The Nationals are building momentum right now. While the team may not contend for the Postseason right now, the Nats are a young and potentially very exciting team to watch throughout the season. Although the Nationals are extremely unlikely to go far this year, the team is working toward making a future push at World Series contention.
The new front office executives and a new manager bring fresh eyes to help the Nationals build around James Wood and CJ Abrams. I believe infielder Brady House will be a big help to the team. At only 22 years old, he is under contract with the Nationals for years to come. The Nationals selected him 11th overall in 2021, straight out of high school, so he has the talent to be a star. It all starts with Brady House.
Brady House had a great spring. In 41 at-bats, he got 18 hits, including six doubles and four home runs for a total of 11 RBI, with a staggering .439 batting average, and a 1.259 OPS. He deserves his roster spot on Opening Day. He will most likely be the everyday third baseman for the Nationals if his in-season performance is as amazing as his spring training numbers were.
The Nationals need to get on base more often, and as a projected middle-of-the-order bat on Opening Day, House will be able to drive in runs and be a catalyst for a hopeful Opening Day win against a very talented Chicago Cubs team. The Nationals will have to do their best to calm the Wrigley Field crowd in the early innings this Thursday to drown out the noise. Cubs fans are passionate, as are Chicago fans in general.
Brady House, projected as batting 5th in the team's lineup, can create the runs needed for a win on Opening Day, and hopefully that combined with a Cade Cavalli gem will give the team great energy to start what might be a difficult season.
Opening Day is a meant to give adreanline to not only the players on the team, but the fans too. An Opening Day win for the Nationals will give Nats fans energy throughout the whole season, to be cheering louder, as well as the fact that you can say "my team is undefeated," there is absolutely nothing better than starting out the season 1-0, and hopefully Brady House will be the player to power the Nats to a win, on the road, at Wrigley.