Nationals Officially Announce Their 2026 Opening Day Roster

Starting Pitchers (5)

-Cade Cavalli
-Foster Griffin
-Jake Irvin
-Zack Littell
-Miles Mikolas

Right now, the plan is to keep a traditional five-man rotation during the early going of the season. Cade Cavalli will get honor of being the Opening Day starter on March 26, then how the rest of things shake out behind him isn't clear at the time of writing.

Brad Lord seemed like he would be part of this rotation based on comments made by president of baseball operations Paul Toboni earlier this winter. But following a strong showing by Jake Irvin throughout spring training, it seems like Lord will be moved into the bullpen with Irvin taking over one of the five rotation spots.

Foster Griffin, Zack Littell and Miles Mikolas are the newcomers. They should provide this unit with a boost based on their veteran presence alone. But how they perform will be the most interesting thing to monitor, as Griffin returns to the MLB after a stint overseas, Littell tries to keep up his strong showing as a starter after coverting from being a reliever and Mikolas attempts to prove he can be a back-end rotation guy at this stage of his career.

Relievers (8)

-Clayton Beeter
-Andre Granillo
-Cole Henry
-Brad Lord
-Cionel Perez
-PJ Poulin
-Gus Varland
-Ken Waldichuk

Washington revamped their bullpen this offseason. Clayton Beeter will likely get the majority of closing opportunities after Jose A. Ferrer was shipped out of town this winter. But it also seems like that could be an approach by committee. Cole Henry, PJ Poulin and Lord join Beeter as holdovers from last year, and they all looked solid during the spring.

Andre Granillo was a savvy trade pick-up in mid-February when the Nationals shipped out recently-DFA'd George Soriano for the right-hander. And with Granillo making the Opening Day roster, that's a good sign he could be a key piece of this bullpen if he performs well and stays healthy.

Cionel Perez was a minor league signing who has a huge ceiling if he can get his game back on track. He could be one of the team's best additions of the offseason if he returns to form. Both Gus Varland and Ken Waldichuk were claimed off waivers, and they could be major factors this year.

Catchers (2)

-Drew Millas
-Keibert Ruiz

This duo was known after Harry Ford was optioned to Triple-A Rochester and Riley Adams was reassigned to minor league camp during spring training. With the writing on the wall that Keibert Ruiz was going to be given another opportunity to start with Drew Millas as his backup, this isn't a surprise.

But how long these two remain up with the big league club will be interesting to see. Ford will be knocking on the door, and while Washington has a plan in place for him to develop more in the minors, it'll be hard to keep him down on the farm if both Ruiz and Millas are struggling.

Infielders (7)

-CJ Abrams
-Andres Chaparro
-Luis Garcia Jr..
-Brady House
-Nasim Nunez
-Jose Tena
-Jorbit Vivas

This is easily the most surprising development when it comes to the Nationals' Opening Day roster. Following the trade acquisition of Jorbit Vivas, Washington is now set to carry three backup infielders with him, Nasim Nunez and Jose Tena making the roster. While Nunez is expected to play more often than the other two, this was an interesting wrinkle that presented itself late in the spring.

As for the rest of the infield, it's pretty straightforward. CJ Abrams and Brady House will be the starters on the left side, while Luis Garcia Jr. and Andres Chaparro will rotate between first base. Garcia and Nunez will also split time at second base, which will give the lineup different looks.

Outfielders (4)

-Daylen Lile
-Joey Weimer
-James Wood
-Jacob Young

When Dylan Crews and Robert Hassell III were optioned to Triple-A Rochester, this outfield quartet seemed more and more likely. Then, when Christian Franklin also was sent down to the minors, it was clear that this was the direction the Nationals were going to take to start the season.

Defensively, there will be a lot riding on Jacob Young with James Wood and Daylen Lile flanking him in the corners. Both Wood and Lile discussed wanting to improve their defense heading into this year, but how quickly that takes place isn't clear.