The duration of spring training in 2026 has been very interesting for the Washington Nationals. Despite a decent record overall, now 12-7-3 overall, it has mostly been a lot of the other guys combined with solid pitching that has kept the team in a lot of close games so far this spring.
Now, obviously these games do not have a ton of meaning other than getting guys ramped up for the season, but there have still been some concerning trends. Guys like James Wood, CJ Abrams, Daylen Lile, and Dylan Crews have all struggled mightily, but perhaps they are just need more time to get into their groove fully.
Well, perhaps some of those guys are ready to get over their early struggles if Monday night's 12-6 victory by the Nationals over the New York Mets is any indicator. After weeks of prolonged struggles from almost half of their young starting lineup and huge reasons why fans would buy tickets to go to a game this season, we finally might be seeing some of those aforementioned names turn the corner.
After rookie skipper Blake Butera decided to shuffle the lineup around to try and spark the lineup, his new tactic yielded some good early returns. The big performance came from James Wood, who finished the game 3/5 with a double and a 422 foot homer to left center field that us fans have been desperately waiting to see from the big lefty. It was his first of the season, and hopefully a sign of what's to come as he rounds into form.
🚨 james wood homer just dropped 🚨 pic.twitter.com/5oQLY9DO78
— Washington Nationals (@Nationals) March 17, 2026
Daylen Lile got the scoring going early for the Nationals with an 2-run double early on, and he finished the game 1/4 as the extra base hits are beginning to come a bit more frequently for him. CJ Abrams did his part too, finishing the game 2/3 with his first triple of the spring, and hopefully for the Nationals getting these two guys going will be huge for the sake of the top of the order.
Dylan Crews had another tough night, as he finished 0/4 with a strikeout and saw his average drop to a paltry .107 mark. Hopefully, he is able to figure something out very soon, but while still unlikely overall, the odds Crews does not make the Opening Day roster are certainly not as low as they were just a few weeks ago when camp started.
Do you think this is a sign of what's to come for the rest of spring training? As always, please let me know on X, @DCBerk.