The Washington Nationals finally returned to their winning ways in an early afternoon game on Monday. The Nationals, who have been pretty abysmal during day games in the 2025 season, were able to send their fans home happy on Labor Day, and it was largely due to their new battery, which had spent a lot of time together in Rochester before making their MLB debuts on Monday afternoon.
Monday's starter, lefty Andrew Alvarez, was one of 2 Nationals that were called up yesterday as part of MLB's annual September call-ups, and he did everything that needed to be done in order for his club to stop the bleeding from their losing ways. Obviously, the 2025 season has not gone according to plan in any perspective as a fan of this organization, but it can't be overstated just how effective the 26-year-old lefty was in his first game as a big leaguer.
Alvarez fired 44 of his 81 pitches for strikes against the Miami Marlins, and allowed just 1 hit over 5 shutout innings, and he looked like a guy who had been pitching in the big leagues for years, and not the guy making just the first appearance of his career. He only allowed 2 walks while striking out 4 batters, and he pitched well enough to earn the victory in his MLB debut, something that not many other Nationals pitchers have been able to claim over the years.
In fact, Alvarez actually became the first pitcher in Nationals history to throw at least 5.0 shutout innings in his MLB debut, something that not even the likes of Stephen Strasburg or Mitchell Parker, the last two most notable debut starts in a Nationals uniform, had accomplished. Of course, Strasburg amassed 14 strikeouts in what is regarded as perhaps the greatest first start in MLB history, and Parker kept a stacked Dodgers lineup in check on the road in Los Angeles last season, but what Alvarez did is still very impressive in his own right.
While the other half of Monday's battery, catcher CJ Stubbs, who had been brought up fairly recently after Drew Millas went down with an injury, did not do anything especially notable from an offensive perspective, he did make history as well. Stubbs became the first Nationals catcher in team history to catch a shutout in his MLB debut, and the first catcher since 2019, which was Sean Murphy of the Oakland Athletics, to accomplish that feat.
Things have not been pretty by any means in 2025 for the Nationals, but in what has become a lot season on so many fronts, Alvarez and Stubbs gave fans a reason to be happy and celebrate a hard earned victory to finish out the long weekend.
What did you think of the performance of Andrew Alvarez and CJ Stubbs? As always, please let me know on X, @DCBerk.