Sept. 1 call-ups shine with three hits and a homer and three scoreless innings and a win against Atlanta.
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On Monday afternoon, Yohandy Morales was fishing on his day off. Jared Simpson was at Men’s Wearhouse trying to buy a suit for his friend’s upcoming wedding.
By Tuesday night, they were both major leaguers, helping the Washington Nationals beat the Atlanta Braves, 9-5, to open the two-game series at Nationals Park.
Morales and Simpson were called up as Sept. 1 roster additions, and both shined in the win. Morales hit a home run in the third inning, the eighth player in Nationals history to have a home run as his first hit, then added two more hits. Simpson pitched three scoreless innings and struck out three.
“Best experience ever, for sure,” Morales said. “Everything we dreamed of growing up. All the hard work that I put in obviously paid off to get to this moment. I’m super excited, super happy, and it feels better when we get the win.”
Neither was anticipating being in Washington on Tuesday, but their performances with Class AAA Rochester earned them the promotions.
Morales entered spring training as a nonroster invite with an outside chance to earn a spot at first base. He went a disappointing 1 for 17 and was sent to Rochester to start the season. There, he found consistency and improved his plate discipline, hitting .285 with a .824 OPS.
Simpson began the season in Class AA and was promoted to Rochester in July. He’s cut down on his walk rate this year and focused on athletic throwing. That means being less robotic or ‘jumping around like Derek Jeter with my slider,’ he explained.
“It just gets my brain wired to know where my body is moving in space,” Simpson said. “If I’m missing with my fastball arm side up, I’m like ‘Oh, I can do this’ and get it done.”
On Monday, Morales’s fishing expedition was cut short thanks to a rain storm. He was in the car heading to shower before dinner when he got a FaceTime from Nationals assistant general manager Devin Pearson.
But the reception in the car was spotty, and Morales couldn’t hear what Pearson was trying to tell him. Pearson called him instead, finally getting a clear signal to deliver the news.
Morales called his mother, who started screaming at work. Then he called his father, booking them flights right away so they could make it to Washington.
Simpson was getting fitted for the suit when Rochester Manager Matthew LeCroy called him. His heart, Simpson said, started beating out of his chest. He called his grandfather, who helped raise him. His grandfather was so emotional, Simpson said, that he couldn’t get any words out.
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But before he could head to meet his new team, Simpson still had to get a suit. When the sales associate asked him if he needed anything else, Simpson responded with a resounding yes. He was heading to the majors and needed an outfit, he told them. He got a collared shirt, two pairs of pants and a new pair of shoes for the occasion.
On Tuesday, Morales got the start at designated hitter. He struck out in his first at-bat. In his second, he sent a slider 407 feet into the Braves’ bullpen. His family, who made the journey from Miami, held up a sign that read “I heart you” as Morales rounded the bases.
“I don’t know what happened,” he said. “I just zoned out and started running the bases and pointed at my family.”
In the top of the fifth inning, after Jake Irvin allowed two runs in four innings, Simpson entered the game with no outs and runners on first and second. Four pitches into his big league career, Simpson got Drake Baldwin to ground into a double play. Three pitches later, he got Ronald Acuña Jr. to fly out to center field.
“Coming off [the mound], it was just a weight comes off your shoulder,” Simpson said. “I used to have a problem keeping my energy off, but once the weight was off I was like ‘Got to keep going. got to keep going.’”
Simpson’s family, including his grandfather, high-fived and hugged Morales’s family, who was sitting in front of them, the two proud support systems embracing each other as they watched dreams come true on the field.
“No tears, I was impressed,” Simpson said of his grandfather’s reaction. “He was smiling.”
Simpson came back out for the sixth. One pitch to Matt Olson, another out. Four pitches later, he had his first strike out, getting Michael Harris II looking. More hugs from the Simpson to the Morales family. More milestone moments.
But there would be more to come. Simpson struck out two more in the seventh inning, completing three scoreless innings on just 34 pitches. In the bottom of the seventh inning, Morales hit a double, then scored on an errant pickoff attempt. He added one more hit in the eighth inning, this one a single.
A three-hit debut for Morales. Three scoreless innings for Simpson and a major league win. Two awestruck rookies and a double debut day they’ll never forget.
“It feels amazing,” Morales said. “This is what you work toward throughout the whole org, to come up and contribute to the major league team. it feels really good and really special.”
Note: James Wood is expected to be activated off the injured list on Wednesday, Manger Blake Butera said, as long as he wakes up feeling ready to go. Wood played his second rehab game on Tuesday, going 1 for 3 with an intentional walk.
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