ATLANTA – When the Nationals made Nasim Nuñez the No. 5 overall selection in the 2023 Rule 5 Draft, they knew what they were getting. The infielder was the best defensive prospect in the Marlins system with very little offensive upside. Any production they got from the switch-hitter at the plate would be a bonus.

Nuñez spent all of last season with the Nationals at the major league level as part of his Rule 5 status. He appeared in 51 games, mostly as a defensive replacement or pinch-runner, and made only 78 plate appearances. He collected one RBI on 15 hits, with only one going for extra bases.

This year, Nuñez was able to be optioned down to the minors. He appeared in 23 major league games between April and June, this time collecting five RBIs on eight hits, two for extra bases.

But when Nuñez came back up to the majors at the beginning of the month when rosters expanded to 28 players, no one expected to see this power surge the 25 year old has put on over his last 12 games.

He hit his first two major league home runs in his first game back on Sept. 3 against his former team. He hit what would end up being the game-winning home run Sunday against the Mets, a two-run shot in the third inning, in the city where he was born. And then he led off last night’s series opener against the Braves in what he considers his actual hometown by hitting a first-pitch homer off the reigning Cy Young Award winner.

ATLANTA – It is usually meaningless to try to compare two opposing starting pitchers. With the universal designated hitter, they don’t face each other in the batter’s box anymore. And opposing lineups are constructed differently with different approaches.

But after the level of pitching MacKenzie Gore and Chris Sale put on display in the nightcap of Tuesday’s doubleheader at Nationals Park – 13 ⅓ scoreless innings with 14 strikeouts between the left-handers – it was hard not to make comparisons between the two ahead of tonight’s rematch.

Unfortunately for Gore, there weren’t too many comparisons to be made between him and the reigning National League Cy Young Award winner after this 11-5 loss to open the Nats’ final road series of the 2025 season.

Gore lasted only two-plus innings tonight as the Braves drove up his pitch count by fouling balls off and drawing walks.

“He fell behind," interim manager Miguel Cairo said. "They take good pitches. And they fouled off a lot of pitches, so the pitch count went a little too high. And hey, they were able to lay off his good pitches. But they battled against him today."

And we’re back! The Nationals will try to put this afternoon’s 6-3 loss to the Braves behind them and earn a split in this doubleheader with a victory tonight.

To do that, though, they’ll have to fare much better against another left-handed Atlanta starting pitcher. José Suarez held the Nats to two runs on five hits and two walks with nine strikeouts over seven innings earlier today. The task only gets harder against Chris Sale in the nightcap.

Sale has followed up his 2024 National League Cy Young Award with another stellar campaign, posting a 5-5 record, 2.52 ERA, 1.121 WHIP and 11.9 strikeouts per nine innings over 18 starts in his ninth All-Star season. He missed time between mid-June and late August with a fractured rib cage, but he has a 2.55 ERA over his three starts since returning from the injured list.

The Nats will counter with their own All-Star southpaw starter: MacKenzie Gore. In his return from the IL with left shoulder inflammation, Gore held the Marlins to two runs over five solid innings in a tough-luck loss last week. This will be his first start of the season against the Braves.

You’ll notice Miguel Cairo’s lineup for the second game looks very different from the usual. CJ Abrams and James Wood (who struck out four times in the first game to have 209 on the season) are on the bench, while Nasim Nuñez plays shortstop and hits leadoff (yes, leadoff!) and Dylan Crews gets bumped up to the No. 2 spot.

All seasons are judged on final records. The Nationals were hoping their 2025 season would finish with a better record than they had in each of the previous two seasons. But unfortunately, that goal of improving upon 71-91 has long been out of reach.

Given the state of the team, the next-best thing would be to avoid a 100-loss campaign, which would be the Nats’ second since losing 107 in 2022.

But with this 5-0 extra-inning loss to complete a doubleheader sweep at the hands of the Braves, the Nats still need to win one more game over their final 10 to ensure they will avoid that dreaded 100-loss season.

After the Nats spoiled a chance to walk it off in the bottom of the ninth inning of a scoreless game (they had the winning run 90 feet away with only one out, but then popped out and had a hard-hit Luis García Jr. line drive — 101.4 mph off the bat with a .580 expected batting average — caught at the wall by Ronald Acuña Jr.), Mason Thompson entered for the 10th and immediately surrendered the first run. Pinch-hitter Drake Baldwin drilled a low slider off the right field wall to easily score the automatic runner at second, giving the Braves a 1-0 lead.

