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May 5, 2026 / Nat Anacostia

‘Hungry and ready to win’: Nats’ March/April in review

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Entering the 2026 season, the expectations for the Nationals were pretty low. For example, the pre-season forecast from Fangraphs had the Nats projected to win 68 games, in last place in the NL East and next-to-last among all NL teams, ahead only of the Rockies. Other pre-season rankings forecasted similar or even worse results. Looking beyond the dismal projections, Nats fans were interested to see the effects of the new management team featuring a young manager and coaches and a focus on analytics and development. Would we see batters taking new approaches at the plate, fielders making improvements on the field, and pitchers getting better results on the mound?

The Nats faced a tough schedule for their first 15 games, with four of their five opponents having had the four best records in the National League in 2025 (the Brewers with 97 wins, the Phillies with 96 wins, the World champion Dodgers with 93 wins, and the Cubs with 92 wins). The season opened on March 26 against the Cubs in Chicago, and the Nats won the game by the score of 10 to 4. The Nats were blown out 10–2 in the second game but came back to win the third game and take the series. Going to Philadelphia for their second series, the Nats blew out the Phillies by a score of 13–2 in the series opener, leaving them two games above .500 for the first time since June 30, 2021. And while I generally try to avoid paying attention to statistics during the first few games of the season, new Nats outfielder Joey Wiemer started the season by reaching base in all of his first 10 plate appearances (tying Carlos Delgado for the record) while hitting two home runs and a triple. He ended the day of March 30 on top of the MLB leaderboards in average (.800), on-base percentage (.846), slugging (1.600), OPS (2.446), weighted runs created (wRC+ of 527), and fWAR (0.7). Needless to say, his dominance wouldn’t persist, but it was fun while it lasted.

The Nats concluded their series with the Phillies and the road trip with two losses, both in one-run games, with the second loss coming in extra innings. They lost the Phillies series two games to one and were 3–3 on the road trip.

The Nats’ home opener came on April 3 against the world champion Dodgers. They lost all three games and were blown out in the first game by a score of 13–6. In the third game, the Nats led 6 to 3 after 7 innings but gave up 4 runs in the top of 8th and one more in the top of the ninth to lose 8 to 6. They next faced the Cardinals and were able to break their 5-game losing streak with a 9 to 6 win in the first game, scoring 6 runs in the bottom of the eighth to take the lead. In the second game, they were ahead 5 to 2 after 6 innings but gave up one run in the top of the seventh and two runs in the top of the eighth to tie them game, then gave up two more runs in the top of the 10th for a 7–6 loss. With another loss in the final game, they ended the home stand with a 1–5 record and had dropped to last place in the NL East.

The Nats’ next road trip opened against the Brewers in Milwaukee, and it also opened a stretch of 17 games played in 17 days. In the first game, the Nats scored 4 runs in the top of the ninth to break a 3–3 tie and take a 7–3 victory. In the second game, strong pitching resulted in a 3–1 victory, and in the third game they scored two runs in the top of the eighth to break a 6–6 tie and take an 8–6 win to sweep the series, moving into third place in the NL East. Their next series was four games against the Pirates in Pittsburgh, with the Pirates coming into the series in first place in the NL Central. The Bucs blew out the Nats 16–5 in the first game, but in the second game the Nats’ bullpen held on to an early lead affording them a one-run victory. In the third game, they were shut out 2–0 by 6 innings from Pirates bulk man Carmen Mlodzinski along with 3 innings from their opener and the bullpen. The Nats managed to win the fourth game 8–7 in 10 innings and split the series, as the Nats gave up a run in the bottom of the 9th to tie the game before scoring the game-winning run in the top of the 10th. Their record on the road trip was 5–2.

Returning home, the Nats opened with a three-game series against the Giants. They lost the first game, then lost the second 7–6 in a 12-inning heartbreaker—in the bottom of the ninth they scored to tie the game but were unable to score in any of the three extra innings. In the third game, opener PJ Poulin combined with bulk men Miles Mikolas and Andrew Alvarez to produce an unlikely 3–0 shutout and avoid a sweep. Next came a four-game series against the Braves, who held first place in the division. The Braves won the first game, but the Nats won the second in an 11–4 blowout. The Nats lost the third game but in the fourth game were holding onto a 2–2 tie after six innings before surrendering 4 runs in the top of the seventh and another in the top of the ninth for a 7–2 loss. The Nats’ record for the home stand was 2–5.

