The Nationals and Braves have played each other enough over the last two weeks – seven of their last 10 games, to be precise, with one more still to come Sunday – to have seen everyone the other side has to offer, oftentimes more than once. It’s as good as any way to judge the progress a young, rebuilding club has made against an established powerhouse.

And at this point, it’s impossible not to be encouraged by the Nats’ ability not only to hold their own against the Braves, but to at times look like the clearly superior team.

Today’s 7-3 victory was the latest in a string of examples to support that conclusion. Behind another strong (if inefficient) start from MacKenzie Gore and a much-appreciated display of sustained offense, the Nationals improved to 5-2 against Atlanta during this stretch. And three of those games have been won by four or more runs.

No, it’s not appropriate to say the Nats are the Braves’ equals at this point. Even with these losses, Atlanta is 35-27 and comfortably in the pennant race. Even with these wins, the Nationals are 29-35, part of a large pack of sub-.500 clubs that could climb into the race with a hot streak but aren’t there yet.

But the gap is undoubtedly closing after several years of head-to-head matchups that looked as lopsided as any in the sport. (The Nats went 5-8 last season, 5-14 the season before that, against the six-time division champ.) And that’s wholly encouraging for the local ballclub.

Nick Senzel knew. And even if he didn’t know, his teammates made sure to let him know.

The Nationals have used 17 position players this season. And until the fourth inning Friday night, 16 of those players had successfully stolen at least one base. The only holdout on the team: Senzel.

So when it finally happened, with Senzel swiping second behind CJ Abrams’ swipe of third as part of a double-steal that proved critical in the Nats’ 2-1 victory over the Braves, the dugout celebrated accordingly and Senzel responded in a perfectly self-deprecating manner: He held up an index finger and said, “That’s one!”

“Oh, they knew I was the last player on the team,” he said today. “That’s why I was holding up the one finger when I got to the bag, just trying to make it fun for them. They were giving me a hard time, but it’s all fun and games.”

The Nationals lead the majors in stolen bases, with 97 in total entering today’s game. And the distribution has been spread around in impressive fashion; even the team’s three catchers used so far (Keibert Ruiz, Riley Adams, Drew Millas) have done it.

The Nationals’ 2-1 win Friday night was arguably one of their best of the season, with Jake Irvin outdueling Chris Sale in front of a sellout crowd. Now they try to keep it going today with another talented young starter taking the mound.

Like Irvin, MacKenzie Gore was really good when he faced the Braves a mere 10 days ago in Atlanta, striking out 10 with zero walks and allowing one earned run in 5 1/3 innings. He was not, however, good five days ago against the Mets when he was roughed up for six runs in 4 1/3 innings and struck out only two. It was one of the left-hander’s only blowups so far this season, as evidenced by the fact his ERA is still a solid 3.57, but he can’t let that become a trend and needs to get back on track this afternoon.

The Nationals are facing a familiar opponent in Charlie Morton, and they hit the veteran right-hander quite well two weeks ago, to the tune of eight runs on 12 hits in 5 2/3 innings. Four of those runs came in the top of the first, and you better believe Davey Martinez is pleading with his guys to get off to a good start again today.

WASHINGTON NATIONALS vs. ATLANTA BRAVES
Where: Nationals Park
Gametime: 4:05 p.m. EDT
TV: MASN, MLB.tv
Radio: 106.7 FM, 88.7 FM (Spanish), MLB.com
Weather: Partly cloudy, 85 degrees, wind 10 mph out to right field

NATIONALS
SS CJ Abrams
RF Lane Thomas
LF Jesse Winker
DH Eddie Rosario
2B Luis García Jr.
C Keibert Ruiz
3B Nick Senzel
1B Joey Gallo
CF Jacob Young

The Nationals have been building a lot on the field over the past couple of years. The rebuilding process to return to a highly competitive level is never easy. They have made significant strides, while currently looking at one of their more successful seasons in a while.

But what they are building off the field may be just as important as the on-field results.

