Well, the first series has come and gone, and now it’s time to assess. I went to the home opener with my dad on March 27. It’s like Christmas morning, the sights, the sounds, the cherry blossom traffic DEAR GOD PEOPLE, THESE ARE COMMON TREES! WE HAVE THEM IN THE PARKING LOTS OF STRIP MALLS…bring it down, Will. We’ve been working on this. Parking was fun…in a bad way that is no fun. The closest parking we could get that wasn’t $60 and 6 blocks away was next to a construction site 7 blocks away. Inside the stadium, however, it was still the same bastion of DC baseball fandom that I’ve always loved. The crowd is loud, the franks are Hebrew, and the beers need payment plans, and God love it. Now, for what we really came here to talk about, our boys in red, white and blue.

New Keibert, Who Dis?

One of the most stark differences from last year to now was the first man to recieve an extension in this new generation of Nationals baseball, our catcher Keibert Ruiz. I knew something was different when he made a great throw to catch Schwarber stealing in the 2nd. Another thing that I noticed, and every other fan is noticing, is Ruiz has become a bit of a stud at the plate. He went 3 for 5 in the home opener, and hit 5 for 10 in the series. He was also the first Nat of the year to hit a homerun. Did our guy just turn clutch? I’ve always trusted Rizzo on his trades and signings, and this will make me start trusting his extensions if Keibert can keep this kind of production. If Josiah comes back strong, the Scherzer and Turner trade will begin to look much better than in years prior. Of the bats I thought would go off this series, I was not expecting this one. My apologies, Keibert, I was not aware of your game.

Pitch, Please!

Sorry, that was a really bad joke to start the section, but we’re shooting from the hip today, baby. Now, I know you guys were watching that opening game. And I know you guys saw what I saw: Mackenzie Gore was absolutely nails on the mound (for the layman out there, nails is good). He set a new Nationals Opening Day record for strikeouts at 13, beating the previous record of 12 set by Max Scherzer. And not a single walk in 6 innings. The man we have been grooming to be our future ace may have crossed the threshhold, friends. And lets look at how the next two guys, both drafted by Rizzo, did. Jake Irvin gave up 2 runs and 2 walks over 5 innings. A fine start to begin his year and a solid performance. Mitchell Parker being a workhorse and working out of jams for 6.1 innings and giving up no runs. The young guys looked miles ahead of last year and gave us fans so much hope. Hope that would be dashed by our next subject.

The Bullpen…That’s The Joke

We need to talk about the thing. The thing Nationals fans wish didn’t need to be talked about but constantly needs to be talked abo…ok, I’ll stop delaying, we need to talk about the bullpen. We have never been able to put together a solid bullpen. Hell, we had two reliable relievers in the world series in Sean Doolittle and Daniel Hudson (honorable mention to Tanner Rainey). Since 2021, it was understandable that we would have a ‘pen made up of young guys, waiver pick ups and rule 5 drafts, but with this new year in the District and veteran arms being signed, there was hope of a bit of a turn around. Lucas Sims, Colin Poche, both with major league experience with decent teams. What we got was what we always get, a feeling of dread when the starter doesn’t come out of the dugout at the start of the inning. The starting pitchers pitch count starts to feel like a countdown to disaster. Bullpens are not easy to construct, but how are we consistently so bad at it. It should be mentioned that Jorge Lopez looked good in his one inning of work on Sunday, and Kyle Finnegan got his first save of the year that same day, so here’s hoping they can be our next Doo and Huddy.

I know we ended on a bit of a downer, but I am so excited for this season. While Crews still needs to get his first hit, Bell finally got HIS first hit of the year on Sunday with a 3-run homerun (I missed him so much). Nathaniel “New Guy” Lowe had two homeruns in the series. Paul DeJong, despite getting a golden sombrero (four strikeouts) in the opener, but went 3 for 3 on Sunday and left the series with a .333 average. CJ Abrams looks great defensively, Luis Garcia is back to being clutch. There is so much to look forward to, and the season, much like this team, is still young. Here’s to another step in the right direction.