The Washington Nationals started their season off on the right foot with a statement 10-4 win over the Cubs. While the bats were quiet during Spring Training, they came to play in the season opener. However, the production came from some unexpected characters. It was also Blake Butera’s first career managerial win.
In the first inning, the Nats offense looked a lot like it did in Spring Training. Matthew Boyd fired off a 1-2-3
inning with two strikeouts in just 8 pitches. While Andres Chaparro just missed a homer, it was still an inauspicious start. A leadoff double by Michael Busch made Nats fans nervous, but Cade Cavalli worked out of that jam with a pair of strikeouts.
The Nats got the scoring started in the second, with a new face making his presence felt. Strong wind was not enough to hold Joey Wiemer in the ball park. He absolutely crushed a Matthew Boyd changeup into the left field seats. The Nats were on the board, and they did it in a big way.
Wiemer had his finger prints all over this game. He was 3/3 with a walk and was all over the field. The 27 year old made some nice plays in the outfield and was aggressive on the bases. While he did get thrown out once, it was one of those plays where you like the aggression. The Cubs had to do everything right to get Wiemer out.
Who knows if this will last, but I like what I saw from Wiemer today. He is an energetic presence on the field and can really handle left handed pitching. Wiemer only has a .638 career OPS, but that number rises to .779 against left handers. His athleticism, defense and ability to hit lefties could give Wiemer a role in the Nats outfield.
Another Nats outfielder delivered some power for the Nats, but it was not James Wood. The usually light hitting Jacob Young showed some juice with a two run home run that capped off a six run fourth inning. That was not the only well struck ball we saw from JY today either. If Young can make more noise offensively, he could be a real piece for the future of this team.
Honestly, most of the offense did well. CJ Abrams had a big hit, even though he should have run out of the box. Andres Chaparro also had two knocks and Brady House continued his Spring Training form with two hits, including a homer late in the game. The only player who did not look comfortable at the plate was James Wood, who was 0/5 with four strikeouts. We are going to have to monitor Wood, as his struggles from the second half and Spring Training bled into today.
The Nats new regime has shown they are willing to make big calls. Wood has much more history of big league and upper minors success than Dylan Crews, but he does not look right at the moment. Hopefully he can get it going before too long.
On the mound, the Cubs put pressure on the Nats, but could not come through for the most part. Cade Cavalli only made it 3.2 innings, but dealt with some bad luck and bad defense. I thought his stuff looked crisp, particularly in the first couple innings. As Cavalli’s pitch count climbed and he threw more high stress pitches, the sharpness faded. However, he limited the damage for the most part.
In that fourth inning, Blake Butera made a big call by taking Cavalli out when he did. I probably would have let Cavalli face the right handed Matt Shaw and pulled him if he could not get Shaw out. However, Butera had seen enough and went to PJ Poulin. The decision worked, as Poulin got out of the jam.
Butera’s bullpen usage was good today, though there were some risks he took. He let Brad Lord work his way out of trouble on a couple of occasions. Butera let Lord go 2.1 innings despite the Cubs putting consistent pressure on him. He also trusted Clayton Beeter to work his way out of a jam. Overall, I was impressed by his work and the bullpen doing its job.
The bullpen only allowed one run in 5.1 innings against a solid Cubs lineup. Out of all the relievers, I only really thought Cionel Perez had his best stuff. However, the boys battled and managed to get the Opening Day win.
It is only one game, but it is great to start this new era with a Curly W. There will be bumps along the road this season but I loved the fight they showed today. All I want from this team is to be a consistently tough team to beat. That is what they did today. Cheers to a new era of Nats baseball.
