The Washington Nationals won on Thursday afternoon against the Chicago Cubs on Opening Day for the first time in a long time. Everyone has been anticipating this team to have some absolutely ugly results for the 2026 season, but Thursday was a great start to the Blake Butera era for the team.
Just to show how much of a rarity Opening Day victories have been for the Nationals throughout the duration of their rebuild, it should be noted that the last time the team won their first game of the season came all the way back in 2021. Needless to say, times were much different back then, and taking one look at the lineup from that day will reveal just that.
Atlanta Braves @ Washington Nationals - April 6, 2021
1. CF Victor Robles
2. SS Trea Turner
3. RF Juan Soto
4. 1B Ryan Zimmerman
5. 3B Starlin Castro
6. 2B Hernan Perez
7. LF Andrew Stevenson
8. C Jonathan Lucroy
9. RHP Max Scherzer
Obviously, things were a lot different 5 years ago for the Nationals, and it's fair to wonder what all went wrong when looking at this team compared to the present day. Some players like Trea Turner, Juan Soto, and Max Scherzer are still very good players for other teams across the league, and Soto even became the highest-paid player in league history last offseason.
Not even in this lineup is Kyle Schwarber, who also was part of the 2021 Nationals but missed parts of that season with injuries. Of course, Schwarber had his legendary month of June for the Nationals in which he slugged 16 home runs over 18 games, and it was a time when it legitimately seemed as if every time he came to the plate he was going to hit one out.
Later on in 2021 would be when the Nationals went all in on their rebuild, as they traded away Yan Gomes, Josh Harrison, Jon Lester, Daniel Hudson, Brad Hand, Max Scherzer, and Trea Turner in exchange for a boatload of prospects that were supposed to help lead the Nationals back to winning ways.
Obviously, a lot has changed between 2021 Opening Day and the present day, but nonetheless the fact that the Nationals were able to get out of Wrigley Field on Thursday with a victory was a huge momentum and confidence builder for a select few players who played great yesterday. It might not be sustainable, but as Nationals fans we must savor and enjoy every single win the team gets this season.
What do you think of the Nationals' lineup from the last time they won on Opening Day in comparison to the current one? As always, please let me know on X, @DCBerk.