Wire Taps: Erick Fedde gets today’s start; Overhyping Juan Soto’s ceiling; Can the Nationals and Orioles make a trade?

If you were to guess the three Nationals who’ve reached Eutaw Street, you would probably say Bryce Harper, Alfonso Soriano, and Adam LaRoche, or something of the sorts. We present humbly: Matt Adams, Adam Dunn, and... Roger Bernadina?

Here’s the beat from Baltimore:

We need to chill on hyping Juan Soto’s ceiling, but he’s making that very difficult (WaPo)
The Nats have seen plenty of super-prospects who have dominated at the start of their careers who then all succumbed to something or the other, mainly injury. Nats fans should—knock on wood—keep their expectations within reason for 20-year-old Juan Soto. But when he's hitting at a Mel Ott pace and constantly improving his hitting, defense, and even his english, it's hard to imagine what he would look like if he continued improving at this pace.

Nationals to use Erick Fedde in a spot start Wednesday against the Orioles (WaPo)
It looks like Stephen Strasburg will get Thursday, Patrick Corbin will get Friday, and then Saturday will either go to Aníbal Sánchez or Max Scherzer.

Ghiroli: Notes on the Nationals’ tall task at the trade deadline, scoreboard watching and some impressive history (The Athletic)
Oddly enough, the Nats are almost exactly where they were in regards to Atlanta on this day in June, which means that Atlanta kept up with the Nats' sustained pace of winning in the month of June. (Then again: the teams play each other seven times in September.) It's also worth noting that if the Nats make the playoffs after being 12 under, they'll only be the eighth team in baseball history to do it, and that these Nationals probably need another two or three relievers at the deadline, which will be a very difficult accomplishment to bring to fruition.

Austin Voth gets the job done for the Nationals in a series-opening win in Baltimore - The Washington Post
Voth's six innings were arguably his strongest of the season thus far, only allowing one run on four hits after he loaded the bases with Orioles in the first inning.

The Nationals and Orioles have never agreed to a trade. Now is a good time to change that. (WaPo)
The Expos and the Orioles made their last trade in the fall of 2001. But Mychal Givens—a low-cost, high-reward reliever—could be the guy, and with Mike Elias now at the helm, the cold war could begin to wind down. (Of course, both GMs claim they can make a deal any time they want, thank you very much, and the owners have no say in this whatsoever.)

Austin Voth leads Nationals to win over Orioles (MLB.com)
“Both of those guys are part of our future right now,” Nats manager Dave Martinez said prior to Tuesday’s game. “So we hope that they both pitch well."

Max Scherzer plays catch, still no date for return (MLB.com)
Scherzer threw the ball about 75 feet ahead of the Tuesday night game against the Orioles, but Davey Martinez has no promises regarding his status against the Braves — though he doesn't think he'll be out for that much longer, especially given how restless he is to get back to pitching.

Voth sets tone, lineup piles on as Nats rout O's (MASN)
“I definitely wasn’t comfortable in that first inning,” the right-hander said. “The ball kept slipping out of my hand. I hit two guys and didn’t have my command. ... I felt like I was going a million miles (an hour). I was just too fast. So I just had to kind of slow things down, that’s for sure.”

Martinez: Voth, Fedde not in rotation auditions (MASN)
Davey Martinez, though he will almost certainly choose the pitcher who appears more competent against the Orioles to start against Colorado, says that Voth and Fedde's starts aren't auditions and he just wants to see them keep the team in the ballgame.

Fedde to face O's, Nats hoping Scherzer can face Braves (MASN)
The Nats will send their best four to the mound in a row against Atlanta, if all goes according to plan. That plan also includes a rare strong start from Erick Fedde and Max Scherzer making his return from the IL in punctual fashion, which suddenly feels like more of a question.

Don't screw this up. (Sweetspot — Nationals Baseball)
"The Nats should win and no excuses for the offense. They should beat up on this team scoring 6+ each game."

Heart and Hustle Award club winners (MLB.com)
This is Howie win the Heart and Hustle Award.

The 30: The Padres add a pair of electric arms, the Pirates find a spark and the Dodgers welcome you to Walk-Off City (The Athletic)
The Nationals are in eighth. They were in the low twenties about six weeks ago. That's progress.