Washington Nationals DVOA, Stats, & MLB Rankings

Washington Nationals outfielder Jacob Young continued his strong offensive August in Monday's 5-2 loss to the Yankees. Young went 2-for-3 with a double and a solo home run. The 25-year-old launched an eighth-inning Mark Leiter Jr. offering into the left-field bullpen for the Nationals' second run of the game. Young has only hit three HR this season, but two of them have come in August to go with a .282/.313/.436 slash line, eight RBI, and four stolen bases in 78 at-bats. Young may not offer much in terms of counting stats other than stolen bases, but he is just 14 percent rostered, so he is available in deep roto leagues for fantasy managers looking for an overall boost.

Washington Nationals outfielder Alex Call (leg) was carted off during Friday night's game against the Atlanta Braves. Call was charging in on a shallow fly ball and fell onto the ground after a non-contact injury during the bottom of the second inning. The 29-year-old wasn't able to stand on his foot and was hopping to get to the cart. Call was replaced by Joey Gallo in right field after the injury. The team hasn't stated the severity of his injury and until then he should be considered day-to-day, however it should be anticipated he will miss more time given this was a non-contact injury. The righty had been having a fantastic 2024 season, hitting for a 175 OPS+ in 98 AB with most of his playing time coming in August after spending most of the year in the minors. Jacob Young should be a likely replacement for Call in the outfield, though Young is not a viable fantasy option in any format at this time.

Washington Nationals shortstop CJ Abrams and second baseman Luis Garcia Jr. are both retreating to the bench on Friday against the division-rival Atlanta Braves at Truist Park with Braves All-Star left-hander Chris Sale toeing the rubber. Nasim Nunez will man shortstop and hit ninth, while Ildemaro Vargas will start at the keystone and bat sixth against Sale. DFS managers will probably want to avoid both Nunez and Vargas as low-cost deep sleepers in this matchup. Abrams has been a first-time All-Star in 2024 actually has had versus splits; he's hitting .291 (44-for-151) against southpaws this year, although only four of his 18 home runs have come against them. Garcia, meanwhile, is hitting .262 (22-for-84) against lefties but has yet to go deep against them this year. Garcia is also having a breakout campaign, already setting career-highs in homers (15), RBI (63) and steals (20) in 112 games.

Washington Nationals starting pitcher Patrick Corbin earned his seventh quality start of the season on Thursday versus the Colorado Rockies. The veteran earned it by going six innings with four hits, one run, one walk and eight strikeouts. The veteran has been a rollercoaster all season and is now 3-12 with an ugly 5.73 ERA in 26 starts. Next up for the left-hander will be a date against the New York Yankees on Tuesday. Corbin should be avoided in that matchup and in general moving forward with his inconsistencies on the mound.

Washington Nationals first baseman Juan Yepez went 1-for-4 with a three-run home run in Thursday's victory versus the Colorado Rockies. His home run came in the bottom of the eighth inning, adding some insurance runs for the Nationals late in the ballgame. Yepez burst onto the scene with a smoking hot bat when he was promoted from Triple-A Rochester in early July, but has since cooled off significantly lately. Over the last month, he is now hitting .224 with three home runs and 14 RBI. With his recent struggles, Yepez can safely remain on the waiver wire moving forward. Yepez will look to keep the momentum going on Friday when the Nationals square off against Chris Sale and the Atlanta Braves.