Can the underdog Nationals shock the reigning champs? A potent offense clashes with a struggling Dodgers lineup in this highly anticipated home opener series.
The Washington Nationals will open their home season this afternoon against the reigning World Series champion Los Angeles Dodgers.
In a true David and Goliath matchup, the Nats look to upset the current leader of the NL West in a three game weekend series. Washington is currently part of a three-way tie for third place in the NL East after winning two of three in Chicago and one of three in Philadelphia to begin the season.
Probable starters for Friday’s matinee are Washington’s Miles Mikolas and Los Angeles’ Emmet Sheehan. The veteran Mikolas was a new addition to the Nats 2026 squad, and threw for his first outing in red, white, and blue on March 28 against the Cubs. He went for five innings, giving up six hits and four earned runs in Washington’s lone loss of the series. From the opposite dugout, Sheehan will get his second start of the season, hoping to bounce back after allowing four runs in 3 ⅓ innings against Arizona last week.
Jake Irvin and Tyler Glasnow will take the ball for both sides on Saturday, followed by Foster Griffin and Roki Sasaki on Sunday. Griffin is another new addition to this Nationals roster, and will be one of the more interesting storylines to keep up with this season. He struck out five in his opening debut against the Phillies in his first MLB outing since 2022, after playing in Japan for the past three seasons.
Offensively, things have been going pretty well for the Nats so far this season. Washington is currently tied for second highest team batting average in the MLB, hitting .281 across their first six games. Joey Wiemer still leads the Washington lineup hitting .588, with hot young guns Daylen Lile and Brady House not far behind.
The Dodgers will always be a dangerous lineup to square off against. But their bats have fallen surprisingly quiet in their last few games. Los Angeles dropped two of three games in their previous series against the Cleveland Guardians. In their most recent outing, Cleveland held them scoreless until the final inning on Wednesday, shutting down the reigning champs with 12 strikeouts. Reliable sluggers like Shohei Ohtani and Mookie Betts have been pretty silent so far in 2026. The Dodgers were held to just seven runs across the entire three-game series.
Long story short, this weekend features a fiery underdog who might stand a real chance against a powerful squad eager to bounce back on the road.