But that wasn’t the worst of it, as Thompson proceeded to load the bases with a single and a walk and then give up a three-run triple to Matt Olson to turn this once 0-0 extra-inning game into a 4-0 Braves lead. An Ozzie Albies sac fly put the final nail in the coffin, sending the announced crowd of 19,216 home after a long, cold and wet day.

Life was oh so different the last time the Nationals swept a three-game series. Set the wayback machine to May 18 – if your memory banks go that far back – and recall when the Nats won three straight over the Orioles at Camden Yards. They would win their next two over the Braves, as well, for a season-best five-game winning streak that carried some legitimate optimism with it for a franchise attempting to prove it was ready to be a winner again.

The ballclub that put itself in position to sweep the Marlins this afternoon bears little resemblance to that one. The general manager and manager are long gone. A sixth consecutive losing season has already been clinched. Most of the veterans have been traded or released. The entire bullpen has been remade.

The 28 players who dressed for today’s game had no qualms about celebrating a 10-5 victory, one that completed a series sweep over Miami. It may have come before a season-low announced crowd of 11,190, but it was nevertheless meaningful for these young guys, especially the 25-year-old shortstop who enjoyed the greatest game of his life.

Nasim Nuñez, the former Rule 5 Draft pick acquired from the Marlins, launched both the first and second home runs of his major league career in his first major league appearance in three months. Starting in place of CJ Abrams at shortstop, he also delivered a run-scoring single, giving him four RBIs on the afternoon. (He entered the day with six RBIs in 74 career big league games.)

"I see the comments. I see the things people say: 'Can't hit,'" Nuñez said. "And even for myself, it's not about proving to everyone else. It's about proving myself right. I really proved myself right. I have to be the one to believe I can hit. When you go out there and see it, it gives you a little more belief."

When it came time to select a pitcher to promote as their September call-up, the Nationals knew they needed Andrew Alvarez, who will make his major league debut this afternoon as MacKenzie Gore’s replacement in the rotation.

When it came time to select a position player to fill the other slot on their expanded September roster, the Nats chose to go with someone who has been here several times before, in the hopes he can provide a much-needed spark to a team mired in an eight-game losing streak: Nasim Nuñez.

Nuñez was officially recalled from Triple-A Rochester this morning, the 25-year-old making his second big league stint of the season after spending all of the 2024 season here as a Rule 5 Draft pick.

The high-energy infielder may have a tough time cracking the lineup on a regular basis, but interim manager Miguel Cairo did say he’s “going to play some,” with shortstop CJ Abrams and second baseman Luis García Jr. getting occasional days off down the stretch.

“He’s exciting,” Cairo said. “A lot of energy. He was doing good at Triple-A. He was doing everything. He was hitting line drives, he was bunting. That’s the kind of player (we want). Energy. Good defense. He can change the game on the bases. I’m glad he’s here.”

NEW YORK – Before starting a three-game series against the Mets tonight, the Nationals answered a question that had been lingering since Sunday night: Who would fill the open roster spot?

After Sunday’s loss to the Rangers, the Nats optioned Nasim Nuñez to Triple-A Rochester, requiring a corresponding move when they arrived at Citi Field. The answer: Andrés Chaparro was officially recalled from Rochester in hopes he'll provide the Nats a much-needed right-handed boost.

“Very happy to be back in a major league clubhouse,” Chaparro said, via interpreter Mauricio Ortiz. “And it's also a lot of emotions because of what I went through last year with my baby. But again, happy to be back.”

What the 26-year-old and his family went through last year with his baby was an unbelievable tragedy. After his daughter, Gio Andrea, was born prematurely at the end of the season, she sadly passed away in late October.

That surely put his baseball life in the back seat. But Chaparro entered spring training with a good chance to make his first Opening Day roster, only to have that chance ripped away from him after a good camp when he injured an oblique muscle.

It had been 10 days since Amed Rosario, Nasim Nuñez and Alex Call last found themselves in the Nationals’ starting lineup. That’s an eternity for big leaguers who were on the active roster that entire time but were confined to the bench, keeping themselves ready in case the call came but never actually participating (aside from one token inning in the field for Nuñez at the end of a blowout win in Seattle).

So when the opportunity finally presented itself Wednesday night, with all three reserves finding themselves in Davey Martinez’s lineup against Cubs left-hander Matthew Boyd, it admittedly took a little while to get back into the swing of things.

