For the first time since 2021, the Washington Nationals are 1-0. Some of their top contributors in Thursday’s 10-4 victory over the Chicago Cubs included Jacob Young, Joey Wiemer and Brady House, which few would have expected. The team doused rookie manager Blake Butera with shaving cream and beer after his first career victory. CJ Abrams hit the ball hard and didn’t run it out, which the manager addressed. With a last-minute TV deal and Verizon customer service representatives leading fans astray — in some cases asking them to pay more than they had to in the past — a number of fans were unable to watch the game.
And as it all played out at Wrigley Field, I chatted with fans — providing in-game insights and responding to their thoughts and questions.
During the first game of every series this season, you can meet me in The Athletic’s discussion tab to chat during that day’s game. Inside, I’ll explain what I’m seeing on the field, sharing insights directly from players, coaches and evaluators around baseball. Maybe you have a question on a controversial decision, or maybe I have a note on a player thriving amidst trade rumors. If it’s interesting, I’ll write it.
Here is what fans asked during Thursday’s discussion, or what I heard and saw behind the scenes. Questions and answers have been lightly edited for brevity and clarity.
Should we be worried about James Wood after a lot of strikeouts towards the end of spring training and (four) strikeouts today? Have the coaches been asking him to make changes that aren’t working? — William D.
Personally, I’m not worried yet. The biggest thing with Wood — and I’ll get to reporting this soon — has to do with his lower half. He’s healthy and fresh, and despite poor results this spring, was hitting the ball hard. (Expected metrics were better than the actual ones). He told me that he feels much better than he did last year. That should lead to fewer strikeouts. Now, if this is a problem all week? If he continues to chase down and away, as he did against the Cubs? Best believe I will follow up.
CJ Abrams made an out on the bases on Opening Day, though he wasn’t the only one for the Nationals. (Geoff Stellfox/ MLB Photos via Getty Images)
Any sense from Spring Training how Butera plans to handle (defensive and baserunning issues) like this? (Realize it may differ by player). CJ Abrams is obviously still in the game (after not running a ball out), so doesn’t appear “You’re benched on the spot” in the move, at least not yet. (Joey Wiemer was also thrown out while trying to take an extra base). Curious if Butera spoke at all about his disciplinary philosophy this Spring. — Michael N.
Modern managers rarely, if ever, will bench a guy mid-game for something like this. Butera will probably handle it behind closed doors. His general philosophy is that you help players by teaching them, which tells me that further instruction is on the way. He’s also spent a ton of time hovering near Abrams this spring, which should tell you a) how important the shortstop is to Butera and the organization and b) that they believe Abrams has some details to iron out.
If this becomes a pattern, maybe you’ll see something extreme, but right now, I’d simply expect him to keep a close eye on it and maybe ask for extra early work. It is worth noting that Abrams hustled on the rollover in his next at-bat.
Blake Butera’s thoughts post-game: “Yeah, I think we made a couple of mistakes on the bases and the guys know that. I think when you get into a setting like this, it’s really hard to replicate this environment in spring training. So guys get pretty juiced up. Joey trying to take that extra base there — like, he made a mistake, but at the end of the day, I’m glad he made an aggressive mistake. And we’ll clean it up, and he came in right away and knew that he made that mistake, and we won’t make it again. And those were the things that we talked about. Every mistake that we made, every player recognized the mistake and owned up to it. And it’s just another opportunity for us to teach and continue to get better.”
Spencer, with the first inning as perspective, is Toboni’s philosophy walk/HR/strikeout OK, or are they open to putting more pressure on the defense by getting the ball in play? Seems like both Toronto and Seattle demonstrated last year that there’s a lot to a “ball in play” approach. — Nate B.
Washington’s offensive philosophy is more nuanced than “three true outcomes.” It is more so: Do what makes you great, and we’ll tweak some minor aspects without overhauling swings or approaches. Take House, for instance: He does an excellent job on pitches on the outer half of the plate. While pulling the ball is all the rage, that isn’t House’s swing. They want him to keep that approach of going the other way. The minor tweak, for him, is to get the ball in the air a bit more.
Ninth inning update: And what do you know: The Nationals spent all spring working with House on his pitch selection, having him swing primarily at pitches over the middle and outer half of the plate, using his power to the opposite field. In the ninth, he got a pitch up and over the middle, and cranked it over the ivy wall… To the opposite field.
Thoughts on Cade Cavalli, and getting pulled in the fourth? — Dellis
Quick hook for Cavalli, who definitely didn’t seem like he expected it. Some people would feel otherwise, but my perspective here: Cavalli’s velocity and command was fading. He’ll have other chances to bear down later in the year. I think you keep him fresh this year by pulling him at these junctures where the velocity starts to dip, even if it’s extra cautious.
That said, when he was cooking, he looked sharp. The contact against him was pretty weak. He pulled out a brand-new sweeper, which was so dirty that Pete Crow-Armstrong swung at a sweeper that hit his back foot. Not a ton of swing and miss, though. Something to monitor.
Post-game update: Butera said they indeed gave Cavalli a hook because his velocity was fading. He was sitting 97.6 mph with the heater in the first, but by the fourth that velo had dropped a couple ticks to 95.0 mph.
Spencer, do you think it’s going to be a straight platoon of (Luis) Garcia and (Andrés) Chaparro at first for lefty versus righty to start the season? — Yitz T.
Something close to it, though not exactly. I think if a lefty has a bad breaking ball, they’d be inclined to start Garcia there. Why? Well, he actually does pretty well against left-handed fastballs, cutters and changeups. If a pitcher doesn’t trust their breaking pitches (though there are fewer and fewer of those every day), I could see a situation where Garcia gets in there against a lefty.
What else fans were curious about
Opening Day vibes: This is the first Opening Day for 10 players on the roster, and they can feel it. House can’t stop smiling. Cavalli was into some deep reading pregame with his noise-cancelling headphones in. And Gus Varland (not his first Opening Day, but relevant regardless) said: “Chicago feels more human this time.” What he meant by that: He was a Rule 5 pick with the Brewers, straight from Double A. They opened in Chicago that year, when he was just trying to survive. Now, he feels like he has made it.
Bullpen construction: The Nationals should have Clayton Beeter and Cionel Pérez at the end of games for the most part, but — just like the lineup — there will be a ton of shifting around in the bullpen this year.
Adding to that, I talked to an MLB evaluator about a week ago who dropped a hot take for you all: He thinks Brad Lord will be the Nationals’ closer by the end of the year. Do I see it? I think it is unlikely for sure, but he’s unrattled in these moments. The question is whether or not the stuff ticks up (the off-speed pitches noticeably improved this spring).