The Nats then started their next road trip in Chicago with three games against the White Sox. In the first game, they were ahead 3 to 2 after 6 innings but allowed 2 runs in the bottom of the 7th, then scored one in the top of the 8th to tie it but gave up the winning run in the bottom of the 8th for a 5–4 loss. The next two games each went 10 innings and resulted in Nats wins. In the second game, they were ahead 2–0 going into the 8th but gave up 2 runs in the bottom of the 8th to tie it, then scored 4 runs in the top of the 10th for the 6–3 win. In the next day’s rubber game, the score was knotted at 0–0 after 9 innings, then the Nats scored two in the top of the 10th for a 2–1 win. They finished their streak of 17 games on 17 consecutive days with a 9–8 record. After a day off, the Nats concluded their road trip in New York City with a three-game series against the Mets. The series began with a pair of blow outs, with the Mets winning the first game 8–0 and the Nats winning the second 14–2. In the third game, the Nats were trailing 4–3 after 7 innings but scored two in the top of the 8th for a 5–4 win. Their record for the road trip was 4–2 and their record at the end of the month was 15–17, good for third place in the NL East, 7 games behind the division-leading Braves.

On offense, the Nats were surprisingly successful, ranking second in the majors in runs scored in March and April with 175. However, there seems to have been a bit of luck involved, as they didn’t rank that high in the offensive components: they were tied for 11th (of 30 teams) in home runs, 14th in average, 13th in on-base percentage, 13th in slugging, 12th in OPS, 11th in wRC+, and 6th in the Fangraphs base running measure.

On the other hand, the pitching was pretty dreadful. Their staff ERA of 5.11 was ranked 29th, as same as their fielding independent pitching (FIP) of 5.28. The staff allowed 52 home runs, the most of any staff in the majors. They ranked 28th in strikeout percentage (19.2%) and ranked 20th in walk percentage with 9.8%. There is some evidence that the pitching performance was improving after the first two weeks of the season. From March 25 to April 9, the Nats ranked 30th in ERA (6.06) and FIP (6.22), while from April 10 to 30 they ranked 18th in ERA (4.55) and 24th in FIP (4.73).

Overall, I think we can characterize the Nats as performing slightly better than expected, though not well enough to lead to a major change in the seasonal projections. As mentioned earlier, before the season started Fangraphs projected them to win 68 games, whereas by the end of April that projection had inched up to 70 wins. They are an interesting team, but not yet a winning team.

Roster moves

In the first few games, most of the players acquired during the off season made their debuts with the Nationals. On opening day, March 26, right-handed outfielder Joey Wiemer and left-handed relief pitcher Cionel Pérez made the first appearances for the Nats. On March 28, left-handed-hitting infielder Jorbit Vivas, right-handed starting pitcher Miles Mikolas, right-handed relief pitcher Andre Granillo, and left-handed relief pitcher Ken Waldichuk debuted with the team. On March 29, right-handed relief pitcher Gus Varland made his debut with the team. On March 30, left-handed starting pitcher Foster Griffin made his debut with team after pitching for three years in Japan. And on March 31, right-handed starting pitcher Zack Littell debuted with the team. More information is available on each of these players in my off-season in review post.

Shortly after opening day, the Nats front office continued to add to the roster when they traded for infielder Curtis Mead from the White Sox in exchange for minor league catcher Boston Smith. To clear a 40-man-roster spot for Mead, they sold minor league relief pitcher Jake Eder‘s contract to the Dodgers. (The Nats had acquired Eder last summer from the Angels as part of the return in the trade for relief pitchers Andrew Chafin and Luis García.) Mead is a 25-year-old right-hander from Australia who from 2023 to 2025 played 152 games at third base, first base and second base for the Rays and White Sox, hitting .238/.300./.317 with 5 home runs and 31 RBI. With the Nationals, he would platoon with Luis García, Jr. at first base as well as playing occasionally at second or third base. Mead debuted with the Nationals on March 31.

On April 7, right-handed relief pitcher Paxton Schultz was activated from the 15-day injured list and made his debut with the Nationals. On January 9, the Nats had claimed the 28-year-old Schultz off waivers from the Toronto. Drafted by the Brewers in the 14th round of the 2019 amateur draft, Schultz was traded to the Blue Jays in 2021 and in 2025 pitched for them in 13 games including 2 starts (24⅔ innings) with a 4.38 ERA and 1.419 WHIP. With experience as a starter, Schultz is capable of pitching multiple innings.

