To me, the outfield glut seems fairly obvious. Turn one (or two) of them into first basemen. Whichever hits better than they field. Start with Lile or Wood.
Cionel Perez was electric! His breaking stuff in particular was very sharp. He was easily the best pitcher in live BP today
Josiah Gray looked good. He kept the ball down, had good command, and only gave up a hard hit to Wood
Mikolas was absolutely nuked. I don’t believe he missed a bat.
With the way he sets up his hands (down hear his belt), I have no idea how Joey Wiemer ever makes contact. And looking at his MLB stats, I guess he doesn’t
Abi Ortiz continues to really, really impress me. He’s pretty easily been the most impressive non-starting bat. I think we are headed to a platoon at 1B, with one of Ortiz or Garcia platooning with Chapparo
Lots of fielding work and fundamentals. House looks great at third.
Miguel Sime Jr isnt as tall as Susana or Sykora, but for an 18 year old the kid is absolutely yoked. He looks like he should be playing linebacker at Alabama
Wood and Abrams have been locked in all week, and today Crews joined them. Ready for the game tomorrow.
Wiemer would give nice right handed batting if he is able to hit consistently; I want to see Ortiz as our regular 1B but with how left handed the lineup already is I think it likely they play matchups between him and Chaparro
If the Whiz Kids coaching staff are true to their word about a clean slate, then Crews needs to take that step forward in ST as it would not take much offensive improvement from JY to make Dylan the odd man out. If, that is, they really make decisions based on demonstrated performance and not expected potential.
Agreed. JY spent the winter at Driveline, improving his swing, and RHIII spent the winter hulking out. If Dylan's going to be That Guy, better sooner than later.
If Crews becomes the hitter we hope he will be it’s hard to believe Young would start 100 games at center. He might be a defensive replacement but not a starter.
A surplus of good players is a nice problem to have. I think this season is seeing who is really here long-term, and who might be traded (not necessarily any time soon) as part of a package for a position of need. I am very interested to see how the new leadership approaches this dilemma.
Yeah the outfield glut is a good problem to have, but makes some headaches for the FO and Coaches. 1B could be an option or even 2B if Garcia struggles defensively like he did last year. The problem is that all these guys have been outfielders from the beginning. They will need to have either an offseason training for it or a year in the minors. Also, just because you are an adequate/below average defensive outfielder doesn’t mean you’ll automatically be a quality 1B. Yes bad defense at First is easier to deal with than bad defense in the outfield but it’s still bad defense that hurts your team.
Mark, TON of cufusion about how folks in the DC Maryland Va and Delaware areas will be able to watch the Nationals this year, including ST games. We have Comcast Xfinity in Rehoboth Beach. Is the ONLY way to see the Nats to subscribe to NationalsTV for $98 OR will other Cable channels cover Nats games for free? It is totally unclear. We got all games last year on MASN but that ship sailed. Appreciate a column on this issue. Not clear at all. Thanks. Bobby Mills Rehoboth Beach DE
You have to subscribe to Nationals.tv. Unless it's a nationally televised game, Nationals.tv is the way the Nats get their revenue. Contact your cable company to find out which channel, but like any premium channel, you will need to subscribe.
Yes, they will definitely be carried on some cable systems per the Q&A on the Nats web site. The rub is nothing has been announced yet so we don't know details.
Nationals.tv is a great option but I'm already paying for premium Comcast (in MoCo) and am keeping it.
I'm in Millsboro and use DirectTV streaming (dropped my crappy Mediacom cable but still use them for internet). I am holding off on the Nationals.TV for the time being, but I have a feeling that's the direction I will end up having to go. Hopefully we will get a bit more clarity on this situation in the next few weeks before the regular season starts.
I continue to think first base will be Wood’s eventual position. But probably later in his career and after an entire off-season (or two) learning the position and seeing if he’s any good at scooping low throws and fielding hot grounders. Not as easy of a transition that Gold Glove third baseman Ryan Zimmerman made it look.
I may be in the minority, but I like Hassell in CF. Gives you great defense (not as good maybe as Young, but not far off) and much more upside at the plate. I think he’s a .275-280 hitter with 15-20 HR potential if he gets 550 PAs.
From Butera’s comments, the outfielder glut will likely rotate through DH (maybe even 1B?). That way, 4 out of 5 OF can play every day with one bench replacement and Butera can mix and match lineups and field assignments based on the opponent. Wood, Lile, Crews, Hassell, Young … with more knocking on the door.
I hate to say it, but this almost always solves itself. Between injury or performance, Butera will most likely be scrambling to put 3 guys out there at any given time that are helping the Nats win. (Hope springs eternal, sorry)
To me, the outfield glut seems fairly obvious. Turn one (or two) of them into first basemen. Whichever hits better than they field. Start with Lile or Wood.
I have had exactly the same thought. I see 5 spots for those guys.
"First base: It's not that hard! Tell him, Wash!"
But Wash said "It's incredibly hard". :)
To me, the outfield glut seems fairly obvious. Get them all playing time and when you're ready to trade for quality pitching, sell high.
My thoughts from the day:
Cionel Perez was electric! His breaking stuff in particular was very sharp. He was easily the best pitcher in live BP today
Josiah Gray looked good. He kept the ball down, had good command, and only gave up a hard hit to Wood
Mikolas was absolutely nuked. I don’t believe he missed a bat.