Once they did, all three contributed in meaningful ways, making the Nats’ 2-0 victory possible.

“We’re mentally strong,” Nuñez said. “We understand the situation that we haven’t played in a while, so we do what we have to do to stay ready and help the team win some type of way.”

It began in the field with Call chasing down Seiya Suzuki’s fifth-inning blooper in shallow right, making a diving stab at the ball and immediately jogging off the field confident he had recorded the third out. The Cubs did challenge, believing Call trapped the ball in his glove after it touched grass, but there wasn’t enough conclusive evidence to overturn, so the initial call stood.

The narrative had already been well-established before tonight’s game. MacKenzie Gore had been pitching as well as anybody in the league but had only two wins to show for it because of a lack of run support from his Nationals teammates and a few bullpen mishaps along the way.

"I wish we could score more runs for him. I hope today’s the day when we score 8-10," manager Davey Martinez said this afternoon. "But he’s pitched in some really good games and kept us in the game. … I know he’s up there in strikeouts and he’s doing really well. A few more wins would be really awesome for him."

And then for six innings tonight, Gore’s teammates proceeded to supply him with zero runs of support, unable to produce even one baserunner against the Cubs’ Matthew Boyd.

Through it all, Gore just kept doing what he does best, escaping a rare jam, then finding his groove and posting zero after zero until his night was over at the seventh-inning stretch. At which point, Amed Rosario decided enough was enough.

With a solo homer into the right field bullpen on the first pitch of the bottom of the seventh, Rosario gave the Nationals the offense they desperately needed. And then Nasim Nuñez (who like Rosario was in the lineup for the first time in 10 days) supplied a huge insurance run to help lock up a 2-0 victory over Chicago.

You’re forgiven if you glanced at tonight’s lineup and didn’t recognize three of the names Davey Martinez penciled in for the second game of the Nationals’ series against the Cubs.

Alex Call? Amed Rosario? Nasim Nuñez? They sound vaguely familiar, but it feels like a while since any of them saw the field.

Indeed, none of those three players has been in the Nats lineup since May 25, the finale of their last homestand against the Giants, a full 10 days ago. Not so coincidentally, that’s the last time the team faced a left-handed opposing starter.

“Yeah, it is good to see some of these guys get a chance to play,” Martinez said with a laugh. “Our left-handed lineup has been doing really well. But these guys get an opportunity to go out there and face a lefty today, which is kind of nice.”

The Nationals had faced seven consecutive right-handed starters before tonight. And with only one exception (Riley Adams for Keibert Ruiz behind the plate Friday in Arizona), every member of the lineup in every one of those games batted left-handed.

So far in this series between the Nationals and Giants, one team scores and the other does not. That was the case in each of the first two games that the squads split via shutouts.

Surely, that meant they were destined for more offensive output in Sunday’s finale in front of an announced crowd of 31,581 at Nationals Park, right?

Early on, it seemed that way. But the Nats were unable to overcome an early deficit in an eventual 3-2 loss to the Giants, giving Washington its first series loss in the last three matchups.

After MacKenzie Gore and Jake Irvin pitched quality starts in the first two games of this three-game set, it was Michael Soroka’s turn to attempt to get deep in the game and give his team a chance at a win.

Soroka cruised through his first inning, throwing seven of eight pitches for strikes. But he labored over the next two frames to bring his pitch count to 60 after just three innings.

BALTIMORE – A ballgame that had already defied conventional wisdom in countless ways for eight innings of course came down to a most unconventional conclusion in the ninth.

On a night in which MacKenzie Gore was simultaneously hittable and unhittable, on a night in which neither team could score many runs despite one team more than tripling the other team’s hit total, on a night in which the Nationals found themselves forced to play Nasim Nuñez in center field, it was Nuñez who found a way to produce the decisive run in a 4-3 win over the Orioles with his legs.

With two outs in the ninth, Nuñez hustled down the line to beat out a chopper to first, and José Tena astutely raced around to score from second base while a bewildered Félix Bautista scrambled unsuccessfully to try to throw him out at the plate.

"It's about the hunger. It's about the passion," Nuñez said. "We're fighting every single pitch, every single inning. No matter who's on the mound, we're going to get him."

Nuñez, the 26th man on the roster who got the start at second base with Luis García Jr. just returning from paternity leave, somehow found himself playing the outfield for the first time as a professional when Davey Martinez had García pinch-hit for Jacob Young in the top of the seventh, leaving the Nats without any more natural outfielders.

