Good evening DoD readers, and welcome to today’s District Daily! Before tonight’s game against the Atlanta Braves, get caught up on the latest Nats news with some great Washington Nationals articles from around the web below.
In today’s Daily, Amanda Comak of the Nationals’ official blog, Curly W Live, announces that Max Scherzer has been named the National League Pitcher of the Month for June. It’s the second month in a row that the Nationals’ right-hander has earned Pitcher of the Month honors.
For Nationals fans, it’s not surprising that Scherzer was the best pitcher in the league last month. After struggling a bit in his first two starts of June, the right-hander was absolutely dominant the rest of the month and made a few times along the way.
Scherzer’s brilliant month included a near-perfect game, a no-hitter, his 100th career win, and three spectacular starts to finish the month in which he allowed two runs on six hits over 26 innings.
Overall, Scherzer went 3-2 with a 2.33 ERA in June. His numbers are impressive, considering that he started off the mount with two straight starts in which he allowed four earned runs. But in baseball, how you finish is almost always more important than how you start. And for Scherzer, June couldn’t have ended on a higher note.
That being said, the focus for Scherzer and the Nationals now turns to July and the second half of the season. The Nationals have improved dramatically in all aspects of the game in recent weeks, and Scherzer is a big reason for the first-place team’s turnaround. But if the Nationals want to continue to play well in the second half, they’ll need Scherzer to be as dominant as he was the first three months of the season.
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Of course, that is much easier said than done. After all, Scherzer is 9-5 with a 1.79 ERA and that trend is hard to keep up over a 162-game season. Fortunately for the Nationals, Scherzer looks to be getting stronger as the season goes on and doesn’t appear to be slowing down anytime soon. If Scherzer finishes the season as strong as he started it, there’s no doubt he’ll be a favorite in the Cy Young award conversation come October and a crucial weapon for the Nationals down the stretch and in the postseason.
Also in today’s Daily, MLB.com’s Jesse Sanchez discusses the Nationals signing international free agent Juan Soto. The Nationals signed Soto—the 22nd-best international prospect, according to MLB.com—to a $1.5 million signing bonus.
Be sure to check out both articles below, they’re definitely worth a read. And as always, stay tuned to DoD for all your Washington Nationals needs.
Max Scherzer named NL Pitcher of the Month for June
Following a month that featured his first career no-hitter and in the midst of one of the most dominant stretches in Major League history, Nationals right-handed pitcher Max Scherzer was named the National League Pitcher of the Month for June on Thursday.
Scherzer, 30, is the first Nationals (2005-present) pitcher ever to earn the honor in back-to-back months, as well as the first Washington pitcher to take home the award twice in one season.
The Nationals’ right-hander was 3-2 with a 2.33 ERA over the course of the month, but after allowing four earned runs in each his first two June starts, Scherzer carried a perfect game into at least the sixth inning in all of his final three outings. Read full article here.
Nats sign int’l free agent Soto for $1.5 million
The Nationals have agreed to a $1.5 million signing bonus with teenage outfielder Juan Soto of the Dominican Republic, according to industry sources.
The 6-foot-1, 175-pound Soto, who is ranked No. 22 on MLB.com’s Top 30 International Prospects list, is considered one of the most dominant hitters and polished bats on the international market this year.
The Nationals have not confirmed the agreement. Read full article here.