MILWAUKEE – The official definition of a tactician is, “A person who uses a carefully planned strategy to achieve a specific end.” That’s the term Nationals manager Blake Butera has used to describe southpaw Foster Griffin multiple times since Spring Training. With a deep pitch mix, Griffin has been playing

MILWAUKEE -- The Brewers have used small ball to coax many a team into beating themselves in recent seasons, but the Nationals flipped the script. With a trio of bunts in a decisive ninth inning, the Nats began a stretch of 17 games in 17 days by beating the Brewers

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WASHINGTON -- On Sunday morning, manager Blake Butera checked in with James Wood before the series finale against the Dodgers. The slugger had hit .111 in his first eight games of the season, and he had been 1-for-9 in the first two games in spite of some hard-hit balls. “I

WASHINGTON – CJ Abrams has been feeling loose before games lately. A result of that relaxed vibe has been homering again … and again … and again.

WASHINGTON -- Miles Mikolas was hyped up. The ceremonial pregame flyover for the Nationals' home opener on Friday afternoon got his adrenaline pumping as he prepared to face the back-to-back World Series-defending-champion Dodgers. Mikolas stepped onto the mound for his first game as a member of the Nats, and he

WASHINGTON -- Wearing a jacket with “A League of Their Own” proudly scrawled across it, 99-year-old Maybelle Blair beamed from behind her iconic sunglasses. “Going to any ballpark just makes me happy,” Blair said with a huge smile. “I would love to just live here.”

PHILADELPHIA -- The Nationals were one strike away from winning their first two series of a season for the first time since 2012. Instead, they finished their road trip with a disappointing loss at Citizens Bank Park that muted what seemed to be an impending celebration. “They're pretty upset right

PHILADELPHIA – The Nationals had not used an opener in years. The Rays, on the other hand, popularized the strategy. Nationals manager Blake Butera brought his experience from his previous organization to the Nats on Tuesday against the Phillies.

PHILADELPHIA – Nationals outfielder Joey Wiemer has done what only one player has done in the last 106 years.

PHILADELPHIA -- Foster Griffin sat calmly in the Nationals clubhouse three hours before first pitch. He looked like he was preparing for the game just like any other player in the room: locked in and focused, but not like someone who was about to appear in his first Major League

CHICAGO -- One way to get acclimated to a new team is to set a franchise record in the first series of the season. After years of grinding to establish himself on a Major League roster, that’s how outfielder Joey Wiemer has begun his tenure with the Nationals. “It means

This story was excerpted from Jessica Camerato’s Nationals Beat newsletter. To read the full newsletter, click here. And subscribe to get it regularly in your inbox.

CHICAGO -- The young Nationals heard the crowd was going to be loud at Wrigley. Then they had trouble hearing one another. In the second inning of the Nats’ 10-2 loss to the Cubs on Saturday afternoon, shortstop Nasim Nuñez and left fielder Daylen Lile collided chasing a fly ball

CHICAGO -- From the first day of Spring Training, the Nationals emphasized accountability as a core belief this season. As it turns out, the first game of the season presented an opportunity for that. “On Thursday, [CJ Abrams] crushed that ball to right field and gets thrown out at second

CHICAGO -- Cade Cavalli estimates he has watched "Rookie of the Year," the 1993 baseball classic, “hundreds of times.” It was a childhood favorite for Cavalli and his brother, a film that embedded early sights and scenes of Wrigley Field into his memory. Cavalli wrote his own narrative at the

CHICAGO -- Manager Blake Butera tried to swiftly dash into his office after delivering his postgame address to the team, but there was no way his energized players were going to let him slip away without a proper celebration. “I got crushed,” Butera said with a smile.

After returning to the October stage last fall following a four-year hiatus from the playoffs, the Cubs are hungry for more this year. Chicago is aiming for a National League Central crown and hopes to follow that with a run to the World Series. That journey begins on Opening Day

CHICAGO -- The Nationals, in their first season with a revamped front office and coaching staff, set their 2026 Opening Day roster. Moving forward throughout the season, expect that group to frequently have a different look. "Things have been changing every day," manager Blake Butera said prior to the Nationals'

This story was excerpted from Jessica Camerato’s Nationals Beat newsletter. To read the full newsletter, click here. And subscribe to get it regularly in your inbox.

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. -- The sound of tires rolling across the cement walking paths and onto the dirt of the warning tracks became a familiar noise throughout the Nationals’ complex this Spring Training. With the Nats’ new coaching staff operating an action-packed, condensed training schedule each day, they implemented

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. -- In a surprising roster move with camp winding down, the Nationals optioned outfielder Dylan Crews to Triple-A Rochester on Friday. Crews, the No. 2 overall pick in the 2023 Draft, has slashed .103/.206/.103 with a .309 OPS in his first 12 Grapefruit League games.

MESA, Ariz. – The Cubs enter this season with World Series aspirations after their October run ended in the National League Division Series vs the Brewers last season. The Nationals head into a new era with manager Blake Butera taking the reins for a ballclub trying to build toward the

JUPITER, Fla. -- This time last year, Gavin Fien was a senior in high school sitting in the stands watching his older brother, Dylan, play for the A’s in their Spring Breakout game. On Thursday, he was on the field setting the record for most RBIs in that very showcase.

JUPITER, Fla. -- There was a breeze at Roger Dean Chevrolet Stadium on Thursday, but it was generated by the speed of 18-year-old Miguel Sime Jr.’s 100.8 mph fastball that blew the helmet off No. 5 overall prospect JJ Wetherholt. In the Nationals' 9-8 loss to the Cardinals in their