Thursday, June 26

Greetings from Dodger Stadium! Welcome to the latest edition of the Nationals Beat newsletter. This is your stop for the latest on and off the field, from news to exclusive player interviews and insights, brought to you by MLB.com club reporter Jessica Camerato.

In the two years since reliever Ryan Loutos made his Major League debut, he has played for three organizations and traveled from coast to coast pursuing his dream. 

To keep track, Loutos checks in with a nine-person family chat, which consists of his six immediate relatives and three significant others. The chat has become a conduit for Loutos to share his news -- with a comedic twist. 

“The whirlwind of the last year for me of getting called up for the first time with the Cardinals, then getting DFA’d, then saying that I got traded to the Dodgers, then going up with the Dodgers, it’s kind of funny,” Loutos, 26, said. “Sometimes it’s phone calls, sometimes it’s honestly just creative text messages that we send in our group chat now. My fiance [Sarah] likes to think of something creative and funny to say.”

Loutos recalled four “gotcha” moments that have marked different chapters in his big league journey. 

“They’re awesome. They celebrate all my wins and they are there for me anytime I’m sent down,” Loutos said, adding with a smile, “We don’t take anything seriously. I’m the least funny person in my family.”

Major League debut (Cardinals)

“The first time I got called up was cool because I was emotional, and I’m sitting in the dugout in Triple-A Memphis about to call my dad telling him that I'm going to St. Louis. I'm just sitting there waiting, like, ‘What am I going to say?’ I’m sitting there about to click to call, I’m sitting there, sitting there, sitting there. Then right as my thumb's going down, I'm getting a call from my dad. 

“So then I answer, I’m like, ‘Hello, hello’ -- and he butt dialed me! He didn't even mean to call me. He butt dialed right in that moment, which never happened. I don’t think I’ve ever got a butt dial from my dad. So then I hang up, call him back and I was like, ‘Hey, you called me. What's going on?’ He's like, ‘Oh, I must have butt dialed you.’ And then I told him that I was going to St. Louis. 

Major League callup (Dodgers)

“I was in Vegas with the Dodgers Triple-A [team] and we were about to fly back to OKC. While we were at the airport, I got told that I was going to L.A. instead. It was so last-minute that we got on the flight before we could even tell anyone what was happening. 

“So then we were on the flight, and we took a selfie basically saying, ‘Oh shoot, we got on the wrong flight! This one's going to L.A. instead.’ I sent that and then they usually have a moment of like, ‘They’re just joking’ to like, ‘Oh wait, why would they joke about that?!’ Then they all kind of make sense of it. That was pretty funny.”

Major League callup (Dodgers)

“Another time with L.A., I got told at like midnight and I didn't want to wake everyone up because everyone was asleep and going to work the next day. So I sent out scheduled text messages to go out at whenever they were supposed to get up the next day, which was funny. Then by the time I woke up, they were all on the way to the airport, flying out to L.A. to meet me, which was pretty cool.” 

Major League callup (Nationals)

“[Sarah] said, ‘ETA D.C.: one in the morning’ or something like that. All my family was together at my cousin's house, and they all kind of looked at each other at the same time, like, ‘What's going on?’ Is he going up? What’s going on?’ And then they called and obviously I told them. So it’s fun.”

This was written by MLB.com’s Jared Greenspan:

Sometimes, outfielders need a little help from their friends.

That sure was the case for Nationals center fielder Jacob Young at Dodger Stadium on Saturday night.

Batting in the bottom of the fourth inning, Dodgers infielder Max Muncy lifted a towering fly ball -- with a 44-degree launch angle -- towards Young in center field. Immediately, Young threw his hands out to indicate that he lost the ball in the lights.

As Young drifted in, Nationals second baseman Luis García Jr. sprinted out -- trying to signal to Young that the ball was sailing behind him, towards right-center field. That’s when right fielder Daylen Lile spawned, out of nowhere, to make a running backhand catch on the warning track, securing the third out of the inning.

Right-hander Shinnosuke Ogasawara has progressed to High-A Wilmington in his rehab assignment from an oblique injury. 

Ogasawara pitched three innings on Friday, allowing one hit (a home run), two runs and one walk while recording five strikeouts. 

“He threw the ball well,” Nationals manager Dave Martinez said on Friday. “His next outing will probably be in six days and we’ll go from there. We’ll stretch him out.” 

Ogasawara signed with the Nats this past offseason, and he was optioned to Triple-A Rochester at the end of Spring Training.

July 1: $5 Tuesdays

July 3: Freedom Fireworks (postgame)

July 4: Patriotic Series -- Independence Day; Nats on Base Abroad: Al Udeid Air Base, Qatar

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