CJ Abrams was all smiles, bouncing around the Nationals clubhouse this afternoon as he prepared to play his first big league game in nearly two weeks.

“It feels good to be back,” the 24-year-old shortstop said. “The boys have been battling, and I’m ready to get in there with them and win some games.”

Officially activated off the 10-day injured list this afternoon, Abrams returns after missing time with a right hip flexor strain, confident that ailment (which he briefly tried to play through before going on the IL) will no longer be a factor.

“No pain. Nothing at all,” he said. “Running, swinging, anything. Everything is 100 percent.”

Abrams played in two rehab games with Double-A Harrisburg, going 0-for-4 with two walks and a sacrifice fly. He played six innings at shortstop Tuesday night, then all nine innings there Wednesday afternoon, emerging from the stint feeling healthy and ready to return.

PITTSBURGH – The Nationals won Tuesday night’s game, 3-0, but it came at a cost. Paul DeJong fractured his nose when he was struck by a pitch in the face, and he’s now on the 10-day injured list, joining CJ Abrams, who was lost over the weekend to a hip pointer strain. The left side of the Nats infield suddenly is quite thin.

They’ll have to hope Nasim Nuñez (4-for-7) continues to play well at shortstop in Abrams’ absence, and they’ll have to hope the trio of Amed Rosario, José Tena and the just-recalled Trey Lipscomb can hold their own at third base with DeJong out for a while. Some more power from James Wood (five homers over his last eight games) wouldn’t hurt, either.

Mitchell Parker will look to pick up where Jake Irvin left off Tuesday night and shut down a Pirates lineup that looked good in Monday’s series opener but overall has been among the least productive units in the league. Parker was outstanding in his first two starts, less so in his last outing against the Marlins (though he technically does have three quality starts to his name so far this year).

WASHINGTON NATIONALS at PITTSBURGH PIRATES
Where: PNC Park, Pittsburgh
Gametime: 6:40 p.m. EDT
TV: MASN, MLB.tv
Radio: 106.7 FM, 87.7 FM (Spanish), MLB.com
Weather: Clear, 49 degrees, wind 14 mph out to center field

NATIONALS
RF Alex Call
LF James Wood
C Keibert Ruiz
1B Nathaniel Lowe
DH Josh Bell
3B Amed Rosario
CF Dylan Crews
2B Luis García Jr.
SS Nasim Nuñez

PITTSBURGH – Jake Irvin had done everything in his power to win this game for the Nationals and put an end to their three-game losing streak, precisely the kind of performance the situation called for.

Irvin authored seven scoreless innings on a frigid Tuesday night, and doing it on an economical 87 pitches. And now all he could do was watch from the visitors’ dugout at PNC Park like everyone else and hope his teammates could finish off the Pirates.

That’s been anything but a given for the Nats bullpen through the first 16 games of the season. But on this night, the two reliable back-end relievers did their job without breaking a sweat, Jose A. Ferrer and Kyle Finnegan teaming up to complete a 3-0 shutout and ensure Irvin's efforts were properly rewarded.

"We needed that today," manager Davey Martinez said. "He stepped up big-time."

Irvin was more than worthy of his first win of the year. Ferrer was more than worthy of his fourth hold of the year, throwing 14 of his 15 pitches for strikes. And Finnegan was more than worthy of his sixth save in as many attempts, finishing things off with a scoreless ninth to complete a 2-hour, 16-minute ballgame.

PITTSBURGH – Nasim Nuñez spent the entire 2024 season in the big leagues. Walking into the Nationals clubhouse this weekend shouldn’t have been a big deal for the 24-year-old infielder.

It is different this time around, though. Nuñez may have been a big leaguer all last season, but he was the 26th player on a 26-man roster, a Rule 5 Draft pick tasked with learning everything he could from the bench, rarely getting a chance to play.

This time, Nuñez could be here to play, summoned from Triple-A Rochester after starting shortstop CJ Abrams landed on the 10-day injured list.

“I told my dad I feel like I never left,” Nuñez said. “I’m very excited, but at the same time I’m very calm. I think the calmness came from last year. And the excitedness is coming from actually coming up here and living out my dream.”

Davey Martinez didn’t play Nuñez over the weekend in Miami, wanting to give him some time to adapt and get comfortable again. But he’s got him in the lineup tonight for the Nats’ series opener against the Pirates, including a matchup with ace Paul Skenes.

