All of us Washington Nationals fans alike went to bed last night smiling ear to ear. The team made its debut on Thursday at Wrigley Field and went on to crush the Cubs 10-4. A bunch of players, expected and unexpected, showed great promise, and so we find early winners to the season after Opening Day. If these players can continue to thrive, the future may look brighter than expected.
Brady House
House is a breakout candidate on this team and my own personal breakout prediction in 2026. House's spring training could not have gone any better than it did, and now, on Opening Day, House put out 2 hits in 5 at-bats, including a home run, and five total bases. Great credit goes to the young House, in which he picked up the slack for a golden sombrero day of James Wood batting leadoff. We will keep a keen eye on the four-batter in the games and series to come.
Joey Weimer
It was crazy to see Joey Weimer get the opening-day job in left field after being a waiver claim months earlier, but he earned it with Dylan Crews' injury. For reference, Weimer batted .150 in spring training with 11 strikeouts in 46 plate appearances. However, we were glad to see Weimer shut the haters up on Opening Day as he went 2-for-3 with a home run and a team-best 6 total bases. I am not confident, after one game, that Weimer will be a thing this year, but a good start is nice. Let's hope it continues.
Andres Chaparro
There is definitely a falloff from House and Weimer. All of Daylin Lile, CJ Abrams, Nasim Nunez, and Jared Young had solid days. However, Chaparro was the only National besides House and Weimer to have 2+ hits on the day, which the broadcast noted to be very hard hits. Chaparro was pinch-hit for by Luis Garcia, but the effect was made in his playing time, which saw Chaparro go 2-for-3 with 1 run, 3 total bases, and zero strikeouts.
Honorable Mentions
Cade Cavalli struggled with control on the day, but when he was on, he looked great. Cavalli went 3.2 innings with 5 strikeouts. He allowed 3 earned runs and 3 walks. On an eye test, we cannot hate what Cavalli put out against the Cubs, especially a very tough Cubs lineup.
CJ Abrams went 1-for-4 with 2 RBI's. Abrams did nothing world-changing today, but he didn't look bad either. Abrams will be a big key to the Nationals' success in 2026 as deep trade rumors linger across the league.