The Washington Nationals enter a Wrigley Field rubber match on Sunday afternoon, looking to win their opening series for the first time since 2018. In the first one-day turnaround of Blake Butera’s MLB managing career, it will be interesting to see what choices he makes throughout the course of the day in trying to get the Curly W.

Miles Mikolas’ Nationals debut did not go the way fans hoped on Saturday afternoon. Despite a quick 1-2-3 first inning, the veteran worked his way into trouble in the second, and the Cubs never looked back. While the costly two-out error from Nasim Nuñez did make things worse for the righty, he still allowed four earned runs over five innings, and the two unearned runs luckily did not alter the outcome. The shortstop also more than made up for the error with an incredible play later in the game to help out Ken Waldichuk, who struggled in his Nationals debut. All that said, it was a day of learning experiences on the defensive side for Washington in game two.

At the plate, the Nationals struggled at first against Cade Horton, going nine-up, nine-down to open the day. James Wood did tag the Rookie of the Year runner-up for a solo shot, which got the bats going. The team showed that they were able to string things together in the fifth, but things looked dire by that point. What was most important, though, was that even when the game got out of reach, the fire never left the dugout.

On Deck…

After today’s game, the Washington Nationals will travel to Philadelphia to face the Phillies for a three game set. On Monday, the Nationals will send Foster Griffin to the mound to face off against Taijuan Walker and Rob Thomson’s lineup at 6:40 PM.

In the hole…

For Tuesday’s matchup, whichever of the two aforementioned starters does not go tomorrow will pitch the second game of the series. We also know that Andrew Painter will make his major league debut against Washington from the fifth spot of the Philadelphia rotation.

Despite starting his season 0-6 with five strikeouts, James Wood found his spark yesterday with a laser in the fourth inning. It was just the seventh home run that Washington hit since their World Series win with a launch angle between 10 and 18 degrees, and only one the Nats have recorded in the Statcast era to go opposite-field.

Wood struggled in Spring Training and to open the season, so special hits like this may be able to help him stay on the right track mentally. In a sport where not a lot goes your way, small personal wins like this one can go a long way during a frustrating time. With a new coaching staff in place, it will be interesting to see what adjustments they have the towering lefty make along the way.

Outfielder Daylen Lile closed out his impressive rookie campaign in 2025 by earning both National League Player of the Month and Rookie of the Month honors for September. During that stretch, he led the NL in OPS (1.212), slugging percentage (.772), batting average (.391), and triples (7).

Over the full season, Lile topped all MLB rookies with 11 triples, tying Denard Span’s franchise record for most triples in a single season (2005–present). He nearly broke the mark on September 20 in New York (NL), but instead turned the opportunity into an 11th-inning, go-ahead inside-the-park home run.

Among qualified NL rookies, Lile ranked first in batting average (.299), slugging percentage (.498), and OPS (.845). He also finished third in on-base percentage (.347), sixth in hits (96) and extra-base hits (35), and seventh in runs scored (51).

Lile’s breakout year was more than just an impressive rookie showing it represented a step forward for the Nationals’ long-term rebuild. His all-around offensive impact and highlight-reel moments gave fans a glimpse of a potential cornerstone player to build around. For a team focused on developing homegrown stars, Lile’s rise reaffirmed the promise of Washington’s youth movement and hinted at a brighter future taking shape in D.C.

This season, MLB is introducing the Automated Balls & Strikes (ABS) challenge system. Teams will get two challenges to lose per game on home-plate umpire calls, and they keep the right to continue if they overturn a pitch’s decision. The battery, along with the hitter all are permitted to head-tap and ask for a review, but there can be no dugout input. The Nats’ catchers, in particular, know the strike zone incredibly well (which was evident on Thursday with Keibert Ruiz’s challenge and on Saturday with Drew Millas’), so it will be important for Washington to save challenges for their battery.

Why it matters:

The Nationals challenged 63 pitches in Spring Training, the 13th most in MLB. Of those attempts, 34 were while fielding. Their 64.7% win rate of those head-taps ranked 6th best in the league, although they lost 18 of 29 in the batters’ box. Through two games this weekend, Washington has challenged four pitches, just two of those being from behind the plate.

