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Nationals' Cade Cavalli: Doesn't factor in decision
Rotowire
Cavalli did not factor into the decision Wednesday against the Phillies, allowing one run on five hits and two walks while striking out three across six innings.
Cavalli recorded his first quality start of the season, and this was a far better showing than his opening effort against the Cubs, where he allowed three runs (two earned) on three hits and three walks across 3.2 frames back on Opening Day. Cavalli made 10 starts last season, posting a 4.25 ERA with a 1.48 WHIP and 40:15 K:BB across 48.2 innings, and he's opened the 2026 campaign with three earned runs on eight hits and five walks so far in 2026. His 8:5 K:BB, as well as the fact that he's hit two batters and tossed a wild pitch through 9.2 innings, suggest the command and control could be an issue for Cavalli.
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Nationals' CJ Abrams: Launches first homer of season
Rotowire
Abrams went 1-for-4 with a three-run home run and a walk in Wednesday's loss to the Phillies.
Abrams went yard for the first time this season in the top of the seventh inning, and his blast gave the Nats a transitory 5-1 lead they'd later blow. Abrams has hit safely in his last three games, going 4-for-14 with a homer, four RBI, four runs scored and a walk in that stretch.
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Nationals' Cole Henry: Melts down in relief duty
Rotowire
Henry (0-1) was tagged with the loss in relief Wednesday against the Phillies after allowing one unearned run on three hits and a walk across one-third of an inning
Henry opened the season with back-to-back scoreless outings, but he had a rough showing in this one and gave up the game-winning hit to Justin Crawford. Through three outings and 2.1 innings so far, Henry owns a 2:2 K:BB, but the fact that he's allowed four hits already is far from promising.
Tena is out of the lineup for Wednesday's game against the Phillies.
The left-handed-hitting Tena had been included in the lineup for the first two games of the series while the Nationals faced off against right-handers, but he'll hit the bench Wednesday as southpaw Cristopher Sanchez toes the rubber for Philadelphia. Daylen Lile will get a day off from playing the outfield and will replace Tena as the Nationals' designated hitter.
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Nationals' Luis Garcia: Hitting bench vs. lefty
Rotowire
Garcia is out of the lineup for Wednesday's game against the Phillies.
The Nationals will hold out the left-handed-hitting Garcia for the third time in three matchups versus a southpaw starter through the club's first six games of the season. Curtis Mead will pick up his first start with Washington, filling in for Garcia at first base while the Nationals face off against Cristopher Sanchez.
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Nationals' Keibert Ruiz: Taking seat Wednesday
Rotowire
Ruiz is out of the lineup for Wednesday's game against the Phillies.
The Nationals have divvied up the work evenly between their two catchers to begin the season, with both Ruiz and Drew Millas drawing three starts apiece. Ruiz has gotten on base in just two of his first 12 plate appearances, though he delivered a two-run home run in Sunday's 6-3 win over the Cubs.
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Nationals' Zack Littell: Stuck with loss in Nats debut
Rotowire
Littell (0-1) took the loss Tuesday, giving up three runs on six hits and two walks over five innings of relief as the Nationals were downed 3-2 by the Phillies. He struck out one.
After PJ Poulin worked a scoreless first inning as the opener, Littell took the mound and lasted 75 pitches (53 strikes) while serving up solo shots to Kyle Schwarber in the third inning and Adolis Garcia in the fourth. Littell didn't sign with the Nats until early March, so Tuesday's usage likely has more to do with the fact that the right-hander wasn't quite stretched out yet, rather than being a sign that he'll be used as a primary pitcher behind an opener on a regular basis. Littell is expected to make his next appearance at home early next week against the Cardinals.
Young is out of the lineup for Tuesday's game against the Phillies, Mark Zuckerman of NatsJournal.com reports.
It's the second straight game on the bench for Young, who started the first three games of the season and went 2-for-11 with a double and a homer. Joey Wiemer, who has opened the campaign on fire at the plate, will instead start in center field while Daylen Lile and James Wood man left and right field, respectively.