General manager Mike Rizzo has put together a nucleus of young players tasked with carrying this team back to the top of the baseball world. Manager Davey Martinez has been tasked with getting all of those young pieces to mesh.

Unfortunately, two of those young pieces have been sidelined for most of this year: Josiah Gray, who landed on the 15-day injured list after just two starts, and Cade Cavalli, who is still on his way back from last year’s Tommy John surgery.

Yes, their progress on the mound has slowed. But their development as teammates, key individuals in the clubhouse and pieces of this franchise’s future has actually grown.

Confirmed: Josiah Gray will begin his long-awaited rehab assignment on Sunday with Single-A Fredericksburg.

After being cleared earlier this week to pitch in a competitive game for the first time in almost two months, the Nationals have finally locked down the date and time for the right-hander to retake the hill.

The FredNats take on the Kannapolis Cannon Ballers (White Sox) at Virginia Credit Union Stadium at 1:35 p.m. Gray will look to complete about three innings.

“We're looking for three ups, 50-55 pitches,” manager Davey Martinez said during his pregame media session. “If we get through that, that would be a good day for him. Then what we want to do is bring him back here after that. Let him go through his workouts here. And if everything goes well, the next one will probably be in Harrisburg. And then we'll go from there.”

Gray landed on the 15-day injured list on April 9 (retroactive to April 6) with a right elbow/forearm flexor strain. He had only made two starts to that point, giving up 15 hits, 13 runs and five walks with nine strikeouts over 8 ⅓ innings.

Looking to snap a four-game losing streak, the Nationals found themselves in a similar situation as they were last night against the Braves: Holding a two-run lead with their starter pitching a shutout.

Last night, it was Mitchell Parker taking a no-hit bid into the sixth. He then gave up a two-run home run to tie the game in the seventh. The Nats would go on to lose 5-2.

Tonight, it was Jake Irvin, who was also taking the mound against the Braves for the second time in a week, dominating the opposing lineup with a two-run lead. And thanks to a bounceback night by Hunter Harvey and Kyle Finnegan's 17th save, he was victorious over Atlanta.

The Nationals beat the Braves 2-1 in front of an announced sellout crowd of 39,175, many of whom are probably sticking around for the Flo Rida postgame concert at Nats Park.

“He was good," manager Davey Martinez said of his starting pitcher. "Another guy to face the Braves this last week. Goes out and pitches really well against them again. That's a tough team, as we all know. They get hit, so what our two starters did these first two games was pretty impressive. It really was. He kept us in a ballgame. We faced a tough pitcher. We just got enough runs. Sometimes just one more than the other guys helps, right? So I'm proud of the guys. They fought all game, we hung and then Finney came in and closed the door.”

Usually when a team is in the midst of a four-game losing streak, they’ll look to their starting pitcher to be the stopper. Well, Mitchell Parker pitched well enough last night to do just that, carrying a no-hitter into the sixth inning. It’s the Nationals offense – which has scored two or fewer runs in 25 of 62 games – that has been this team’s undoing.

Jake Irvin is the next starter up to try and stop this losing skid. He will make his second start against the Braves in his last three times taking the hill, striking out a career-high 10 batters over six shutout innings last week in Atlanta. The right-hander used a balanced mix of his four-seam fastball and curveball in that fantastic start, so it will be interesting to see how he decides to attack Braves hitters tonight. And how they adjust to him after having little success facing Parker for the second time.

Chris Sale makes his 12th start for the Braves after he was acquired in December via a trade with the Red Sox and signed a two-year, $38 million extension with an $18 million club option for the 2026 season. The veteran left-hander is 8-1 with a 3.06 ERA and 0.946 WHIP, which are actually inflated after he was charged with eight runs, nine hits, a walk and four strikeouts over just four innings in his last start against the Athletics.

Sale leads the National League with a 2.49 Fielding Independent Pitching (FIP), 1.3 walks-per-nine-innings rate and 8.20 strikeout-to-walk rate. That’s a statistical way of saying he throws strikes, so the Nats need to get him in the zone. He also gets deep into games, pitching into the sixth inning in all but one of his starts so far and completing seven frames six times. He is averaging just over 93 pitches per start, so if the Nats attack early in the count, they better make sure it’s worth it.

