this time. But his 0-2 fastball to pinch-hitter Randal Grichuk was deemed just high and inside by plate umpire Ryan Wills. Seconds later, Ferrer threw a fastball over the plate to Grichuk and watched the ball soar to the wall in right-center, caroming away from Dylan Crews for a two-run double.

TORONTO – A Nationals lineup that had been having a devil of a time scoring runs since arriving north of the border finally found a way to scratch out a few clutch hits, turning a sleepy game at Rogers Centre into a tight contest late.

Now it was up to a beleaguered Nats bullpen to keep this game against the Blue Jays tied and give that lineup another shot at plating the go-ahead run.

That proved too much to ask on this Tuesday night in Toronto. Jose A. Ferrer, tasked with completing two innings of relief, gave up a two-out, two-run single to Bo Bichette in the bottom of the eighth, the decisive runs in a disheartening 5-3 loss.

"At the end of the day, it is a game of inches," Trevor Williams said. "We executed what we could. The guys were laying it all out on the line behind me. On defense, we had a lot of diving plays, a lot of really close plays where guys were leaving their feet. You chalk it up to one of those games where they beat us by inches today."

The Nationals fell to 1-4 on the young season and for the second time in a week will need to win a series finale to avoid a three-game sweep. They did it Sunday against the Phillies behind Mitchell Parker. They’ll ask MacKenzie Gore to lead the way Wednesday afternoon.

Josh Bell and Nathaniel Lowe have understood the assignment from the moment the Nationals acquired them. Yes, they were brought here to do multiple things, but the most important thing was to hit the ball in the air with authority.

It took a few days and more than a few swings to get there, but the big boys in the middle of the lineup got there this afternoon. Behind Bell’s three-run homer and Lowe’s two-run blast, the Nats coasted to a 5-1 victory over the Phillies, avoiding a demoralizing weekend sweep.

Thanks to 6 1/3 scoreless innings from Mitchell Parker and some much-needed, lockdown work from a beleaguered bullpen, the Nationals emerged from their season-opening weekend with one win, boosting clubhouse spirits as they prepare to head north of the border for this week’s interleague series in Toronto.

"It's promising, because we were in position to win all three games against a perennial contender," Lowe said. "We just need to execute, take that as a reminder going forward and have a good series in Toronto."

Parker joined MacKenzie Gore and Jake Irvin in holding down the Phillies lineup for five-plus innings. Bell and Lowe supplied the offensive fireworks to give their team the lead for the third straight game. And unlike the previous two, the Nats bullpen this time finished the job.

MacKenzie Gore set the tone for the Nationals from the get-go on Thursday. He started the 2025 regular season by striking out Trea Turner on a perfectly placed low-and-inside 96 mph fastball.

Little did we know at the time that would be the first of an Opening Day franchise-record 13 strikeouts he would record over his six brilliant innings. Making his first Opening Day start, the 26-year-old left-hander shut out a tough Phillies lineup while holding it to just one hit with no walks.

Complete domination.

But once Gore departed the game with 93 pitches after the sixth, the Nats bullpen could not follow their starter’s lead.

Handed a 1-0 lead in the seventh, a group of five Nats relievers gave up all seven of the Phillies’ runs over the next four frames in the eventual 7-3 extra-inning loss.

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. – Two weeks into the new year, the Nationals had only one relief pitcher on their roster with any kind of substantial big league experience: Derek Law. Clearly, Mike Rizzo still had plenty of work to do before the start of spring training.

The process remains slow, but the Nats have managed to add three experienced relievers over the last month. They signed right-hander Jorge López to a $3 million deal on Jan. 11. They signed left-hander Colin Poche to a minor league deal on Feb. 7. And then on Wednesday they signed right-hander Lucas Sims to a $3 million deal.

At long last, a bullpen that was woefully short on proven arms now has four veterans to take some pressure off the organization’s young relievers.

“These guys have done it. They understand it. They’ve done it at the major league level,” manager Davey Martinez said. “They can teach our younger guys what it takes to go out there and compete, to be put in these high-leverage situations. Talk to them about controlling your heartbeat, always being ready, what their routine is like in every situation. I’m excited about the guys we brought in, the veteran guys, because they’re willing to do that.”

All three newly signed veterans have said the right things about their individual responsibilities and their desire to mentor younger teammates who haven’t been through the meat grinder before.

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. – If the season began today, and the Nationals held a slim lead entering the ninth inning, who would emerge from the bullpen to close the game?

“Right now, I don’t try to think about it,” manager Davey Martinez said with a smile. “I think it’ll all shape up.”

The season doesn’t begin today, of course, and that’s probably a good thing because the Nats don’t have a complete handle on the eventual makeup of their Opening Day bullpen yet.

After non-tendering All-Star Kyle Finnegan following the season, the team has signed a couple of experienced free agents to modest contracts in right-hander Jorge López ($3 million) and left-hander Colin Poche (minor league deal). Those two join returning setup man Derek Law, promising young lefty Jose A. Ferrer, returning-from-injury Mason Thompson and inexperienced righties Eduardo Salazar, Zach Brzykcy, Orlando Ribalta and Evan Reifert in a relief corps that looks quite diminished on paper.

López is the only one in the group with anything resembling big-league closing experience, with 23 of his 31 career saves coming in 2022 with the Orioles and Twins. He is best suited in a setup role, perhaps sharing that job with always-available workhorse Law.

When the Nationals decided to non-tender All-Star closer Kyle Finnegan and Tanner Rainey on Nov. 22, they were letting go the only two relief pitchers on their roster who had real major league experience in high-leverage end-of-game situations.

After a spectacular start to the season with a 1.98 ERA and 23 saves on July 4, Finnegan struggled after his first All-Star selection. Over his final 28 appearances, he pitched to a 5.93 ERA with only 15 saves in 17 chances. Although he finished third in the major leagues with 38 saves, his overall 3.68 ERA was the third-highest among relievers with 26 or more saves.

Nonetheless, the Nats’ decision to part ways with Finnegan, who at 33 was projected to make $8.6 million in his last year of arbitration eligibility by MLB Trade Rumors, was unexpected.

The choice to non-tender Rainey, however, was less surprising. The 32-year-old right-hander was still trying to rediscover his form after August 2022 Tommy John surgery. Although he pitched to a 2.14 ERA and 1.000 WHIP over the season’s final two months, his overall numbers of 4.76 and 1.490 weren’t encouraging enough for the Nats to hold onto the last remaining player from their 2019 championship roster for one more year.

So the Nats entered the thick of the Hot Stove Season in need of a closer. And here we are two days away from pitchers and catchers reporting to West Palm Beach where the question still stands: Who’s the closer?