Nationals’ Yohandy Morales homers in his major-league debut

WASHINGTON — Yohandy Morales said he never wondered when his time in the big leagues might come, even as his time in the minors dragged on longer than the power-hitting infielder’s slash line might have indicated it should have. It wasn’t hard, he insisted, because Triple-A Rochester could not stop winning. It was equally painless, he suggested, because he knew he could be more consistent, and he believed a promotion would come once he had earned it.

He was right.

Morales’ first big-league hit was also his first big-league homer. He saw an inside splitter from Atlanta Braves righty AJ Smith-Shawver in the third inning of his MLB debut Tuesday and sent it on a beeline into the visitors bullpen in left field.

YOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

HIS FIRST HIT IS A BOMB pic.twitter.com/uptCVrD0Ll

— Washington Nationals (@Nationals) September 1, 2026

Part of what makes the 24-year-old Morales such a compelling character is that his home runs have no single aesthetic: He can hit them at any angle, to any part of the park. He hit 25 of them in Triple A this season, sprinkling them in as he worked on his chase and whiff rates. In that sense, hitting one in his second career at-bat, which was sandwiched by two strikeouts, was fitting. It’s part of the learning curve.

Morales is the eighth player in Washington Nationals history to hit a home run for his first career hit and the second to do it this season, joining teammate Andrew Pinckney, who accomplished the feat earlier this year.