WASHINGTON NATIONALS vs. ATLANTA BRAVES
Where: Nationals Park
Gametime: 6:45 p.m. EDT
TV: MASN, MLB.tv
Radio: 106.7 The Fan, DC 87.7 (Spanish), MLB.com
Weather: Partly cloudy, 81 degrees, wind 15 mph from left to right field

It's been a weird stretch for the Nationals. One week ago, they were feeling really good about themselves, having just won series over both the Mariners and Braves. Since then, they've lost a series to the Guardians, been swept by the Mets and lost Thursday night's series opener to the Braves despite the fact Mitchell Parker carried a no-hitter into the sixth inning.

The Nats also lost Trevor Williams to an injury that's going to sideline him for a while, called up DJ Herz to make his major league debut and are counting down the days until Josiah Gray and Cade Cavalli are ready to come off the injured list. But about that lineup that has now been held to two or fewer runs in 25 of 62 games played this season ...

Let's take some time this morning to answer your questions about the team. Please submit your inquiries in the comments section below, then check back later for my replies.

Having already passed just about every test thrown his way in his first two months in the majors, Mitchell Parker stared down a new challenge tonight: Face an opponent for the second time, and ideally try to beat that club again.

Parker did everything he could to pass the test, carrying a no-hitter into the sixth inning against the Braves and a shutout into the seventh. But he ultimately departed with no-decision after surrendering a game-tying homer in the seventh, and was forced to watch and see if his teammates could pull off the win late.

They could not. Hunter Harvey, one of the most reliable late-inning relievers in the sport, gave up three runs in the top of the eighth, and the Nationals lineup did nothing against the Atlanta bullpen en route to a disheartening 5-2 loss.

The Nats’ fourth straight loss bore some resemblance to the previous ones in their inability to produce at the plate early on. This one differed from the others, though, in the manner the back end of their bullpen gave up the decisive runs late.

"We've played some good teams lately, and it just seems like on nights we hit and pitch, they're just not on the same night," right-fielder Lane Thomas said. "We took some good swings tonight. You've just got to take more than two off a team like that."

Chad Cordero, the Washington Nationals career saves leader, has joined the Nationals Youth Baseball Academy as a full-time HUSTLE baseball and Nationals Nike RBI coach. In this role, Cordero will coach and mentor young Scholar Athletes through competitive game play to prepare them for the high school level and develop those looking to pursue their careers at the collegiate level and beyond. Celebrating 10 years of community involvement, the Youth Baseball Academy is the signature program of Nationals Philanthropies, the official charitable arm of the Washington Nationals.

Affectionately known to fans as “Chief,” Cordero pitched for the Montreal Expos and Washington Nationals from 2003-2008. He earned the National League Reliever of the Year Award in 2005 and holds the team record (2005-pres.) with 113 career saves. An organizational staple, he was involved in some of the team’s biggest moments, including making an appearance in the team’s first win, earning the team’s first save and earning the save in the team’s first home game, among many other accomplishments. Throughout his playing days and in his post-playing career as a coach, he has continued to advocate for expanding access to the game of baseball, especially among underrepresented groups. 

“I am so excited to return to Washington, D.C., a truly special place that holds some of my fondest memories both on and off the field. It feels like coming home,” Cordero said. “It has been my continued mission to make an impact in the community and to grow the game in underserved areas, which Nationals Philanthropies has successfully done now for over a decade. I’m looking forward to coaching the incredible Scholar Athletes at the Academy and helping elevate their talents to the next level.”

The Youth Baseball Academy has delivered 10 years of holistic youth development, academic enrichment, wellness education and youth sports experiences to thousands of school-age children living east of the Anacostia River. Cordero will serve as a coach of the Academy’s HUSTLE and Nationals Nike RBI programs. The HUSTLE program uses competitive baseball and softball experiences to promote character development and an active lifestyle – instilling the values of leadership, accountability, teamwork and the pursuit of excellence. The Nationals Nike RBI charter, which the Academy took on earlier this year, provides a summer baseball experience for high school-aged players that includes training, competition, and community service. Both programs provide free travel baseball and softball experiences to athletes and their families in underserved areas, removing the typical pay-to-play barrier of competitive athletics. Select players from Academy programs and local RBI affiliates represent the Academy throughout a full summer season of competition including trips to MLB tournaments like the Commissioner’s Cup and RBI Regional Tournament.

