As 2nd half nears, will Nationals be Deadline buyers or sellers?

For the first time in recent years, projecting the Nationals’ direction at the Trade Deadline is not clear cut. After being sellers since 2021, the Nationals have exceeded expectations and are playing around .500 baseball. They are tied for the league’s leading offense, led by All-Stars James Wood and CJ Abrams, but their pitching has wavered, particularly their bullpen. “I’m proud of this group,” said first-year manager Blake Butera. “Coming into this season, everyone was throwing around the word[s] ‘rebuild’ and ‘a couple years away,’ or whatever it might be. The fact that we’re talking about whether we’re going to…