James Wood set the tone for this game when he absolutely launched a lead off home run into the Progressive Field crowd. From there, the Nats put it on the Guardians, and did not let up. The Nats launched six home runs in this contest, absolutely lighting up Guardians starter Tanner Bibee.
This weekend in Atlanta, the Nats offense was mostly neutralized. Maybe it was due to the Braves elite pitching staff, or the presence of Darnell Coles in the opposing dugout. Whatever the reason, the Nats were still able to take 2 out of 3 from the Braves without having their A game, which is the offense.
Tonight the Nats had that A game early and often. Tanner Bibee was just not fooling any of these Nats hitters. It really felt like Bibee was tipping his pitches based on some of the swings these Nats hitters were taking. They seemed to know what was coming, and then absolutely hammered the pitches they did get.
One of the subplots of this series was the Aussie battle between Curtis Mead and Travis Bazzana. As the former first overall pick, Bazzana is the bigger name, but tonight belonged to Mead. Two batters after Wood, Mead hit a two run blast right into the hands of a Guardians fan wearing an Australia t-shirt. In the 5th inning, Mead launched another one. This was his first career multi-homer game.
The pickup of Curtis Mead has been such a great addition by Paul Toboni. Mead now has an .844 OPS and is hammering righties and lefties. When Brady House got sent down, most thought third base would be a platoon between Jorbit Vivas and Mead. However, Mead has gotten the majority of the starts, even playing against a righty tonight. He is running with that opportunity, and it seems like he is living up to his prospect pedigree at 25 years of age.
While the Nats were blasting home runs, the pitching staff was also doing a nice job. Outside of a solo homer, PJ Poulin was solid in his two innings as the opener. However, Zack Littell was the real star of the show. He threw the last 7 innings of the game, only allowing one run and striking out 7. The veteran righty did a great job saving the bullpen and shutting down the Guardians.
In May, Littell has been who the Nats thought they were getting. Littell has posted a 2.19 ERA in 24.2 innings this month. After giving up 11 home runs in April, Littell has surrendered just two long balls this month. He seems like he has settled into the season after signing late in the offseason.
The power show the Nats put on in the early innings was absolutely outrageous though. They hit 5 home runs in the first 13 at bats of the game. James Wood, Curtis Mead, Jacob Young, Luis Garcia Jr., and CJ Abrams all went deep. It was truly a magical thing to watch.
So many guys in this lineup are taking a massive leap. Abrams and Wood were already good, but now they are elite. Jacob Young has tapped into power nobody thought he had. Curtis Mead looks like the guy who was a top 50 prospect all those years ago and even Keibert Ruiz has been excellent with the bat.
Some of this is young players taking natural steps in their development, but you have to give so much credit to Matt Borgschulte, Andrew Aydt, and this hitting staff. We are almost in June, and this team has the most runs in all of baseball. They made Tanner Bibee, a solid arm in this league, look like a batting practice pitching. It is crazy to see what is going on in the Nations Capital.
Your Washington Nationals are over .500 after 50 games for the first time in 1,788 days. There is a whole generation of young Nats fans, who were too young to remember 2019 now. All they know is losing and rebuilding. I can only imagine how much fun those little kids are having watching James Wood and CJ Abrams go nuclear.
Honestly, this Nats team is making me feel like a kid again. That 2010’s magic is slowly starting to come back. You go into a series expecting to win games, no matter the opponent. The other team has to fear the Nats, not the other way around. Being the young, fun new kid on the block is such an exciting feeling.
I hope Nats Park is packed this weekend to support this group that has exceeded expectations so massively. It is really May 25th, and the Nats are playing above .500 baseball. Sure, it could come crashing down at some point, but this is already the most fun Nats season in at least five years. This team is making the fanbase feel alive again.