On April 13, Cole Henry went on the 15-day injured list with a right rotator cuff strain and Ken Waldichuk went on the injured list with left forearm tightness. A few days later, we learned that Waldichuk needed to have his second Tommy John surgery in two years as well as an internal brace procedure and will not be available to pitch before early 2027.

On April 17, 30-year-old left-handed relief pitcher Richard Lovelady debuted with the Nats. Lovelady had spent most of spring training with the Nats after being claimed off waivers from the Mets in January, but the Nats had designated him for assignment on March 10, and the Mets then claimed him back. He pitched in 6 regular-season games for the Mets before they also DFA’d him (again), and the Nats purchased his contract back from the Mets. In 124 games over parts of 7 seasons with the Royals, A’s, Cubs, Rays, Blue Jays and Mets, he had a career 5.25 ERA and a 1.369 WHIP.

On April 24, 25-year-old right-handed pitcher Riley Cornelio made his major league debut. The Nats drafted him in the 7th round of the 2022 amateur draft and added him to the 40-man roster in November 2025. Used almost exclusively as a starting pitcher in the minor leagues, he made his debut in a relief role, and it didn’t go well. For details of the game, see the section “Worst meltdown” below.

Record:

15–17 (.469)

Pythagorean Record:

15–17 (5.47 R/G – 5.78 RA/G)

March/April MVP:

  • James Wood (.238/.400/.541, 10 HR, 30 R, 24 RBI, 155 PA, 155 wRC+, 5 SB, 1.3 fWAR). Wood was also recognized by MLB as the NL Player of the Week for the week of April 6 to 12 after going 12 for 22 (.545) with 3 doubles, 3 homers, 8 RBI, 6 walks, 2 stolen bases, and 8 runs scored, with a .655 OBP and a 1.091 slugging percentage.
  • A close runner up for March/April MVP was CJ Abrams (.296/.405/.556, 8 HR, 16 R, 26 RBI, 131 PA, 164 wRC+, 5 SB, 1.2 fWAR).

Starting pitcher of the month:

  • Foster Griffin (3–0, 2.67 RA/9, 6 GS, 33⅔ IP, 8.0 K/9, 1.069 WHIP, 1.2 RA9-WAR, 0.3 fWAR).

Relief pitcher of the month:

  • Andrew Alvarez (1-0, 0.00 RA/9, 1 G, 4⅓ IP, 10.4 K/9, 0.923 WHIP, 2.12 RE24, 1 shutdown, 0 meltdown, 0.2 RA9-WAR, 0.1 fWAR). It’s unusual for me to give this award to a player who pitched in only a single game, but it was a really good one and the competition this month was fairly weak.

Worst month:

  • Zack Littell (0–4, 9.73 RA/9, 6 G, 28⅔ IP, 5.0 K/9, 1.744 WHIP, –1.1 RA9-WAR, –1.0 fWAR).
  • The runner up was Miles Mikolas (0–3, 8.89 RA/9, 7 G, 27⅓ IP, 6.3 K/9, 1.720 WHIP, –0.9 RA9-WAR, –0.9 fWAR).

Best start:

  • Foster Griffin (April 26, 2–1 win over the White Sox in Chicago) pitched 7 scoreless innings, giving up 2 hits and 2 walks while striking out 8 for a game score of 79.

Worst start:

  • Miles Mikolas (April 3, 13–6 loss to the Dodgers at the home opener) gave up 11 runs on 11 hits and 1 walk in 4⅓ innings while striking out 4 for a game score of 0. The 11 earned runs allowed set a new club record—six previous Nationals pitchers had allowed 10 earned runs to score but none had made it to 11.

Tough losses:

  • Jake Irvin (April 15, 2–0 loss to the Pirates in Pittsburgh) pitched 5 innings and gave up 2 runs on 4 hits and 3 walks while striking out 5 for a game score of 53.
  • Jake Irvin (April 20, 9–4 loss to the Braves at home) pitched 5+ innings and gave up 4 runs (3 earned) on 3 hits and no walks while striking out 4 for a game score of 51. He was pulled from the game in the top of the sixth with the Nats ahead 3 to 2 but was responsible for two base runners who both went on to score.

