Going Deep with The Nats

The Washington D.C. rainforest weather cooperated yesterday to give almost enough of a window to play the game without precipitation. Today is a new day with some afternoon light rain expected after a sunny D.C. morning.

The Nats are in sole possession of second place in the NL East in this first week, and the division is really struggling out of the gates with both Miami and the Mets winless as of yesterday. With last night’s win by the Nats, they have a chance to win the series today.

Today marks the 20th Opening Day of Washington Nationals baseball. From those immortal words from 20 years ago from former D.C. Mayor, Anthony Williams, “Baseball is back in Washington D.C.” to the present, this marks another milestone of two decades of Nationals baseball. This season also coincides with the 100th anniversary of Washington’s first World Series win in 1924, and the fifth year since the Nationals won their World Series in 2019.

With three games under our belts, and a gut-punch blown-save-loss yesterday, we are seeing what the personality of this team is in the here-and-now. The Nats are in second place in the NL East, and will have a chance to get back to .500 today.

The Washington Nationals battled back last night to win a game in the Queen City that could only be described as the “Scrappy Nats” are back! Manager Davey Martinez pushed every button in the ninth inning while using every position player except for Riley Adams, and the go-ahead run was scored by pinch-runner and Rule-5 pick, Nasim Nunez. They scored five runs in the final three innings to win by a final score of 7-6. Every Nats player contributed in that one, and the newbie, Trey Lipscomb, had a hit, stolen base, and a few highlight reel defensive plays to make his mark — and set a Nats record.

The Washington Nationals find themselves tied for second place in the competitive NL East, and a half-game out of first place. If this was the end of July we would be ecstatic with that news, however we are at the second game of the season, today. This game features the debut of Trey Lipscomb who takes over for Nick Senzel after he broke his thumb fielding a baseball in pregame warmups on Thursday.

Today marks the first game in the 20th season of Washington Nationals baseball. This season also coincides with the 100th anniversary of Washington’s first World Series win in 1924, and the fifth year since the Nationals won their World Series in 2019. While much has changed in the past 20 years, the one constant is that every year brings plenty of surprises. Nothing is scripted, and too often, the best team built on paper does not win the ring.

The Washington Nationals hit a home run by creating a top prospects exhibition game versus an MLB lineup. That game begins minutes after noon today with the first pitch and temperatures in the low 50’s, a sharp contrast from the 70-to-80 degree weather in south Florida.

LHP MacKenzie Gore might be starting this game against RHP Jackson Rutledge although the Nats’ haven’t finalized all of the details. Trey Lipscomb will play with the top prospects even though he is technically still on the big league roster and with a shot of making the Nats’ Opening Day roster.