Nasim Nuñez absent from lineup on Friday night

Nuñez continues to pile up the steals, and the pair today give him 37 on the season with five of those coming in the month of July. They unfortunately come with a slash of .246/.330/.293, so Nuñez is very much a one-category player. That one category does keep him on the radar, at least.

Young was scratched from Saturday’s lineup against the Pirates due to soreness in his left hand and it’s still bothering him a bit heading into Sunday, so he’ll get another day of rest. Dylan Crews will patrol center field while Jose Tena serves as the team’s designated hitter and will bat seventh against Pirates’ right-hander Bubba Chandler on Sunday afternoon at Nationals Park.

It sounds like a precautionary decision since Young was in Washington’s original lineup heading into Saturday’s Independence Day matinee at Nationals Park. It’ll be Dylan Crews taking over in center field with José Tena entering the lineup at DH. There should be an update on his status following the contest.

Nuñez hit a fourth-inning Payton Tolle offering over the Green Monster to give Washington a 3-0 lead they would continue to build on. He’s been serving as the team’s primary second baseman all season long and leads MLB with 32 thefts.

Nuñez is up to 31 steals and 26 RBI after tonight. He hasn’t truly improved enough with the bat to project him as a long-term regular, and the Nationals might want to give one of their infield prospect a look over him in the second half, but a nifty career as a part-timer seems likely.

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.

It appears to be nothing more than a routine night off for the 24-year-old outfielder. Crews has really struggled during his time with the Nats this season, slashing .189/.230/.337 with four homers, 14 RBI and a pair of steals in 100 plate appearances. Jose Tena will function as the team’s designated hitter on Friday night and will bat third against Rays’ right-hander Griffin Jax.

Nuñez doesn’t start every game, but he continues to serve as Washington’s primary second baseman. The 25-year-old remains without a homer while leading MLB with 25 stolen bases. The speed would play up more in fantasy if it didn’t come alongside a .201 batting average and a .510 OPS. The absence of power or batting average makes him a non-factor in most roto formats. His best use case is likely streaming stolen bases in H2H leagues with daily lineups.

Tena peaked with an .832 OPS on May 6, but he’s since gone 4-for-40 with 17 strikeouts, taking him down to .671. The start today was just his second in eight games. Four of those games were versus lefties, so he definitely wasn’t going to start those. However, with Dylan Crews up and James Wood and Daylen Lile seeing time at DH, Tena is losing time against righties, too.

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.