Nats, Phillies Tie, 5-5
It took a pair of RBI groundouts in the 7th and a two-run double in the 8th for the Nats to rally from a 5-1 deficit and salvage a 5-5 tie against the Phillies.
D.C. native Matt Mervis connected for the aforementioned double The 39th Rd. pick in 2016 for Washington (did not sign) also walked and scored a run.
Jake Irvin made the start and worked around a hit and a pair of walks over two scoreless innings. He threw 43 pitches, 24 for strikes.
Abimelec Ortiz (1B), Orelvis Martinez (2B), Yoyo Morales (DH), and Christian “Hey It’s” Franklin were in the starting lineup for the Nationals. They combined to go 1-for-8 with three strikeouts. Martinez had the lone hit among the quartet.
Errors made all five Philadelphia runs unearned, with Brad Lord, Kevin Made, and Trey Lipscomb charged with throwing errors and Mervis with a missed catch.
Here’s how the watchlist players did coming off the bench or out of the ‘pen:
- Andrew Pinckney replaced Dylan Crews in CF and went 0-for-3 with a strikeout.
- Phillip Glasser subbed for Joey Wiemar in RF and was 0-for-2 with a whiff.
- Sam Petersen followed Franklin in LF and went 0-for-2 with a K.
- Davian Garcia put up two goose eggs while allowng a hit and striking out three.
Washington remains in West Palm Beach tomnight as the Nats host the Cards. Cade Cavalli is expected to make his first appearance of the spring.
So, the Nats have a huge hole at 1b, and also at DH. They also have what looks like a dozen outfielders who can hit at least some and who aren’t that great with the glove. James Wood is the obvious example, but he may fix that. Lile is even more so. Franklin sure looks like he’s at least a major leaguer.
I know first base is more than just getting a big mitt, but corner outfielders move there all the time. Given that the Lerners are never going to pay for talent again, why are we worried about the “future market value” of James Wood in LF? Just stick him at 1b. He’s so tall he could almost reach 2nd, which would make double plays easier. In all seriousness, would he haul in bad throws from all the mediocre fielders? Probably.
Seriously take the 5 best hitting outfielders the Nats have. Put the 3 best gloves of those 5 in the outfield, 1 at DH, 1 at 1b, and give it a shot.
Another option, while we’re on the topic: Ruiz is a bad-catching catcher who is, sometimes, a good hitter. He’s also one foul ball away from ending his career entirely. If you want to get anything at all for your $8M, just put him at 1b and let him sink or swim there. Having him on the DL for 3 years making money will just scare the Lerners even more, and they’ll end up hiring Rachel Phelps as a scouting director.
I still hold out hope that Wood can be a good (or adequate) RF. I have little hope for him in LF. He was somehow worse in 2025 than in 2024, and didn’t improve at all with the season. He finished as the 15th worst OF according to OAA, the gold standard for defensive metrics, in large part because his routes are some of the worst in the game. It seems he doesn’t read the ball well and understand it’s trajectory. Whereas in the minors, scouts raved about his defense, which came mostly in RF and CF. I hope that he can be salvaged at RF. Otherwise, his future is 1B. That’s not a huge problem, in large part because Crews and Young are both very, very good defensively.
Lile is the same story as Wood. For some inexplicable reason, he played almost exclusively in RF, despite almost never playing there in the minors. He was supposed to be a good defensive LF, and I’d hope that swapping corners with Wood could kill two birds with one stone. Or we just trot out Young in CF every time either of them start, and let Young cover for their deficiencies. Or maybe this is the plan for Wiemer? Play him, Young and Crews, and have, by far, the best OF defense in baseball, while stashing Wood at 1B and Lile at DH? Not exactly a bad plan…
Unfortunately, the days of Keibert as a good hitter are a long, long time ago. The last time he was league average with the bat was 5 years ago in his short 2021 cameo. Since then, he has been consistently below average, and consistently worse each successive season.
While he still carries a rep from his struggles as a rookie, James Wood was much improved defensivly in 2025. He was 3rd among NL LFs in range factor, 4th in LF assists and 6th in runs saved as a LF. Will he doesn’t look fast, he covers a lot of ground with his long strides. Ian Happ is the defensive gold standard for LF’s, but Wood is in the top half of MLB players at the position.