Miles Mikolas set a team record this week as the only pitcher in Nats history to give up 7 runs and get the win. I’m guessing that wasn’t on anyone’s bingo card for this summer.
However, that singular event pretty well encapsulates the first half of the 2026 season for the team. Offensive firepower is fueling the team and we win if pitching is good enough. For example, the game in which Mikolas set the record saw the bullpen cede 4 runs in the top of the 8th, bringing the score to 12-11, the winning tally for the Nats. Luckily, Beeter blanked the Astros in the top of the 9th to preserve the victory.
There’s also a positive story about Nats pitching. Foster Griffin. Such an excellent pick up for the team this year. He has notched 10 wins, which sets a record for the most wins for a rookie pitcher in the organization. And, there’s still half of the season to go. The Atlantic is suggesting that he is a great candidate for NL Rookie of the Year at this point. What a great achievement that would be for the 30-year old MLB rookie who spent three years pitching in Japan.
The offensive juggernaut that is the Washington Nationals continues to roll. The team remains first in all of MLB in runs with 508, 10 more than the Dodgers. The team is second to the Yankees in home runs. So, you can expect a lot of home runs this weekend as the Yankees visit DC.
James Wood has had an incredible first half of a season. I’ve often wondered why Butera wanted him in the top spot of the lineup. Maybe Butera predicted the success of that arrangement. Wood leads the MLB in runs scored at 85. The next closest player has only 65 runs. He leads the league in lead off homers with 8 — on track to possibly break the record of 15 in a season set by Kyle Schwarber.
CJ Abrams. He leads all shortstops in RBI and is second in slugging percentage and OPS. The Big Lead named him the #1 shortstop in MLB this week, noting that he is having a “monster season.” I’ve enjoyed recent stories about CJ that report on his leadership of the team. One story noted that, if the Nats were a basketball team, he would be the point guard. He also speaks Spanish, which allows him to help the coaching staff communicate with players.
And, have you seen what Luis Garcia Jr. has done lately? Stupendous play recently. So much so that no less that THE NEW YORK TIMES picked up Spencer Nusbaum’s story on his breakout season yesterday. As Spencer notes, Garcia “has a 1.157 OPS since May 24 (second best in MLB) and on Wednesday fielded ‘MVP’ chants, flicked his bat toward the dugout, hit his career-high-extending 20th home run and tapped his wrist to signal, in his words, ‘It’s my time.’”
Only two teams in MLB history have had a trio under age 27 with 20+ HR before the all-star break. The 2026 Nationals (James Wood, C.J. Abrams, Luis Garcia Jr.) and the 2026 White Sox (Colson Montgomery, Munetaka Murakami and Miguel Vargas).
As Mark Zuckerman noted, “10 MLB hitters currently have 20 HR and 60 RBI. Three of them play for the Washington Nationals: James Wood, CJ Abrams and Luis Garcia Jr.”
Wood and Abrams are heading to the all-star game. Abrams will be a starter, giving the Nationals their first starter since 2018. Garcia should be going also but his breakout has come only recently. And Griffin should be going.
I hate this time of the season because of the buy/sell question at the trade deadline. Fingers crossed that we are buyers this year. I hope management sees it the way I do — we have a core of exceptional young players that are starting to gel really well together. Wood, Abrams, and Garcia are the core to build this team around. None of them wants to be traded. This is magic; let’s not hex it.
If we get some better pitching and the team continues to work on individual development plans for each player, I see a highly competitive team for at least the next five years. Look at the improvement in Ruiz behind the plate. He’s much better at framing and at defense this year. And the batting is coming along well too. I see a product of the new team philosophy: Identify what makes a player special, and hammer the heck out of it.
Let’s be the hammering envy of sports.
#thenatslady #theswarm
Leave a Reply