MIAMI – The Nationals’ fears from last night were realized this morning following CJ Abrams’ MRI on his right hip. The examination revealed the young shortstop has a right hip flexor strain, forcing him to the 10-day injured list.

“After last night, he got an MRI today and it showed a slight strain,” manager Davey Martinez announced to start his pregame media session. “Like I said before, I talked to him today about just, hey, let's get this thing to calm down and give you some time and get it right, so this doesn't become a bigger issue. So in a week and a half, hopefully he'll be ready to go.”

Abrams sat out the first two games against the Dodgers this week with what was originally labeled as right thigh tightness from the final play of Sunday’s win over the Diamondbacks, in which he charged in to field a grounder and threw off-balance to first base. The shortstop clarified the injury was actually in his right hip later in the week.

The 24-year-old was then removed from last night’s win over the Marlins in the fourth inning. He struck out and walked in his only two plate appearances, and stole second base after his free pass in the third. He had to stretch out his arm to stay on the bag, initially re-aggravating his hip injury. Abrams tried to play through it, but in the bottom frame, he fielded a grounder moving to his left and made an off-line throw to first in a similar manner to what he did on Sunday.

In his place, Paul DeJong slid over to play shortstop and Amed Rosario came off the bench to play third base and hit in the leadoff spot.

The Washington Nationals recalled infielder Nasim Nuñez from Triple-A Rochester and placed shortstop CJ Abrams on the 10-day Injured List with a right hip flexor strain on Saturday. Nationals President of Baseball Operations and General Manager Mike Rizzo made the announcement.

A Rule-5 pick in 2024, Nuñez, 24, spent all of last season on the Nationals active roster, playing in 51 games, the third-most by a Rule 5 selection in Nationals history (2005-pres). Following his first career hit on June 26, he finished the season by batting .294 (15-for-51) with a .419 on-base percentage (11 BB, 12 SO). In all,  Nuñez hit .246 with a double, an RBI, 12 walks, eight stolen bases and 14 runs scored last season.

Defensively, Nuñez had three outs above average in 2024 according to Baseball Savant. He averaged 91.6 mph on his throws, the third-hardest among MLB shortstops (min. 100 throws).

Nuñez joins the active roster for the first time this year after beginning the season in Triple-A. In 10 games for the Red Wings, he hit .192 with three RBI, five walks, five stolen bases and five runs scored in 10 games.

Abrams, 24, is hitting .244 (10-for-41) with two doubles, four home runs, seven RBI, three walks, four stolen bases and six runs scored.

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. – The Nationals have chosen Mitchell Parker as the final member of their Opening Day rotation, a decision that became official when they optioned both Shinnosuke Ogasawara and DJ Herz to Triple-A Rochester.

The Nats also optioned infielder Nasim Nuñez and catcher Drew Millas to Rochester, narrowing their list of remaining candidates for the last spot on the bench and the backup catcher to two apiece.

The competition for the fifth starter’s job was the most compelling one in camp from the day pitchers and catchers reported last month. Any one of the three left-handers could have claimed it, but ultimately it was clear Parker deserved it over the others.

Parker, who went 7-10 with a 4.29 ERA and 1.305 WHIP in 29 big league starts last season, had a solid-but-not-spectacular spring. Over 12 1/3 innings, he posted a 3.65 ERA and 1.216 WHIP, improving each step of the way.

Manager Davey Martinez hasn’t announced his rotation order to begin the year aside from naming MacKenzie Gore the Opening Day starter, but Parker has been lined up for a while to pitch the third game, the Nationals perhaps preferring to use a lefty against the Phillies lineup.

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. – It’s officially the home stretch of spring training.

The Nationals have three more days here in Florida, with an exhibition tonight against the Marlins, Saturday against the Mets and then split-squad games Sunday against the Astros and Cardinals. Then they fly north for Monday’s exhibition finale against the Orioles. And then it’s time for the real thing.

Over the course of the last 5 1/2 weeks, the Nats have taken care of plenty of business. But for the most part, any roster decisions they made were no-brainers. They haven’t really had to make a hard decision yet.

That changes this weekend, when Mike Rizzo and Davey Martinez have to settle on a 26-man Opening Day roster. They can’t put off these decisions any longer. It’s time to make the final calls on several position battles.

Here’s where those battles stand …