CINCINNATI -- When the Nationals swept the Cubs in Chicago on Aug. 23-25, 2019, it was two months before they hoisted the first World Series trophy in franchise history.

The next time Washington completed a three-game sweep on the road was on Sunday afternoon, when it defeated Cincinnati, 6-3, at Great American Ball Park. The 2023 Nationals won’t take home any hardware at the end of this season, or probably any time soon. But with a four-game win streak, their longest since June 2021, the Nats are 11-5 in their past 16 games and will head to Philadelphia on Monday as one of the Majors’ hottest teams.

“I think they're starting to believe in one another. When one guy doesn't do something, they feel like the next guy will do the job,” manager Dave Martinez said. “So that's the beautiful thing about playing a team game. Everybody's got to put forth an effort. They're all doing it, they're all pulling for one another, and they're having fun doing it."

Washington’s success over the past few weeks is due in part to the players it’s developed over the past four seasons. Its roster, which ranks as the fourth-youngest offense in the Majors, features just one active player from the 2019 team -- Patrick Corbin. Combined with a loaded farm system, it could bring a new era of championship baseball to the nation’s capital.

“What I can tell you is, in [2019], we never gave up. We never quit. This team doesn't do that either,” Martinez said. “So it's been a lot of fun. These guys, we grind out at-bats, we try to do the little things correctly. But like I said, they're playing together as a team, and that's been a lot of fun. That's what we did in '19 as well.”

One of those young players is CJ Abrams, who was acquired in the Juan Soto deal in 2022. Abrams led off Sunday by hitting a home run on the first pitch of the game for the first time in his career. Lane Thomas homered on the first pitch of the next at-bat, and the Nationals worked a four-run first inning against Reds starter Lyon Richardson, who was making his MLB debut. But Abrams wasn’t done yet.

The shortstop reached on a fielder’s choice in the second, then singled and scored on a Thomas double in the fourth. He singled in the sixth and doubled in the eighth to complete the second four-hit game of his career and raise his average since July 1 to .322.

“It's fun watching [Abrams] play. He crushed that ball -- I thought it was going to go out of the stadium,” Thomas said. “So yeah, it was cool to put another big swing behind him.”

Abrams heating up from the leadoff spot gives No. 2 hitter Thomas room for success as well. After driving in Abrams on the double in the fourth inning, he advanced him from second to third with a sacrifice fly that also scored a run in the eighth.

“I feel like every time I'm up to the plate, there's a guy on second or third,” Thomas said. “So it's always better hitting like that because you don't have to do as much. I can just put something in play or hit a fly ball, and it relieves some of the pressure at the plate of having to do something where you've got to drive a run in by hitting a double or whatever. So those guys are making it easy right now.”

The Nationals’ youth movement isn’t only happening at the Major League level. On Sunday, this year’s No. 2 overall Draft pick, Dylan Crews, hit his first professional home run with Single-A Fredericksburg.

Prior to the game, No. 23 Nationals prospect Israel Pineda was activated from the 60-day IL and optioned to Double-A Harrisburg, and Washington released 36-year-old Paolo Espino to make room for the valuable younger player on the 40-man roster. At the Trade Deadline, the Nats dealt Jeimer Candelario, which opened up a roster spot for rookie Jake Alu and has given playing time to players they see in their future.

Said Martinez on Tuesday after the Deadline: “Our plan is to get younger, give our young guys opportunities to come up here and play and, as we move forward, watch these guys develop.”

The 22-year-old Abrams, as well as recent callups Alu (four-game hit streak since callup), Joan Adon (quality start on Saturday) and Robert Garcia (two scoreless innings in relief on Sunday) are certainly making the most of their opportunities to play.

“It's fun to watch. They do cool stuff, and it makes you want to do stuff as well,” Thomas said. “So it's been fun to watch, and we just have to keep it going.”