The Nats closed their last place season on a sour note as they were shutout 8-0 on Sunday afternoon by the visiting White Sox. Mark & Al put the 66 win campaign under a wide-angle lens on the heels of their 14th shutout defeat. It should be a more active October than the past few years as they remake the front office and likely will make a change at manager.

(13:20) Hear what Dylan Crews said afterwards as he seems to be gearing up for more of a leadership role on the team.

(21:15) James Wood went 0 for 3 and struck out in every at-bat.  Wood finishes the year w/ 221 strike outs, by far the most in Baseball, but still two shy of Mark Reynolds' record from 2009.

(23:45) A wrap-up of just how the bad the Washington relief pitching was this season.

(32:00) A thank you to our great listeners as our numbers grew this season on the podcast despite the terrible performance on the field. 

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The Nats overcame an early four-run deficit to edge the White Sox 6-5 on Saturday afternoon. Mark & Al begin with an ode to Bob Carpenter, who is calling his final Nats games this weekend for MASN. Carpenter was honored prior to the game after 20 years of being the TV voice of the team.

(10:00) James Wood hit his 31st homer to take the lead for good in the bottom of the 7th. Wood has four homers this week to end his season on a high note.

(15:00) "Mr. September" was at again as Daylen Lile bolstered his NL Rookie of the Year with his 8th home run of the month.  Hear how Lile's season stacks up against the other top candidates for the award.

(20:10) Josh Bell & CJ Abrams are surprisingly neck and neck for OPS this season (.751/.752).

(23:00) Jake Irvin allowed four runs in six inning to close his season.  Irvin's rough 2025 ends with a 5.70 ERA and his future in the rotation is in jeopardy.

(29:15) Julian Fernandez pitched a perfect top of the 7th and that led to earning his 1st career Big League win.  Fernandez was picked up off of waivers in Mid August after he was DFA'd by the Dodgers. Jose A. Ferrer recorded a bumpy save one night after blowing it in the 9th. 

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The Nats rallied all the way back from a seven run deficit, but Jose A. Ferrer could not close the door in the 10-9 loss to the White Sox. Mark & Al gather after maybe the craziest game of the season that saw the Nationals hit six homers, but also commit four errors.

(06:00) Luis Garcia Jr. hit a trio of homers for the first time in his career.  Garcia's third homer of the night briefly put them up 9-8 in the bottom of the 8th.  The last time Washington lost when a player hit three homers in a game was in 2013 in Baltimore when Ryan Zimmerman went deep three times.

(09:05) Daylen Lile tied the game with a 3-run homer in the bottom of the 8th.  Lile is having an all-time month as he has five homers and seven triples in September.

(13:20) CJ Abrams & Josh Bell each went deep, but both committed errors in the top of the 1st. Abrams is now up to 19 homers; one behind his total last season.

(19:30) Cade Cavalli finished his season on a bit of a down note as Chicago tagged him for four unanswered runs in the top of the 1st. Cavalli ended up making ten starts with the Nats after his very long rehab from Tommy John surgery.

(24:10) Ferrer's disastrous 9th inning began with a throwing error from the lefty; before have gave up the game deciding 2-run HR to Colson Montgomery.

(26:45) When should we expect the formal announcement about Paul Toboni taking over as Head of Baseball Operations?

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The Nats won 4-3 in Atlanta on Wednesday afternoon, but the major news came from ESPN's Jeff Passan.  Mark & Al spend plenty of time reacting to the report that Paul Toboni, Red Sox Asst. GM, will take over as Washington's new head of Baseball Operations. Toboni is 35 years old and has spent the last decade working in the Red Sox Front Office.

(21:10) James Wood homered twice to reach the 30 home run milestone.  Wood homered as many times this series (three) as he had in the past two months.  Wood also did not strike out all series and remains eight Ks behind Mark Reynolds' 2009 record pace.

(25:50) Josh Bell hit his 21st homer of the season in the win. It is the 5th year in which Bell surpassed the 20 homer plateau.

(30:20) Andrew Alvarez lasted until the bottom of the 5th and did not allow a run.  Alvarez was called up on Labor Day and had 2.31 ERA in five starts.

(35:30) Jose A. Ferrer notched his 7th Save of the month and his 10th of the season. It was a rough day for the bullpen as they allowed a trio of Braves solo homers. 

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The Nats fell short 3-2 on Tuesday night as the Braves have now won ten games in a row.  Al & Tim begin with James Wood's 28th homer of the season, just his 4th since the All-Star Break.  Wood did not strikeout and remains eight Ks shy of Mark Reynolds' single season record.

(08:00) Luis Garcia Jr. played 1B on Tuesday as it seems like his days at 2B are coming to an end. Daylen Lile was also in the lineup just a few days after exiting Sunday's game early due to a knee contusion.

(15:10) The Nationals yet again unsuccessfully attempted a staggered double steal with runners on the corners. This came in the top of the 4th as Washington was unable to increase their one-run lead.

(17:30) Brad Lord pitched well, but the two solo homers he allowed led to him taking his 9th loss of the year.  Lord's ERA is at 4.12 as is his season is likely over. Could Lord win Nationals Pitcher of the Year this upcoming weekend?

(22:30) MacKenzie Gore's season is also over as he was placed on the IL due to an ankle impingement.  Gore made the All-Star Game, but his ERA continued to climb in the back half of the year. Gore did set a career high with 185 strikeouts; four more than he had last season.

(30:00) Reaction to MLB instituting an ABS challenge system for 2026.  ABS stands for "Automated Ball-Strike Challenge System" and would serve as a version of Robo Umps. 

