Jewels of Gore deal -- Fitz-Gerald and Fien -- tee off on same night around Nats farm

Making the decision to part ways with the All-Star ace of your staff is never an easy one, but when it comes to the Nationals, whose collective eyes are on the future, things have to be feeling pretty good right now.

The organization dealt MacKenzie Gore to Texas during the offseason as part of a six-player deal. A pair of pivotal pieces in that transaction -- Devin Fitz-Gerald and Gavin Fien -- have wasted no time proving why their inclusion was vital to getting that deal done. The duo emphasized that again on Friday night as each player homered in his respective game at different levels of Washington's system.

Fitz-Gerald has been the catalyst at the top of the lineup for the High-A Wilmington Blue Rocks all season and started off Friday's contest with his fifth leadoff dinger of the year as part of a 3-for-5 performance -- with a double, two RBIs and a pair of runs scored -- in a 9-5 loss to Winston-Salem at Truist Stadium.

There were some who believed that starting Fitz-Gerald at the High-A level this year was a bit of an aggressive push, but the Nats' No. 10 prospect has done nothing but thrive in the South Atlantic League all season. The 20-year-old ranks among the top five in the circuit in batting average (.321), OBP (.437), slugging (.664), OPS (1.101), home runs (10), RBIs (30), hits (42), extra-base hits (22), total bases (87) and paces the league with 37 runs scored.

“His baseball IQ is through the roof, and he carries himself like a true pro,” Wilmington skipper Ted Tom told MLB.com recently. “He doesn't really say much but leads by example. … He knows what winning looks like at a really high level. He expects to win, and he expects to win in everything he does.”

Against the Dash, Fitz-Gerald turned around the third pitch of the contest and crushed it over the high wall in straightaway center for his fourth dinger in his past four games. In the fifth, the 5-foot-10, 185-pound infielder sent a laser off the scoreboard in left-center for an RBI double. Fitz-Gerald found a hole through the left side of the infield for a single and swiped second for his 11th stolen base of the season in the seventh.

Since May 8, Fitz-Gerald is slashing .375/.394/1.000 with 12 hits (including six homers), 13 RBIs and 32 total bases.

Fien connected on his first home run since joining the Nationals' organization for the Single-A Fredericksburg Nationals in a 6-5 victory over the Salem RidgeYaks on Friday night at Virginia Credit Union Stadium.

Washington's sixth-ranked prospect cleared the park with a monster two-run blast to left-center that opened the scoring for the FredNats in the first inning. It was a welcomed sight for the organization as Friday marked just the second game back for the 19-year-old since landing on the injured list with a left wrist ailment after a game on April 7. As such, it was just the sixth game of the season for Fien, who set an RBI record during Spring Breakout in March.

The 2025 first-round selection (No. 12 overall) was a showcase standout heading into his senior year of high school, winning the 2024 High School All-American Game MVP and becoming a star for Team USA. Texas signed him for below slot at $4.8 million.

Fien appeared in 10 games for Single-A Hickory in 2025 and collected nine hits (four for extra bases), seven RBIs, three walks and stole a base.