Nationals acquire Early from Red Sox for Mead

Obviously, there’s nothing at all guaranteed for the Nationals here, but turning Mead, who was acquired after being DFA’d by the White Sox in March, into a pitcher who was universally regarded as a top-75 prospect at the start of the season and who has posted a 3.24 ERA through 21 major league starts, seems like major win for the organization. There is the huge caveat that Early is currently on the IL with elbow inflammation. Also, his peripherals aren’t as strong as that 3.24 ERA. Still, he projects as a fine middle-of-the-rotation starter for the long haul, even if his recovery from his current elbow issue doesn’t go as hoped. The Red Sox, for what it’s worth, seemed optimistic that he’d be ready to contribute in September. The Nationals, meanwhile, will replace Mead with Brady House. They’ll still probably trade another infielder, too, with Luis García Jr. most likely to go.

The Red Sox could have easily acquired Mead a few months ago, but they’re obviously much bigger believers now after he hit .254/.352/.500 with 17 homers in 327 plate appearances for the Nationals. And he does look like a perfectly legitimate major league hitter at this point. However, his bat speed and exit velocity numbers are all pretty average, and he just doesn’t offer much defensive value as a well below average defense third baseman and potentially adequate first baseman. The Red Sox will likely make him their primary DH for now, allowing him to maintain some mixed-league value. Still, if they’re ever at full strength, he might not warrant starts against righties. Time will tell, but giving up Early here seems like a misstep. With Mead likely to see significant time at DH, Masataka Yoshida will again become a reserve, though perhaps a Jarren Duran trade could put him in left field for a time.

Eovaldi struck out eight and walked one in one of his best efforts of the year. The victory makes him 10-8 with a 4.05 ERA. He has a 130/29 K/BB in 122 1/3 innings, giving him the 12th-best K:BB among ERA title qualifiers. Next up for Eovaldi is a road start against the Rays, unless maybe the Rangers add a sixth starter next time through and push him back to face the Astros on Friday.

Mariners pitchers tend to have significant home-road splits, since T-Mobile Park is so tough on hitters, but Woo has taken it to extremes this year. He’s 6-0 with a 2.20 ERA at home and now 1-7 with a 6.52 ERA on the road after dropping this one. It seems sort of fluky; he has a 50/14 K/BB with eight homers allowed in 58 innings on the road, which wouldn’t typically add up to a 6.52 ERA. Still, it’s good to know that he’ll be back at home next week for his start versus the Twins.

The steal was Pederson’s second of the season and 33rd in 60 tries for his career. He’s up to .251/.342/.491 on the year, giving him an .833 OPS that’s 220 points better than his mark from last season.

Tucker homered off Nolan McLean in the third and made a bid for another in the fourth, hitting a 361-foot fly that was caught in left field. Both were barrels, so he now has 19 of them and nine homers for the season. He still hasn’t gotten hot at any point, but that his strikeout rate is down this month can’t be bad news; he’s fanned just eight times in 69 plate appearances while hitting .250/.333/.383 in July.

Yamamoto allowed five hits, walked three and struck out five in earning his 11th victory. It was his 15th quality start, which is tied with Sandy Alcantara for most in the majors. He’ll face the Red Sox for the first time next weekend.

Tanner Scott came in during the eighth for what looked like it might be a five-out save. However, the Dodgers instead decided to go to Stewart in the ninth, probably because Scott also threw 16 pitches last night. Stewart got through the inning easily, striking out Francisco Lindor and Carson Benge while also getting Bo Bichette to ground out. His previous saves came with the Dodgers in 2017 and the Twins in 2023. The oft-injured Stewart has a 2.03 ERA in his 13 appearances when he’s been able to pitch this season.

McLean struck out seven and generated 16 whiffs on 40 swings. The unearned runs came in the third after a Brett Baty error, with a Francsico Alvarez passed ball also hurting the cause. However, McLean could have spared himself the unearned runs had he gotten to first just a little quicker on a potential 3-6-1 double play. He did make a good effort, but he was a tad slow to get off the mound at the start of the play. McLean dropped to 7-7 with a 3.32 ERA. He’ll face the Marlins on Thursday.

Unless Early is damaged goods — and he obviously currently is on the IL with elbow inflammation — this seems like a pretty weak return for the Red Sox. Mead has broken out nicely with a .256/.351/.505 line this year, but not with the kind of exit velocity numbers that suggest he’s going to be an above average regular going forward, especially given his lack of defensive value. The Red Sox figure to use him a lot at DH for now and then mix him at third and first if Roman Anthony gets healthy and the outfield gets overcrowded again. Masataka Yoshida will lose at-bats in Boston. The Nationals will recall Brady House to replace Mead, according to Spencer Nusbaum.