In case you missed it while watching the Washington Commanders beat the New York Giants on Sunday, the Nationals pulled off a shocking comeback yesterday afternoon to take the series from the Cubs, coming back from down 3-1 in the 9th inning to win the game 6-3. Robert Hassell III made it a 1-run game with a frozen rope home run to left center, landing in the basket above the ivy. Then, after a single by CJ Abrams and a walk by James Wood, Josh Bell pinch hit for Riley Adams and proceeded to hit a go-ahead
3-run bomb, which, similar to Hassell, landed in the basket in left center. The Nats bats were not done either, as Daylen Lile did what Daylen Lile does, tripling to right field, and a Brady House sac fly brought him home to make it a 6-3 ballgame, which would be the final score after Jose Ferrer closed out the bottom half of the 9th.
With 20 games remaining in the 2025 regular season for the Nationals, they will need to go 13-7 if they hope to tie their record of 71-91 from 2023 and 2024. While if you said before the season that the Nats would win 71 games again, it would’ve been rather disappointing, but with the way this season has gone for the club, just getting back to 71 wins feels like a victory. Their schedule to close out the year is as easy as it has been all year, as the only club they play with a record above .500 the rest of the way is a 3-game set with the Mets.
The Nationals will begin their quest back to 71 wins (or better) with a 4-game set in Miami against the Marlins, a team having a season Nats fans hoped to be having, while the Nationals have the season many expected the Marlins to have. Sitting at 66-77, the Marlins have been very reminiscent of Nats teams of the last few years, being rather weak on paper, but showing lots of fight and winning many ballgames that nobody would expect them to. They currently sit in 3rd place in the NL East, well out of playoff contention, but with a 2-game lead over the Braves in the divisional standings.
Team Stats
Team OPS: .706 (10th in NL, 20th in MLB)
Team OPS Leader: Kyle Stowers (.912)
Team HR Leader: Kyle Stowers (25)
Team ERA: 4.72 (13th in NL, 26th in MLB)
Team ERA Leader: Sandy Alcantara (5.67)
The Fish have been without their best hitter, Kyle Stowers, since mid-August when he strained his oblique, but rookie outfielder Jakob Marsee, acquired in a 2024 deadline trade that sent Tanner Scott to the Padres, has picked up right where Stowers left off, posting a 154 wRC+ in his first 36 big league games. He only posted a 126 wRC+ at Triple-A this season, so don’t expect the MVP-level numbers to last, but he looks like a bright spot in a Marlins lineup that is young and hungry. Other key contributors in the lineup for the Marlins are middle infielders Xavier Edwards and Otto Lopez, and a couple of rookies already putting up league-average or better offense in Liam Hicks, Heriberto Hernandez, and Maximo Acosta.
The pitching has been much shakier for the Marlins than the offense in 2025, as the only pitcher who has made enough starts to be qualified is Sandy Alcantara, who has put up a 5.67 ERA in 28 starts this season. They currently have 5 big league starters on the IL, with Edward Cabrera, Ryan Weathers, and Max Meyer being the biggest losses. Their bullpen is a solid unit with names such as Calvin Faucher and Ronny Henriquez, but it often doesn’t matter when the starter has already thrown the game before they can pitch.
Game One – Monday 6:40 PM EST
WSH: RHP Cade Cavalli (2-1) – 29.2 IP, 4.85 ERA, 1.48 WHIP
MIA: RHP Janson Junk (6-2) – 88 IP, 4.09 ERA, 1.13 WHIP
Game Two – Tuesday 6:40 PM EST
WSH: LHP Mitchell Parker (7-15) – 145.2 IP, 5.87 ERA, 1.48 WHIP
MIA: TBD
Game Three – Wednesday 6:40 PM EST
WSH: RHP Jake Irvin (8-11) – 157.2 IP, 5.71 ERA, 1.44 WHIP
MIA: TBD
Game Four – Thursday 6:40 PM EST
WSH: RHP Brad Lord (5-8) – 109.1 IP, 4.20 ERA, 1.31 WHIP
MIA: TBD
The Nationals will throw their whole rotation outside of Andrew Alvarez this series, with Cade Cavalli getting the ball tonight in game one. As is the case when your entire rotation is hurt, the Marlins only have a starter announced for tonight, with the final 3 games’ starters still being up in the air. Fangraphs projects Eury Perez, who the Nationals roughed up for 7 runs in his last start, to get the ball for game 2, with game three going to Ryan Weathers, who would be making his first big league start since June 7th, and game four going to the former Cy Young winner Sandy Alcantara.
It’s been a long and difficult year for the Washington Nationals, but they have an opportunity, riding on momentum from a big series win and against a weak schedule, to end the season on a high note and give fans something to be hopeful about entering 2026. To do that, they’re going to need to play competitive baseball against some other middling but scrappy teams, beginning with a series against the Miami Marlins.
