Nationals Notebook: Young core shows resilience in strong start

The Washington Nationals might be off to their best start since 2021, but unlike that club which was less than two years removed from winning the World Series, this team is loaded with youth. Sunday鈥檚 batting order had an average age of under 25.

Confidence can be fickle over a 162-game season, one that can include losing streaks to last-place teams and meltdowns of epic proportions. The Nats have dealt with both this month. Just as they bounced back from being swept at home by Miami, manager Blake Butera鈥檚 team rebounded from blowing an eight-run lead in San Francisco on Wednesday by taking two of three from American League West-leading Seattle.

鈥淚 think really good teams do a great job of learning but then also flushing before the next game. And these guys continue to do it. I mean, they鈥檙e relentless. They play their tails off every single day. Just watch the way these guys are running around the field,鈥� Butera said.

Butera said the season will bring ups and downs.

鈥淭here鈥檚 no way a team鈥檚 only going to play well over 162 games,” Butera said. “But really good teams, in my opinion, are able to shut down those tough skids that you鈥檙e going to go through, and kind of flip that switch and get into that positive territory and move forward again.鈥�

Digesting the division: Atlanta (46-25) lost two of three to the last-place New York Mets but still owns an eight-game lead over Philadelphia (38-33), which has won seven of 11 and holds the second wild-card spot. Washington (37-35) is seven games better than it was at this point last year, one game better than Miami (36-36). The Marlins have been boosted by the scorching start of shortstop Otto Lopez, who leads the majors with a .343 batting average. That鈥檚 pretty impressive for a player who hit .246 last year. The New York Mets (32-39) won their series against the Braves thanks to big weekends from Juan Soto (6 for 10 with a homer and three RBIs) and Bo Bichette (6 for 12 with two homers and six RBIs).

O鈥檚 woes: Baltimore鈥檚 5-2 loss to San Diego dropped the Orioles to five games under .500 at 34-39. Trevor Rogers鈥� regression 鈥� he is 3-7 with a 5.86 ERA after going 9-3 with a 1.81 ERA in 2025 鈥� is one of many issues for a pitching staff that allows the second-highest batting average in the majors. And its next six games are against division leaders Seattle and the Los Angeles Dodgers.

Diamond King: James Wood batted .440 with nine runs scored while tallying three homers and six RBIs. He reached 20 homers before the All-Star break, just as he did last year, and even though he is still striking out quite a bit 鈥� his 98 strikeouts are tied for the third most in MLB 鈥� one feels he will be better guarded against a second-half slump.

Last week鈥檚 heroes: Daylen Lile hit .364 with seven RBIs, while Luis Garcia Jr. tallied two homers and six RBIs. Miles Mikolas struck out five over 11 2/3 innings while recording a win Sunday in his best outing of the season, while Brad Lord tossed 4 2/3 scoreless frames over two outings.

Last week鈥檚 humbled: Zack Littell鈥檚 winning streak ended as he allowed five runs over 1 2/3 innings in a loss. Paxton Schultz surrendered six runs over three frames while Mitchell Parker went 0-2 in save opportunities. Dylan Crews hit .182, while Curtis Mead batted .118 and Drew Millas went 0 for 7 at the plate.

Game to watch: Wednesday, the Nats play Kansas City, and the Royals send out longtime nemesis Michael Wacha, who nearly no-hit Washington as a rookie with St. Louis in 2013. The 34-year-old is just 5-2 with a 3.04 ERA against the Nats in his career, so he is not in Freddie Freeman territory, but he has a history against this team.

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