Cheap wins:

  • None

Biggest shutdown:

  • Orlando Ribalta (April 16, 8–7 win over the Pirates in Pittsburgh). In the top of the 10th inning, the Nats had scored one run to take an 8 to 7 lead, and Ribalta got the call to pitch in the bottom of the inning. He gave up a single to the first batter he faced, advancing the automatic runner to third base. He then struck out Brian Reynolds and got Jake Mangum to ground into a double play, securing the win and giving Ribalta his first career save. (Win probability added/WPA +.453).

Worst meltdown:

  • Riley Cornelio (April 24, 5–4 loss to the White Sox in Chicago). Called up from Rochester that day to make his major league debut, the plan was for Cornelio to take over in long relief after opener PJ Poulin and bulk man Miles Mikolas were finished. Cornelio got the call to pitch in the bottom of the seventh inning with the Nats ahead 3 to 2. Appearing nervous (as is not uncommon for pitchers making their debut), he walked the first two batters he faced, then gave up an RBI single that tied the game and had runners on first and third with no outs. He got his first out on a sacrifice fly that scored the go-ahead run. He then got a strikeout and another fly ball to get out of the inning. In the top of the eighth, Brady House hit a solo home run to even the score at four runs apiece. Cornelio was then asked to continue pitching in the bottom of the eighth and gave up a leadoff single followed by a walk. A sacrifice bunt moved both runners into scoring position, then he gave up another sacrifice fly that put the White Sox ahead 5 to 4. He walked another batter before finally getting a fly ball to end the inning. In the top of the ninth, Luis García, Jr hit a one-out double, but the Nats were unable score him, and Cornelio was charged with the loss (WPA –0.608). Cornelio, who had been a starter throughout his minor league career and had never had to take the ball late in a close game, was in tears after the game, leading some reporters to question the wisdom of Blake Butera in sticking to his plan to have him pitch for two innings in such a close game. Immediately after the game, Cornelio was informed that he had been optioned back to Rochester.

Walk off:

  • None

Clutch hit:

  • CJ Abrams (April 30, 5–4 win over the Mets in New York). In the top of the eighth inning, Abrams came to bat with one out, Daylen Lile on first base, and the Nats trailing 4–3. Abrams launched a fly ball into the right field bullpen, driving in the tying and game-winning runs (WPA +.484).

Choke:

  • Curtis Mead (April 18, 7–6 loss to the Giants at home). Trailing the Giants 6–5 in the bottom of the ninth inning, Mead came to bat with one out and runners on first and third. He grounded to third base and Matt Chapman gunned down Jorbit Vivas at the plate (WPA –.289). The next batter, Brady House, hit a single to tie the game, but Mead was tagged out trying to go from first to third. The Nats lost the game in the 12th inning.

Memorable fielding plays:

Leaderboard watch:

The following Nationals players finished the month among the top five league players one or more statistical category:

  • James Wood – first in MLB in plate appearances (155), tied for second in NL in home runs (10), tied for first in MLB in runs scored (30), fifth in NL in isolated power (.303), first in NL in walks (31), tied for first in MLB in intentional walks (6), first in MLB in strikeouts (50), first in NL in walk percentage (20.0%), fourth in strikeout percentage (32.3%), fourth in Fangraphs offense runs above average (10.9)
  • CJ Abrams – tied for fourth in NL in RBI (26), fifth in on-base percentage (.405), third in hit by pitch (6)
  • Nasim Nuñez – first in MLB in stolen bases (14), second in NL in Fangraphs base running runs above average (2.0)
  • Daylen Lile – tied for second in NL in caught stealing (3)
  • Zack Littel – tied for first in MLB in losses (4), first in MLB in runs allowed (31), tied for first in NL in earned runs allowed (25), first in MLB in home runs allowed (13)
  • Miles Mikolas – tied for fourth in NL in runs allowed (27), tied for first in NL in earned runs allowed (25), tied for third in NL in home runs allowed (8)
  • PJ Poulin – tied for third in NL in games pitched (16)
  • Cade Cavalli – tied for first in MLB in games started (7), tied for second in NL in hit by pitch (4)
  • Jake Irvin – tied for second in NL in hit by pitch (4)
  • Clayton Beeter – first in MLB in wild pitches (5)
Filed under Month in review

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