The Nationals may be out of the playoff chase, but they’ve got plenty left to play for in Los Angeles.
Washington heads into a late-night West Coast set against the defending champion Dodgers after splitting two games with the Atlanta Braves to open the final month of the regular season. That’s a step up from the way August began, when the Nationals dropped both meetings with Atlanta. They’ve also put together a 6-4 run over their last 10 games, a stretch that has given them some momentum even with the postseason picture essentially out of reach.
Now the role shifts to spoiler. The Dodgers are still sitting in a strong position in the National League West, but the bigger issue for them is the race for the top seed and a possible playoff bye.
Los Angeles is tied with Atlanta for the second-best record in the NL and trails the Milwaukee Brewers by 4.0 games for the No. 1 spot. The Dodgers have been uneven lately, going 4-6 over their last 10.
The series opens Friday at 10:10 PM ET with left-hander Jackson Kent on the mound for Washington. Kent is 1-2 with a 5.59 ERA, but he’s coming off the sharpest outing of his young career, tossing 7.0 innings of 1-run ball against the Miami Marlins. He’ll be opposed by Blake Snell, who has gone 2-1 with a 2.42 ERA and posted a 1.17 ERA over 23.0 innings in his first full month back from injury.
Saturday’s game, set for 9:10 PM ET, brings another intriguing matchup. Cade Cavalli has gone 12-5 with a 3.12 ERA, and every start seems to be pushing his ceiling a little higher.
He enters September with a real shot to finish the year with an ERA under 3.10. Across the diamond will be Tyler Glasnow, who is 4-0 with a 2.79 ERA and is making just his 3rd start since May 6th.
The finale comes Sunday at 10:10 PM ET, with lefty Andrew Alvarez taking the ball for Washington. Alvarez is 2-6 with a 3.47 ERA and is also fresh off the most effective start of his 2026 season, after firing 6.0 shutout innings against Miami.
That performance pushed his ERA below 3.50 and kept his case for a rotation spot in 2027 moving in the right direction. The Dodgers have TBA listed for the finale, and a bullpen game appears likely with health concerns thinning their starting options.
In Other News...
CJ Abrams Still Has One Big Nationals Question Hanging Over Him
The Nationals have spent the last couple of weeks testing a new path for CJ Abrams, and the latest update suggests they are willing to keep experimenting. After moving him off shortstop in mid-August because of defensive issues, Washington had him debut at second base, where the early looks have been encouraging. It is part of a broader late-season evaluation for a club that is still sorting out pieces for the future, while also tracking the progress of pitchers Connelly Early, Josiah Gray and Cade Cavalli as they work through injury recoveries and recent game activity.
Abrams next step is still the interesting one, because the Nationals are not treating this as a simple one-position answer. The more they see him handle the middle infield, the more they can weigh what fits best for him and for the roster, and that decision carries plenty of implications beyond the final weeks of this season. For now, Washington has at least given itself a useful look, and Abrams has given the club reason to keep the conversation going. [Read more 🡒]
Nationals Bullpen Suddenly Has Homegrown Arms Fans Need To Watch
A sudden wave of homegrown relief help has given the Nationals bullpen a different look, with Erik Tolman, Jared Simpson and Jack Sinclair all getting their first extended taste of the majors after being developed inside the organization. For a club that always has an eye on whether its pitching pipeline is producing real depth, the early returns have been encouraging, especially since all three arrived as late-round draft picks and have shown sharper command than many expected.
Tolman has been the most eye-opening of the group, working into high-leverage innings and missing bats without giving much away, while Simpson handled his debut like a pitcher who belonged in the moment. Sinclair has also made an immediate impression with a confident first outing, giving the Nationals a trio of young arms worth tracking as the season unfolds. The bigger question now is how long this burst of poise and control can hold once opposing lineups get a second look. [Read more 🡒]
Nationals Got An Intriguing Look At Two Very Different Young Arms
A game against the Dodgers gave the Nationals a useful snapshot of two young arms at different points in their development. Jackson Kent was on the mound for his fifth big league start, and the rookie left the outing having worked five innings as Washington tried to see how his stuff would hold up against a lineup with real postseason-level teeth.
The more immediate spark came from Jack Sinclair, who was called on for his Major League debut and handled the eighth inning cleanly. Washington ended up on the short end of a 5-3 loss, but nights like this still matter for a club sorting through its pitching future, especially when one arm is trying to settle in and another is just arriving on the scene. [Read more 🡒]