With the way he sets up his hands (down hear his belt), I have no idea how Joey Wiemer ever makes contact. And looking at his MLB stats, I guess he doesn’t
Abi Ortiz continues to really, really impress me. He’s pretty easily been the most impressive non-starting bat. I think we are headed to a platoon at 1B, with one of Ortiz or Garcia platooning with Chapparo
Lots of fielding work and fundamentals. House looks great at third.
Miguel Sime Jr isnt as tall as Susana or Sykora, but for an 18 year old the kid is absolutely yoked. He looks like he should be playing linebacker at Alabama
Wood and Abrams have been locked in all week, and today Crews joined them. Ready for the game tomorrow.
Wiemer would give nice right handed batting if he is able to hit consistently; I want to see Ortiz as our regular 1B but with how left handed the lineup already is I think it likely they play matchups between him and Chaparro
Christian Franklin, anyone?
I really like him (and prefer him to Wiemer easily). They need another righty OF and I think he can carve out a role.
If the Whiz Kids coaching staff are true to their word about a clean slate, then Crews needs to take that step forward in ST as it would not take much offensive improvement from JY to make Dylan the odd man out. If, that is, they really make decisions based on demonstrated performance and not expected potential.
Agreed. JY spent the winter at Driveline, improving his swing, and RHIII spent the winter hulking out. If Dylan's going to be That Guy, better sooner than later.
If Crews becomes the hitter we hope he will be it’s hard to believe Young would start 100 games at center. He might be a defensive replacement but not a starter.
Mile Mikolas should be able to provide 150+ innings for us this year. The question is whether or not we'll want him to reach 150+ innings.
Yeah, not sure about the prospects there.
A surplus of good players is a nice problem to have. I think this season is seeing who is really here long-term, and who might be traded (not necessarily any time soon) as part of a package for a position of need. I am very interested to see how the new leadership approaches this dilemma.
GO NATS!!! ⚾️⚾️⚾️⚾️⚾️⚾️⚾️⚾️⚾️
Yeah the outfield glut is a good problem to have, but makes some headaches for the FO and Coaches. 1B could be an option or even 2B if Garcia struggles defensively like he did last year. The problem is that all these guys have been outfielders from the beginning. They will need to have either an offseason training for it or a year in the minors. Also, just because you are an adequate/below average defensive outfielder doesn’t mean you’ll automatically be a quality 1B. Yes bad defense at First is easier to deal with than bad defense in the outfield but it’s still bad defense that hurts your team.
I see comments for Lile or Wood to become potential first basemen. My two cents comment, I never see either becoming first basemen:⚾️🤷🏼♀️🙋🏼♀️
Mark, TON of cufusion about how folks in the DC Maryland Va and Delaware areas will be able to watch the Nationals this year, including ST games. We have Comcast Xfinity in Rehoboth Beach. Is the ONLY way to see the Nats to subscribe to NationalsTV for $98 OR will other Cable channels cover Nats games for free? It is totally unclear. We got all games last year on MASN but that ship sailed. Appreciate a column on this issue. Not clear at all. Thanks. Bobby Mills Rehoboth Beach DE
You have to subscribe to Nationals.tv. Unless it's a nationally televised game, Nationals.tv is the way the Nats get their revenue. Contact your cable company to find out which channel, but like any premium channel, you will need to subscribe.
Yes, they will definitely be carried on some cable systems per the Q&A on the Nats web site. The rub is nothing has been announced yet so we don't know details.
Nationals.tv is a great option but I'm already paying for premium Comcast (in MoCo) and am keeping it.
Stay tuned!
Talk Nats has a source that said part of the holdup is that they're still working on getting a carriage agreement in the outlying areas of the market.
There's also this
https://tvanswerman.com/2026/02/20/why-directv-verizon-comcast-may-not-add-nationals-tv-until-late-march/
Excellent. Actually makes sense from a business standpoint.
Yep - got mine this week. $99/season is a bargain, that's about $0.61/game. Plus, I can overlay Charlie and Dave's audio over the mlb.tv video. 👍🏻
You know, I like Dan Kolko, I do. But I do not plan to listen to him and Franny when we have Charlie and Dave.
I'm in Millsboro and use DirectTV streaming (dropped my crappy Mediacom cable but still use them for internet). I am holding off on the Nationals.TV for the time being, but I have a feeling that's the direction I will end up having to go. Hopefully we will get a bit more clarity on this situation in the next few weeks before the regular season starts.
haha great to see another Delmarva based Nats fan, I’m in Ocean City. It’s so rare to find it’s all O’s and Phillies down here it’s a crime!
Same with football, everyone is either an Iggles or a Ravens fan. Let's go Nats and Commanders.
Why not try Wood at 1st base during spring training? 6'7" left handed makes perfect sense at 1b
I continue to think first base will be Wood’s eventual position. But probably later in his career and after an entire off-season (or two) learning the position and seeing if he’s any good at scooping low throws and fielding hot grounders. Not as easy of a transition that Gold Glove third baseman Ryan Zimmerman made it look.
I may be in the minority, but I like Hassell in CF. Gives you great defense (not as good maybe as Young, but not far off) and much more upside at the plate. I think he’s a .275-280 hitter with 15-20 HR potential if he gets 550 PAs.
From Butera’s comments, the outfielder glut will likely rotate through DH (maybe even 1B?). That way, 4 out of 5 OF can play every day with one bench replacement and Butera can mix and match lineups and field assignments based on the opponent. Wood, Lile, Crews, Hassell, Young … with more knocking on the door.
I hate to say it, but this almost always solves itself. Between injury or performance, Butera will most likely be scrambling to put 3 guys out there at any given time that are helping the Nats win. (Hope springs eternal, sorry)