To learn more about Nationals Philanthropies and the Youth Baseball Academy programming, please visit nats4good.org. 

The Nationals’ offensive identity this season was established early in April. Knowing they weren’t likely to hit for much power, they decided their best chance at scoring runs was to get on base and then use their speed abilities to get around the bases as quickly as possible.

Two months later, the Nats lead the majors with 95 stolen bases, with four individuals already in double digits and three others with eight steals.

But they’re also getting thrown out a decent amount, especially in recent games. The Nationals have been caught stealing 24 times in total, third-most in the majors. And they’ve been caught 10 times in their last 14 games, a particularly rough stretch that has at times cost them.

That drop in success rate, from 85 percent through their first 47 games to 64 percent during these last 14 games, coincides with the team’s scoring output dropping from 4.1 runs to 3.8 runs per game. Manager Davey Martinez sees a correlation.

“I think we’re trying to push the envelope a little too much because we’re not scoring any runs, and that happens because as a team we start pressing and trying to make things happen,” he said. “I think we’ll get back to (stealing successfully) as soon as our guys start swinging the bats better. The success rate will definitely go up.”

This homestand started off in miserable fashion for the Nationals, who were swept by the Mets and didn’t look particularly good in the process. They now have to try to salvage things with a four-game series against a team that on paper is far more intimidating in the Braves.

The good news: The Nats just took three of four in Atlanta last week, so they should feel confident about themselves entering this matchup. They won those three games thanks to some stellar pitching, including another quality start from the guy who takes the mound tonight: Mitchell Parker.

Parker allowed three runs while reaching the seventh inning in that game at Truist Park. The rookie left-hander tonight makes his 10th career start, and he has yet to surrender more than three runs in any of them. This will, however, be the first time he faces an opponent a second time, so it will be very interesting to see if he or the Braves make any adjustments.

On the mound for Atlanta is old friend Reynaldo López. The 30-year-old right-hander made his major league debut for the Nationals way back in 2016, then was part of the blockbuster trade with the White Sox for Adam Eaton. He’s had an up-and-down, nomadic career since and is now pitching for his fourth organization in the last two years, but he’s been outstanding so far since joining the Braves: a 1.73 ERA and 1.081 WHIP in 10 starts.

WASHINGTON NATIONALS vs. ATLANTA BRAVES
Where: Nationals Park
Gametime: 6:45 p.m. EDT
TV: MASN, MLB.tv
Radio: 106.7 FM, 88.7 FM (Spanish), MLB.com
Weather: Storms ending, 79 degrees, wind 8 mph out to center field

April was an especially encouraging month for the Nationals, who played .500 ball for the entire month and saw one of their most important young players take his game to another level.

In that opening month to the season, CJ Abrams put forth a titanic offensive slash line: .295/.373/.619. He got on base. He stole bases when presented with the opportunity. He scored runs. He drove in runs. He drove in himself. It was to be just the beginning of a breakthrough season for the 23-year-old shortstop.

Then came May, and with it a precipitous drop in production. Abrams slashed a far less impressive .205/.216/.304 in the season’s second month. He didn’t get on base. He didn’t steal bases. He didn’t score as many runs. He didn’t drive in as many runs.

And with an 0-for-3 showing Wednesday in the Nationals’ 9-1 loss to the Mets, Abrams’ prolonged slump continued. He’s now batting a mediocre .246 with a .293 on-base percentage and .446 slugging percentage.

Is it any wonder the Nats are 13-19 since May 1, making that April of success feel like a distant memory?

The Nationals came home Sunday evening rightfully feeling good about themselves after a winning road trip against a pair of contenders. Next up: a three-game series against a Mets team in disarray in advance of its weekend trip to London to face the Phillies.

