It feels hard to believe after a long offseason that saw more change within the organization than perhaps any other in club history, but we are now 10 days away from the Nationals’ regular season kicking off at Wrigley Field against the Chicago Cubs. The team is beginning final preparations as well, with starting pitchers going deeper into their outings and hitters taking 3 to 4 at-bats per game, rather than 1 to 2.
We know who will be taking the mound for the Nats in 10 days against the Cubbies,
that being the 27-year-old Cade Cavalli in just his 12th ever big league start, but what will the team taking the field behind him look like? While certain positions are set in stone, such as CJ Abrams at shortstop and Brady House at third base, there are still lots of questions to be answered about how Blake Butera will arrange his club, but defensively and offensively, come Opening Day.
Before we can arrange the ideal Nats Opening Day lineup, there is the question of a few positional battles. At catcher, it seems likely Keibert Ruiz will win the starting job, almost entirely because of the Nationals being financially tied to him until 2030 and wanting to see if they can unlock something in him.
Starting Ruiz also allows them to keep Ford in the minors long enough to secure another year of service time, which, while frustrating for fans and Ford himself, is ultimately probably worth it in a season where wins will be hard to come by.
At first base, with the growing usage of Luis Garcia Jr. at the position this spring, it seems as if he will be the one starting there on Opening Day, opening up a spot at second base for Nasim Nunez. Abimelec Ortiz was a popular option at first among fans, but it seems as if the Nationals front office will slow-play it with him as well, a wise choice as he’s had a rough spring, posting a .430 OPS in 12 games. The Nationals’ infield was one of the worst defensively in all of baseball in 2025, and swapping in a great defender in Nasim Nunez over a poor one in Luis Garcia Jr. should go a long way in improving that in 2026.
One of the more difficult questions to answer is how the Nats outfield will be aligned defensively come Opening Day. All 4 of James Wood, Daylen Lile, Dylan Crews, and Jacob Young seem likely to be in the lineup, but only 3 can be in the outfield at once, with the 4th player being the DH. Young and Crews are too good defensively (and too bad offensively) to be the team’s primary DH, so the question becomes who would you rather DH more often: James Wood or Daylen Lile?
Both were poor fielders in 2025, with Wood putting up -7 OAA in left field and Lile putting up -8 OAA in right field in even fewer games, but if the decision were mine, I’d lean toward DH’ing Wood for a couple of reasons. First, Lile was never regarded as a poor fielder in the minors, being graded as below average at worst, usually, and is a strong athlete, making me believe he could have a bounce-back season defensively in 2026. He has also been getting reps in left field this spring, a position he played more often than right field in the minors.
The third reason I would DH Wood is that his dip in offensive performance last season also coincided with a dip in defensive success, as through the first few months of the 2025 season, he was actually one of the better defenders in left field.
Wood is a mammoth of a man, and playing 120+ games in the field can take a toll on the body, leading me to believe fatigue, combined with other factors such as pitchers adjusting and mental roadblocks, led to Wood’s brutal second half in 2025. Ideally, Lile takes roughly 75% of the reps in left field in 2026, with Wood taking the other 25% and DH’ing the rest of the time.
My Ideal Nationals Opening Day Lineup
- Daylen Lile LF
- James Wood DH
- CJ Abrams SS
- Luis Garcia Jr. 1B
- Brady House 3B
- Dylan Crews RF
- Keibert Ruiz C
- Nasim Nunez 2B
- Jacob Young CF
The Nationals have a couple of different options to lead off, but I believe the offense will run best through Daylen Lile in the leadoff spot. He is one of their top 2 hitters at getting on base, along with James Wood, and allows Wood to be in a position to hit with a runner on base more often, resulting in fewer solo home runs and more 2-3 run shots for him. Abrams and Wood are somewhat interchangeable at 2 and 3 for me, but I like getting my star as many at-bats as possible. If Abrams demonstrates more patience and walk-taking ability this season, though, it becomes a different story.
You will likely notice one flaw in this lineup, and it is the 4 consecutive lefties at the top of the lineup, and the Nats are facing the left-handed Matthew Boyd on Opening Day. While not ideal, the fact of the matter is this: The Nationals have no righties worth hitting top 4 in this lineup. Brady House has had a fun spring training, but he’s going to have to prove it in regular-season action before he’s hitting in the top half of the lineup.
Fans hoped Dylan Crews would have established himself in the heart of the order role by now, but he has struggled in his time in the big leagues so far. The rest of the lineup, Ruiz, Nunez, and Young, are either defensive players or there because the last person in charge decided to give them a ton of money. Instead of pigeonholing one of those righties somewhere in the lineup they shouldn’t be, I’d rather take my chances with the 4 best hitters on the club, even if they all bat from the same side.
Overall, I expect Blake Butera to make at least one decision on the Opening Day lineup card, which makes us go “wow”. Whether it’s a defensive alignment we wouldn’t have expected or a player hitting somewhere in the lineup we’re not used to, I believe we’re going to see how different this new staff’s brand of Nationals baseball will be from day one.
