The Nationals played reasonably well for the first couple of months of 2025 and at the end of May stood only two games under .500 at 28-30.
Since then they are 28-53, MLB’s worst record since June 1. And it was worse before they completed a sweep of the Marlins this week.
They traded a whole bunch of people at the deadline, including sending Michael Soroka to the Cubs.
For more on the Nationals, here’s Sam Sallick, manager of our SB Nation Nationals site Federal Baseball.
This has been a very difficult
season for the Washington Nationals. At the start of the year, people expected this to be a step forward season. Nobody was thinking about the playoffs, but folks expected progress and maybe a .500 record if some things broke the right way.
However, that has not happened and this has turned into one of the more frustrating Nationals seasons I can remember. To be blunt, they look like a 56-83 ball club. There are some good individuals on the team, but there are not enough of them.
James Wood was sensational in the first half, but it has been a real struggle for him since the Home Run Derby. The strikeouts have really piled up. He showed signs of life in the Marlins series but it has been tough sledding lately.
That Marlins series was fun, so the Cubs are catching a hot Nats team. They secured only their second sweep of the season. The pitching and defense was unusually good in that series. Can they keep that up? Probably not, but if they can you will be seeing a feisty bunch.
This year has been a real bummer, though. There is a reason the GM and manager got fired. The team is just not very good. You will be seeing Jake Irvin, Brad Lord and Andrew Alvarez start the three games in this series.
Irvin has had a really tough year after showing some really nice flashes in 2024. His ERA is well over 5 and he just does not look like the same guy. Lord was one of the Nats few pitching bright spots but has really gotten lit up his last couple starts. Alvarez was excellent in his MLB debut, but was not a very highly touted guy.
The bullpen has been the worst in baseball this year but has actually been quite good lately. Overall, this is just not a very good team and one the Cubs should be beating.
Fun facts
Today is exactly three months since the Cubs last played the Nationals in Washington. They went three months and one day between games vs. the Rockies, and three months and 19 days between games vs. the Giants. They will have gone four months and 12 days between games vs. the Mets when they meet at Wrigley Field on Sept. 23.
The Cubs were 248-271 against the Montreal Expos in 1969-2004. Since the franchise moved to Washington, the Cubs are 68-62 overall and 33-29 at home. After losing all three games at Wrigley Field in 2019, the Cubs have won four straight series there vs. the Nationals, two by two games to one and two by three games to one, including last year.
(Courtesy BCB’s JohnW53)
Probable pitching matchups
Friday: Javier Assad, RHP (1-1, 4.05 ERA, 1.350 WHIP, 4.64 FIP) vs. Jake Irvin, RHP (8-10, 5.42 ERA, 1.413 WHIP, 5.55 FIP)
Saturday: Matthew Boyd, LHP (12-7, 2.94 ERA, 1.067 WHIP, 3.39 FIP) vs. Brad Lord, RHP (4-8, 4.34 ERA, 1.322 WHIP, 3.97 FIP)
Sunday: TBD vs. Andrew Alvarez, LHP (1-0, 0.00 ERA, 0.600 WHIP, 2.73 FIP)
Sunday would be Colin Rea’s turn in the rotation, but at this time the Cubs don’t have anyone listed as a starter for the series finale.
Times & TV channels
Friday: 1:20 p.m. CT, Apple TV+ (how to watch)
Saturday: 1:20 p.m. CT, Marquee Sports Network
Sunday: 1:20 p.m. CT, Marquee Sports Network
Prediction
The Nats are 8-16 on the road since July 1, a .333 percentage, losing two of every three.
Thus I feel confident in saying the Cubs will take two of three here. (And fingers crossed for a sweep.)
Up next
The Cubs just hosted the Braves at Wrigley Field earlier this week, and they will see them again in Atlanta in a three-game series beginning Monday evening.
