Jorbit Vivas hits go-ahead homer in eighth

It appears to be nothing more than a routine night off for the 25-year-old slugger. Jorbit Vivas will start in his place at third base and bat eighth for the Nationals against Pirates’ right-hander Mitch Keller.

The Red Sox will throw their third left-handed starter in this series, and while Abrams has started the last two, they will give him a day off on Wednesday. Nasim Nunez will slide over to shortstop with Jorbit Vias entering the lineup at second base and batting seventh. Andres Chaparro will also make his third straight start and bat third while Luis Garcia Jr. heads to the bench.

Nasim Nuñez slides over to shortstop with Jorbit Vivas taking over at second base. Abrams is presumably day-to-day for the moment. The 25-year-old five-category threat has delivered first-round fantasy value this season, slashing .286/.366/.530 with 51 runs scored, 17 homers, 57 RBI and 12 steals in 328 plate appearances over 77 games. There should be an update on his status following the contest.

Mead has settled in as the Nationals’ regular third baseman and has been hitting third in the lineup over the past few weeks. He’ll get a breather in this one though with Jorbit Vivas starting in his place at the hot corner and batting sixth against Merrill Kelly and the Diamondbacks on Friday evening in Arizona.

This is pretty stunning, given that House wasn’t just playing regularly but was also hitting third pretty much of all of the time. He was batting .227/.282/.399 with seven homers and 25 RBI in 177 plate appearances, with just a little more plate discipline than last year. Statcast also thought he was kind of unlucky, giving him a .249 xBA and a .427 xSLG coming into Monday’s game. However, House’s defense at third base has taken a pretty big step backwards, and his 16 percent swinging strike rate is concerning. Unlike with Dylan Crews, who is expected to replace him on the roster, there doesn’t seem to be any financial incentive for the demotion. House is just turning 23 in June, and if he gets a bit more selective at the plate, he’ll probably spend several years as an adequate regular. The Nationals figure to go with José Tena, Jorbit Vivas, and maybe some Curtis Mead at third base. That helps open up time for Crews, who will play a lot of outfield with James Wood and Daylen Lile probably seeing more time at DH.

It appears to be a routine night off for the speedy infielder, though he’s hitting just .202/.310/.226 through his first 149 plate appearances on the season so this could start to become a regular occurrence. Jorbit Vivas will start in his place at second base and bat seventh for the Nationals against Shane Baz and the O’s.

Nuñez has seven steals in 15 games, which is great. He’s also slashing .192/.276/.212 in 58 plate appearances. His defense at second base has been good enough that he will continue to get a chance to start, but if he doesn’t start hitting soon, the Nationals may start shifting him to a pinch runner and defensive replacement. Jorbit Vivas will start at second base and bat seventh with Brady House at third base, Luis Garcia at DH, and Curtis Mead at first base.

House is still striking out nearly 30 percent of the time and has just two homers and six RBI though 15 games. He’ll take a seat with José Tena getting a look at DH and Jorbit Vivas at the hot corner for the second straight game. The 22-year-old’s fantasy appeal is almost nonexistent at the moment.

House started each of the team’s previous three games and hit in the middle of the Nationals’ lineup in each. He’ll get a breather against Roki Sasaki on Sunday afternoon though. Jorbit Vivas will cover third base while Jose Tena functions as the squad’s designated hitter on Sunday.

House has swung the bat well so far with an .824 OPS, but he’ll get a breather versus Andrew Painter in his MLB debut and the Philadelphia pitching staff. Jorbit Vivas will handle the hot corner and hit fifth while House rests.