Jacob

Young

Young’s homer off Kyle Freeland was projected at a Coors Field-aided 437 feet. That’s 34 feet farther than he’d ever previously hit a ball in the majors. Young now has nine homers in 302 plate appearances this season. He’d totaled five in 1,006 plate appearances coming into 2026.

Young returns to center field following a brief two-game absence due to left hand soreness. It doesn’t appear to be a significant concern moving forward. The 26-year-old outfielder has delivered a career-high eight homers along with eight thefts in 277 plate appearances through 83 games this season.

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.

Young is back patrolling center field and hitting fifth following a brief one-game absence due to side soreness. The 26-year-old managed to avoid serious injury on a brutal collision with the left-center field wall during Saturday’s showdown against the Rays at Tropicana Field. He’s been an unexpected power/speed combo source for fantasy managers this season with a career-high eight round-trippers and seven thefts through 74 games.

It somehow appears that Young managed to avoid serious injury during a scary-looking collision with the left-center field wall during Saturday’s contest at Tropicana Field. The 26-year-old takes a seat with Dylan Crews patrolling center field in his place. He’s day-to-day with right side soreness heading into Monday’s series opener against the Phillies.

Good news. He still might get Sunday off, which would put Dylan Crews in center and probably get José Tena a start at DH.

Young was down for a couple of minutes before walking off. His right side of the body took the hit, and it looked like the rib area seemed to be his biggest issue. The Nats had James Wood move from DH to the outfield to replace him. If Young needs a few days off, it’d open DH starts for José Tena and Andrés Chaparro.

Young is only hitting .237 with a .676 OPS, but he’s done well to increase his bat speed and barrel rate so far in 2026. What used to be dormant batted-ball impact now comes with respectable thump. He has eight homers on the year after entering the season with five in his career. Young stole 33 bases back in 2024 but isn’t running at nearly the same clip anymore. As is, he’s an option for deeper mixed leagues.

Young got a curveball over the plate from Marlins ace Sandy Alcantara and sent it 393-feet into the left-field seats in the second inning to put Washington ahead briefly. The 26-year-old center fielder has gone deep eight times in 59 games this season, with half of those coming in his last 15 games, after mustering only five round-trippers total in 280 games the previous two seasons combined.