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The Nats were no match for the Braves in Monday's 11-5 loss. Al & Tim convene after the Nationals pitching staff needed six pitchers just to make it through six innings and combined for nine issued walks.

(06:00) MacKenzie Gore was pulled in the top of the 3rd after having already thrown 71 pitches.  The Braves lineup fouled off 24 of them and now Gore's ERA is up to 4.17.

(09:00) The bullpen really struggled until Shinnosuke Ogasawara stabilzed the final few innings.  Jackson Rutledge was the first reliever out of the 'pen, but gave up three runs while only recording one out.

(13:45) Both James Wood & Daylen Lile were out of the lineup in the series opener.  Lile suffered a left knee contusion in Sunday's victory in New York. CJ Abrams did return after jamming shoulder on Saturday, but served as the DH as opposed to taking the field.

(15:45) Nasim Nuñez & Dylan Crews each homered in the loss.  Nuñez played at SS and now has four homers in September since getting called up from AAA.

(19:00) Jacob Young made another excellent catch on a sliding attempt that survived a few bobbles.  This was Young 3rd fantastic grab in the past two days.

(23:50) Josiah Gray's season is over after his three minor league rehab starts. Gray will not take the mound this weekend vs. the White Sox as some had hoped in his recovery from "Tommy John" Surgery.

(27:00) Brad Ciolek , the National Director of Amateur Scouting, is leaving for a role with the Tigers. 

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The Nats took the weekend series in Queens as they held off the Mets 3-2 on Sunday afternoon.  Before we get to Mark & Al's analysis, Executive Producer Tim Shovers comes on to deliver an annual end of season message.  If you would like to donate to the podcast, visit natschatpodcast.com and click on Merch to get directed to our Donation page.

(04:30) Daylen Lile exited the game early after crashing into the side wall on a sliding catch in the bottom of the 3rd.  Mark was at the game in New York and relays what he saw and learned afterwards.

(11:10) Nasim Nuñez hit his 3rd homer of the month to put the Nats ahead 3-0.  Nasim got the start after CJ Abrams jammed his throwing shoulder in Saturday's 11th inning.

(14:30) Jacob Young made possibly the catch of the season in CF in the bottom of the 5th.

(20:00) Jake Irvin & Mitchell Parker have been awful this year, but on Sunday they teamed up for the entirety of the game. Irvin exited in the top of the 6th and Parker got out of the jam.  The lefty was making his first career relief appearance and turned that into the longest save in team history as he almost lasted four innings. 

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The Nats handed the Mets a crucial defeat on Saturday afternoon in Queens.  Mark (From NYC) & Al meet after the Nationals blew an early 3-0 lead, but Daylen Lile's exciting 2-run Inside-the-Park-Home run put them ahead for good 5-3.

(05:00) It looked initially that Lile's big hit would be a triple as he is one away from setting a franchise record. Lile's OPS is now ahead of James Wood (.814 vs. .807).

(08:45) CJ Abrams made a brutal TOOTBLAN in the top of the 11th just before Lile's homer. Abrams was then mysteriously replaced in the field in the bottom of the 11th.

(13:10) Cade Cavalli had another good outing as he tossed five shutout innings. Cavalli has only had one bad stat since getting called up from AAA in early August.

(17:30) Jose A. Ferrer took over in the 8th and could not protect the 3-run lead. New York scored a pair off the lefty in the 8th and then Juan Soto's 9th inning single sent the game to extra innings.

(25:00) Reaction to the expansive story from the Washington Post on the current ownership situation with the Nats. 

(37:30) Brief mention of recent comments by Ted Leonsis. 

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The Nats dropped their 5th straight on Friday night as they were beaten by the Mets 12-6.  Mark (From NYC) & Al gather after Washington guaranteed itself of having more losses this season than the previous two years.

(04:30) The pattern of sloppy defense continued on Friday as the outfield combined for three errors; two of which were on Dylan Crews.

(07:15) James Wood struck out two more times and committed a fielding error himself. Wood is now up to 212 Ks on the year; 21 more than AL leader Riley Greene.

(09:20) Daylen Lile tripled for the 11th time this season and 7th time in September. Lile is now tied with Denard Span for the most triples in Nationals history since 2005.

(14:20)  Andrew Alvarez's fourth outing was his worst so far as he gave up six runs in less than four innings of work. The Mets lineup was the hardest test yet for the young lefty.

(23:30) Mitchell Parker is being moved to the bullpen for the rest of the season. This is not much of a surprise as his ERA is now up to 5.85 and this will be the first time he will take the mound as a reliever.

(26:45) Josiah Gray pitched on Friday for AAA-Rochester as he struck out a pair, issued three walks, in just under 3 innings. Will he pitch next weekend in Washington against the White Sox?

(30:00) Another update on a potential candidate for the vacant GM position, this one being Eddie Romero, the Assistant GM for the Red Sox.

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The Nats lost 9-4 on Wednesday and dropped all four games this week against the Braves. Mark & Al evaluate the team's tired legs as they have shown recent signs of fatigue.  It has been a busy stretch for the team as they have played 14 games in the past 13 days.

(07:30) James Wood had a RBI double and a single on his 23rd birthday. Wood did strikeout for the 210th time this season, extending his own franchise record.

(13:10) Brad Lord had a shutout through five innings, but it all came apart in the top of the 6th.  Lord was charged with two runs in the four run 6th and his ERA is now up to 4.18.

(25:00) Sauryn Lao is a recently acquired right hander who was called up to replace Orlando Ribalta. Lao gave up a pair of runs in his two innings on the mound.

(30:15) Josh Whetzel, the Voice of the Rochester Red Wings, gives an update from AAA as they are in their final week of the season. 

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