Game 2: Nats at Cubs

The Nationals hope to pick up where they left off Opening Day, with Miles Mikolas hoping for better results than he's had in the past at Wrigley Field

CHICAGO – And we’re back. After a day of rest and reflection following a rousing Opening Day victory, the Nationals return to Wrigley Field for the second game of the series and the season, hoping to pick up right where they left off.

It’s a completely different matchup than the one we saw Thursday. Miles Mikolas bears little resemblance to Cade Cavalli, aside from the fact both are right-handed and have a mustache. Cavalli is a classic power pitcher who had never taken the mound at Wrigley before. Mikolas is a classic “pitch-to contact” guy who will making his 13th career start at the Friendly Confines. And his recent performances here have not been good.

In eight starts over the last four seasons, Mikolas is 2-4 with a 6.38 ERA and 1.559 WHIP. And in one of those starts (July 4, 2025) he gave up an MLB-record six home runs in the first three innings. (He still wound up completing six innings, by the way.) So this is a bit of a house of horrors for the 37-year-old, and it won’t help that the wind today is the exact opposite from Thursday, blowing out to left field instead of in.

As promised, Blake Butera has submitted a very different lineup for Game 2, which makes sense because the Nats will be facing a right-hander in Cade Horton this time. The reigning NL Rookie of the Year runner-up beat the Nationals in his lone head-to-head matchup with them last June, allowing three runs (one earned) over 5 1/3 innings.

The most notable absence from the lineup is CJ Abrams, which has nothing to do with baseball but rather an unfortunate personal development: Abrams had a death in the family and will be away from the team today. He’s expected back Sunday, so there’s no formal roster move and the Nats will be playing with only 25 guys for this game.

Hopefully everyone is able to watch today’s game without the troubles so many experienced on Opening Day. Club president of business operations Jason Sinnarajah issued a letter to fans Friday evening explaining some of the issues, if you want to check that out. In the meantime, I’ll again provide some commentary in the comments section during the game, so please join the gang there.

WASHINGTON NATIONALS at CHICAGO CUBS
Where: Wrigley Field
Gametime: 2:20 p.m. EDT
TV: Nationals TV (channel listings)
Radio: 106.7 FM
Weather: Sunny, 42 degrees, wind 10 mph out to left

NATIONALS
RF James Wood
C Drew Millas
1B Luis García Jr.
LF Daylen Lile
3B Brady House
2B Jorbit Vivas
SS Nasim Nuñez
DH José Tena
CF Jacob Young

RHP Miles Mikolas

CUBS
1B Michael Busch
3B Alex Bregman
LF Ian Happ
CF Pete Crow-Armstrong
2B Nico Hoerner
SS Dansby Swanson
DH Moises Ballesteros
RF Matt Shaw
C Miguel Amaya

LHP Cade Horton

PREGAME NOTES

ABRAMS APOLOGIZES TO BUTERA FOR LACK OF HUSTLE
When CJ Abrams stood and watched what he assumed was going to be a home run but instead was knocked down by the wind during the fourth inning Thursday, there was obvious reason to wonder how Butera would handle the situation.

After Abrams was thrown out trying to stretch his single into a double and returned to the dugout, Butera started to approach him for a discussion. But before the manager could say anything, Abrams took the initiative and apologized for his lack of hustle.

“I think anytime a player like CJ is able to recognize their own mistake … to come in on his own and say: ‘My mistake, that won’t happen,’ it just goes a long way to make us feel good about the culture we’re creating here, where players are holding each other accountable,” Butera said. “And he’s holding himself accountable, to the fact that none us even had to go up to CJ. He came up to us on his own and felt horrible about it and said it won’t happen again.”

MILLAS TO SPLIT CATCHING JOB WITH RUIZ FOR NOW
Drew Millas not only is getting the start behind the plate today, he’s batting near the top of the lineup for the first time in his career.

The No. 2 catcher has started only 42 big-league games, and he’s typically hit seventh or eighth, never higher than sixth. Today, Butera has him batting second behind James Wood, citing both Millas’ performance this spring and the specific matchup with Cubs starter Cade Horton.

“A little bit of both,” the manager said. “And then also constructing a lineup to where we put ourselves in a position later in the game to be able to still match up well and not have a bunch of lefties in a row, so they can easily bring in their left-handed relievers. So Milly being a switch-hitter and also a pretty good matchup against Horton just allows us a little more flexibility.”

Look for Millas to get a considerable amount of playing time to begin the season, with a possible 50-50 split with Keibert Ruiz for now.

“I think it’ll be pretty close to an even split, at least to start off,” Butera said. “Let those guys play themselves in or out of playing time and then take it from there. But early on, we want to keep both those guys fresh and rotate them in and out pretty frequently.”