Entering Sunday’s play, the Nationals are one of just seven teams to have a perfect ABS success rate while fielding. At the plate, they are 1-2, with a CJ Abrams win and Luis García Jr. loss in the top of the ninth on Thursday while the team had two challenges remaining.

Jake Irvin had a standout 2025 season for the Washington Nationals, tying for second in Major League Baseball with 33 starts and ranking ninth in the National League with 180.0 innings pitched. He matched a career high with 8.0 shutout innings against San Francisco on May 24, helping complete a game in just 1 hour and 52 minutes which was tied for the third-fastest in Nationals history since 2005. Irvin has now pitched in two of the top six fastest games in franchise history.

He also tossed 7.1 innings on April 25 against the New York Mets, allowing one earned run on five hits with four strikeouts and one walk, while working 7.0 innings or more in four starts overall (going 3-0 in those outings).

In games where he completed 6.0 innings, Irvin went 6-5 across 16 starts with a 4.32 ERA. The Nationals secured 15 wins in his starts, the most for any starter on the team.

His 2025 pitch mix included a four-seam fastball (32.2%), curveball (29.6%), sinker (21.9%), changeup (7.7%), slider (4.4%), and cutter (4.1%).

The tall right-hander from the University of Oklahoma has developed into a reliable member of Washington’s starting rotation and a clubhouse leader. Since the start of the 2024 season, he ranks second in MLB with 66 starts (behind only Logan Webb's 67) and eighth with 367.2 innings pitched.

Jake Irvin's 2025 performance matters because it cements him as a durable workhorse and emerging ace for the Washington Nationals, addressing a critical need for reliable starting pitching in a rotation often plagued by injuries and inconsistency.

Irvin's league-leading endurance tied for second in MLB starts (33) and top-10 innings (180.0) powered 15 Nationals wins, the most from any starter, directly boosting a team chasing playoff relevance. His ability to grind deep into games (7.0+ IP in four starts, 3-0 record) preserved a thin bullpen and shortened opponents' rallies, as seen in his career-best shutout gem vs. San Francisco that sparked a historically quick 1:52 victory.

Over two seasons, his MLB No. 2 ranking in starts (66) and top-8 innings (367.2) since 2024 signals franchise stability amid rebuild uncertainty, positioning him as a clubhouse anchor and trade asset if needed. For Nats fans, it offers hope: a homegrown righty from Oklahoma thriving with a diverse pitch mix (heavy curveball reliance at 29.6%) could anchor contention pushes in 2026 and beyond, turning "potential" into proven value.

Craig Counsell’s Chicago Cubs had an incredibly successful 2025 season, despite their relatively early exit in October. Losing Kyle Tucker to the Dodgers was a big blow, but they did just extend their two-most valuable hitters in Pete Crow-Armstrong and Nico Hoerner to massive six-year extensions, respectively. Winning 92 games (96 including the postseason) was no joke for a young team making their first Postseason appearance since 2020, and they entered this season looking to build on that by any means necessary.

Against the Nationals, Chicago is 70-65 since 2005, and they also beat Washington in five games during the 2017 NLDS. The teams evenly split their season series last year at three games each, but Washington has not won the annual battle since 2023. This year’s season series is currently tied at one game each.

Shota Imanaga, entering his third MLB season, is looking to build off of his dominance from the past two years. The left-hander, who finished fifth in Cy Young voting in 2024, has a 3.28 career ERA in 54 outings. Against the Nationals, he is 2-0 with a 2.08 in 13 total innings. He only faced Washington in 2024, but the players that gave him fits are certainly ones he’ll see today. Andrés Chaparro, Nasim Nuñez, and James Wood are all hitting .333 or better against the 32 year-old, so it will be interesting to see how Blake Butera plays the matchups today.

Day: 1-1 | Night: 0-0 | Home Record: 1-1 | Road Record: 0-0

Current Streak: W1 | Last Five: 1-1 | Last Ten: 1-1 | Current Month: 1-1

A.L. Teams: 0-0 | N.L. Teams: 1-1 | N.L. East: 1-1