What ensued: A three-game sweep at the hands of that supposedly unraveling Mets club that featured two ugly pitching performances, an injury to one of the team’s best starters to date and precious little production from a lineup that has been the roster’s weak link for two months now.

Consider today’s 9-1 shellacking before the fans who waited out a rain delay a new low point to the season. Patrick Corbin was rocked once again. The Nationals lineup looked helpless against Luis Severino. And by day’s end, it was Davey Martinez’s bunch that looked ready to leave town, not the guys heading to England.

"Rough series," Martinez said. "But we can't feel sorry for ourselves. We've got another tough team coming in (the Braves this weekend). We've got to be ready to play tomorrow."

Outscored 23-11 during the sweep, the Nats held a lead after only one of the 27 innings they played. They saw MacKenzie Gore get roughed up for six runs in 4 1/3 innings Monday. They made David Peterson throw only 81 pitches in 6 2/3 innings Tuesday. And today they suffered the worst of both worlds, with Corbin shelled for six runs in 5 1/3 innings while the lineup made Severino throw only 72 pitches through seven scoreless innings before finally plating a run in the eighth.

Josiah Gray is ready to pitch in a competitive game again.

Gray, who has spent nearly two months on the 15-day injured list with a flexor strain in his forearm, has been cleared to begin a minor league rehab assignment. The exact date and location hasn’t been finalized yet, but manager Davey Martinez suggested it’s most likely to come Sunday at Single-A Fredericksburg.

“I would like to send him to the closest affiliate for now, because I want him to come back here after he pitches,” Martinez said. “So if Fredericksburg is home, that’s probably where he’ll go.”

The Fred Nats indeed are home Sunday afternoon against Kannapolis, so that appears to be the answer.

Gray landed on the IL on April 9 after two rough starts to his season. He slowly built his arm back up and in recent weeks pitched in three simulated games against teammates. The last of those came Tuesday when the right-hander threw 65 pitches over three innings.

The Nationals are scheduled to play the Mets at 4:05 p.m. today. The Mets are scheduled to fly to London after the game in advance of their weekend series against the Phillies. And it’s scheduled to begin raining here later this afternoon. So this creates a bit of a predicament.

The good news: The Mets are back here the first week of July. So there’s really little reason for the Nats and Major League Baseball to wait around for a long time in hopes of playing today. A postponement would not be surprising.

But until we hear otherwise, we’ll assume they’re going to play. And if they do, the Nationals will need a win to avoid what would be an awfully disappointing sweep at the hands of the team that trails them in the standings and was kind of in disarray when it arrived in town at the start of the week.

The Nats need to hit, and they need to hit early and not wait until the New York bullpen takes over. They face Luis Severino this afternoon, and the veteran right-hander has been solid overall (3.52 ERA, 1.172 WHIP) but has allowed five runs in two of his last three starts (against the Marlins and Diamondbacks). In between, he dominated the Giants. So who knows what you’re going to get.

Patrick Corbin has this start for the Nationals, coming off back-to-back quality starts against the Mariners and Guardians. The lefty was quite bad last season in three starts against the Mets, allowing 14 runs and 21 hits in only 15 2/3 innings.

There’s nothing more tempting in baseball than to try to predict a team’s pitching plan for both the short-term and long-term. And there are few exercises that almost always turn up results that don’t come to fruition.

Way back in March, as the Nationals prepped for the season in West Palm Beach, it seemed a given that Trevor Williams’ hold on the fifth spot in the Opening Day rotation was tenuous at best. Shoot, there even seemed to be a reasonable chance he would lose the job to spring training invitee Zach Davies. Then Davies had a blowup start that led to his release and Williams retained his starting job entering the season.

Even so, the leash on Williams figured to be short, especially on the heels of a miserable 2023 season. A couple of bad weeks to begin April and he might be bumped to the bullpen, opening the door for Jackson Rutledge (presumably the first-man up at Triple-A) to get his shot.

