Kieboom recalled as everyday third baseman

Third baseman Carter Kieboom is back with the Nationals, where he will have the opportunity to play out the rest of the season at the big league level.

Washington recalled its No. 1 prospect, per MLB Pipeline, from its alternate training site in Fredericksburg, Va., on Saturday, 10 days after he was optioned. Wimer Difo was designated for assignment by the Nationals in a corresponding move.

“Carter’s going to play third base for the rest of this year,” manager Dave Martinez said. “We’re going to see what we’ve got and want him to play. I told him, ‘You’ll bat somewhere in the middle of the lineup, so just go out there, have fun and do your thing.’ But we’ve got to see what he can do. This is a perfect opportunity for him to go out there and play every day and see what he’s got.”

In 17 games this season going into Saturday, Kieboom, whom MLB Pipeline ranked as the No. 21 prospect in baseball, slashed .200/.359/.200 with 10 hits and five RBIs. The Nats tasked him with working on his swing, specifically against fastballs. The feedback from the staff was positive.

“I just went out there, gripping and ripping and just went that route,” Kieboom said. “I can think, think, think and then try to overcomplicate something. At the end of the day, all we try to do is make it as simple as possible. I went down there, I didn’t think about anything. I didn’t think about changing anything. I went with whatever I stepped in the box with and that’s how I hit, and it worked out.”

Kieboom put his improvements on display Saturday in the Nats’ 10-4 win against the Braves at Truist Park. Appearing in his first game since Aug. 25, he went 1-for-4 with two runs, one RBI, one walk and two strikeouts. Kieboom described himself as being “happy” to return to the Nationals, and he is excited for the consistency of a daily role.

“It’s what I need. I need to play every day. I need to go out there and play as much as possible and see the action,” Kieboom said. “It’s going to be one at-bat [at a time] and just keep playing good defense, and we’ll be good.”

Difo has been a member of the Nationals organization since 2010. He made his Major League debut in '15, and he has a career slash line of .247/.309/.348 with 236 hits, 133 runs and 15 homers over six years with the club. Difo appeared in 12 games this season, including Friday’s Game 2 win over the Braves, in which he recorded an RBI and a run.

Finnegan, Nationals lend a hand in fight against cancer
Every time reliever Kyle Finnegan takes the mound, he has a chance to help the Nationals and an even bigger cause. Finnegan has partnered with the Pediatric Brain Tumor Foundation’s "Vs. Cancer" campaign to strike out brain tumors. He has pledged to donate $25 per strikeout, and fans can donate, too.

“It’s a very violent disease for children,” said Finnegan, the father of a young daughter. “I think that anything we can do to help that research and help that treatment or the financial hardships that families will incur, it’s a cause that’s worthwhile.”

The Nationals and Major League Baseball are recognizing Sept. 5 as "Childhood Cancer Awareness Day." On Saturday, players, coaches and umpires wore gold ribbon decals and wristbands to shed light on the leading cause of death by disease among children in the United States and Canada.

“It’s incredible to have this platform and this opportunity,” said Finnegan, who turned 29 on Friday. “It’s something I always looked forward to coming up. I always told myself, if I had this opportunity, I wanted to try to take advantage of it.”

For the fifth consecutive year, MLB and its clubs raised awareness for childhood cancer during all games on Saturday for a special league-wide day in home ballparks. MLB’s “Childhood Cancer Awareness Day,” held during Childhood Cancer Awareness Month in collaboration with Stand Up To Cancer (SU2C), combined a visual and ceremonial demonstration of support for the cause with outreach to local hospitals treating young patients in their communities. Childhood cancer is the leading cause of death by disease among children in the United States and Canada.

The Nationals joined all on-field personnel, including players, coaches and umpires around baseball in wearing gold ribbon decals and wristbands during Saturday's game against the Braves. Clubs also featured ceremonial activities in ballparks. Club activities included pregame ceremonies, cardboard cutouts of pediatric patients in stands at ballparks, virtual patient first pitches, virtual player hospital visits and more.

Childhood cancer awareness efforts in previous seasons have included special pediatric cancer awareness batting-practice T-shirts, online campaigns to empower fans to hold fundraisers for pediatric cancer research and donations to local children’s hospitals. MLB and its clubs have supported the fight against cancer through a variety of initiatives for many years. As Stand Up To Cancer’s founding donor, Major League Baseball has pledged more than $50 million to SU2C’s collaborative cancer research programs, providing invaluable support. Launched in 2013, the work of the Stand Up To Cancer/St. Baldrick’s Foundation Pediatric Cancer Dream Team has helped to develop new immunotherapy approaches and contributed to the development of two new treatments for difficult-to-treat pediatric leukemias that have been approved by the FDA. MLB has recognized SU2C at its jewel events since the '09 World Series.

Injury updates
• Juan Soto remains day to day with left elbow soreness. Martinez said Soto felt “a little bit better” on Saturday, when Brock Holt made the start in left field.

• Josh Harrison, who sustained a left arm contusion after being hit by a pitch on Friday, is “a little beat up” the following day, according to Martinez. The team could consider using him in a pinch-hit situation on Saturday if he feels well enough.

• Adam Eaton is testing out his knee on Saturday, two days after jamming it on first base while running out a sacrifice bunt. Michael A. Taylor got the nod in right field on Saturday.