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Nationals' Brady House: Taking seat Tuesday
Rotowire
House is out of the lineup for Tuesday's game against the Phillies.
House started the first four games of the season at third base for Washington, going 6-for-19 with a homer, three RBI, five runs and seven strikeouts, but he's also committed three errors. Jorbit Vivas will step in at the hot corner Tuesday to face rookie righty Andrew Painter.
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Nationals' Daylen Lile: Productive in Monday's rout
Rotowire
Lile went 2-for-6 with a double, two runs scored and two RBI in Monday's win over the Phillies.
The Nats ran away with a 13-2 victory, and Lile got the rout started with an RBI on a fielder's choice in the first inning. The 23-year-old has hits in four straight games to begin the season, going 6-for-18 with two doubles, three RBI, five runs and a 2:3 BB:K as he gets an early jump on demonstrating his 2025 breakout was no fluke.
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Nationals' Cole Henry: Not in high-leverage mix
Rotowire
Henry gave up a hit and a walk in a scoreless ninth inning during Monday's win over the Phillies. He struck out one.
The right-hander entered the game with the Nationals cruising to a 13-2 rout. Henry's made two appearances so far, and both came in blowouts -- he also delivered a scoreless inning in Saturday's 10-2 loss to the Cubs. Henry was viewed as potentially part of the closing picture coming into the season alongside Clayton Beeter, but his early usage suggests he's a long way from a high-leverage role.
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Nationals' Zack Littell: Could work in bulk relief Tuesday
Rotowire
Littell is a candidate to pitch in bulk relief behind opening pitcher PJ Poulin in Tuesday's game in Philadelphia, Spencer Nusbaum of The Athletic reports.
According to Nusbaum, manager Blake Butera merely grinned and said, "Poulin's starting," when asked if Littell would be involved in the Nationals' pitching plan for Tuesday, but all signs point to the right-hander making his Washington debut. After signing with Washington late in spring training, Littell built up to 2.2 innings and 64 pitches in his final Grapefruit League outing, so he likely would have been under a bit of a workload restriction if the Nationals had elected to use him as a traditional starter Tuesday. He should eventually move into the rotation once he's fully stretched out.
Wiemer went 2-for-4 with a walk and two runs scored and tied an MLB record for most consecutive plate appearances reaching base to start a season in Monday's 13-2 win over the Phillies.
With two singles to start Monday's game, Wiemer officially matched the mark of 10 consecutive plate appearances reaching base to start a season set by Carlos Delgado in 2002. The streak stopped at 10 after he grounded out in the fifth inning. Regardless, the first three games of Wiemer's Nationals tenure couldn't have started much better as he's slashing .800/.846/1.600 with two home runs and eight RBI.
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Nationals' Luis Garcia: Knocks in three
Rotowire
Garcia went 2-for-6 with a double, a run scored and three RBI during Monday's 13-2 win over the Phillies.
It was a great day for essentially everyone in the Nationals lineup with all but one starter recording an RBI in the game. Nobody had more than Garcia's three, though, as he knocked in a run on a fielder's choice in the third inning and drove in two with a single in the ninth. Those were the first RBI of the season for the 25-year-old, who had 66 in 139 games played last year. With Andres Chaparro optioned to Triple-A on Sunday, Garcia will likely get most of his playing time at first base.
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Nationals' Foster Griffin: Works through five in win
Rotowire
Griffin (1-0) earned the victory Monday against the Phillies, giving up two runs on five hits while striking out five over five innings.
It was just about a dream start to the game for Griffin as he was handed a 4-0 lead before he even threw his first pitch Monday. He handled that run support well, holding down the Nationals lineup in his five innings of work aside from a two-run home run surrendered to Rafael Marchan. That's an encouraging start to the season for the 30-year-old Griffin in his first MLB start since 2022.
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