Then Williams got off to a great start to the season, and instead the opening in the Nats rotation came via injury to Josiah Gray. The choice to replace Gray wasn’t Rutledge (who was off-schedule at the time) but Mitchell Parker, who was thrown to the wolves at Dodger Stadium and conceivably could be sent back to Rochester one or two rough starts into his career.

Then Parker exceeded everyone’s expectations and now has solidified his place in the big league rotation for the foreseeable future. And alongside the improving MacKenzie Gore and Jake Irvin, plus the still-effective Williams, the Nationals had four quality starters giving their team a chance to win every time they took the mound.

DJ Herz’s major league debut wasn’t the fairytale Mitchell Parker experienced two months ago at Dodger Stadium. Neither was it the nightmare suffered by countless other Nationals rookies over the last decade.

Herz wasn’t great in his first career start. Neither was he bad. The rookie left-hander pitched with some confidence, escaped a couple of early jams, then began to succumb as his evening progressed.

In the end, Herz allowed two runs while he was in the game, plus another two that were charged to him after he departed in the top of the fifth. And because his teammates did very little at the plate themselves, he wound up charged with the loss as the Nationals fell 6-3 to the Mets.

"He was a little nervous," manager Davey Martinez said. "He was sweating like crazy out there. But you know what, in big moments he kind of settled down and threw strikes and looked really good."

The Nats hoped for something more akin to Parker’s sparkling April debut in Los Angeles, when the unheralded rookie left-hander struck out Mookie Betts and Shohei Ohtani, went five strong innings and became the franchise’s first starting pitcher to win his major league debut since Stephen Strasburg.

Trevor Williams will be shut down from throwing for two weeks after an MRI revealed a flexor muscle strain in the right-hander’s forearm. How much time the Nationals veteran starter will need to return after that remains an open question.

“There’s positive news from it: Everything structurally looks good. It’s just going to take some time,” Williams said this afternoon. “That’s the positive news. I wish it was just one start that I was skipping to be able to let my body recover. But unfortunately, it’s not that way.”

The Nats placed Williams on the 15-day injured list today, calling up left-hander DJ Herz from Triple-A Rochester to make his major league debut tonight against the Mets. The IL move is backdated to June 1, so Williams technically will be available to return as soon as June 16. But there doesn’t appear to be any reason to believe he’ll actually be ready that soon.

Williams said he felt fine during his last start Thursday in Atlanta, when he held the Braves to one run over 5 2/3 innings, throwing 95 pitches (his second-highest total of the season). But when he went to play catch the next day in Cleveland, he said his arm didn’t respond the way it usually does. And when the discomfort lingered through the weekend, the Nationals had him get an MRI to determine if there was an injury.

That MRI showed no issues with Williams’ elbow ligament or tendons, so the injury is purely muscular. Manager Davey Martinez called that diagnosis “best-case scenario.”

Who’s ready to watch a major league debut tonight? An unexpected one, at that.

Trevor Williams was supposed to start the second game of this series against the Mets, but he was placed on the 15-day injured list with a flexor muscle strain in his right arm, so DJ Herz got the call from Triple-A Rochester and will make his first major league start tonight instead.

Who is DJ Herz? He’s a 23-year-old left-hander, acquired last summer from the Cubs for Jeimer Candelario. He’s had big strikeout numbers in the minors, but he’s also had big walk numbers. He’s been a lot better in recent outings, though, and in his last start Thursday he struck out 10 with only one walk over 5 2/3 innings. Herz is going to be amped up big-time. His ability to control his emotions will go a long way toward determining if he has success or not.

Some run support would also help, of course. The Nationals scored seven runs Monday night, and they’d love to do the same tonight against New York left-hander David Peterson, who makes only his second start of the season after recovering from hip surgery.

WASHINGTON NATIONALS vs. NEW YORK METS
Where: Nationals Park
Gametime: 6:45 p.m. EDT
TV: MASN, MLB.tv
Radio: 106.7 FM, 88.7 FM (Spanish), MLB.com
Weather: Partly cloudy, 83 degrees, wind 9 mph right field to left field