Jorbit

Vivas

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.

Vivas, 25, debuted with the Yankees in 2025, hitting .161 (9-for-56) with one homer and five RBI over 29 games. Vivas is out of minor league options, so it’s likely that the Nationals intend to carry him on the Opening Day roster.

There simply isn’t a spot for Vivas within New York’s infield mix following the acquisition of veteran third baseman Ryan McMahon from the Rockies. The 24-year-old rookie has batted .161 (9-for-56) with one homer and five RBI in 29 games this season at the big-league level.

Vivas has been summoned to join New York’s active roster in a bench role with DJ LeMahieu being jettisoned a couple days after losing his starting job at second base. The 24-year-old infielder got into 22 games earlier this season in the big leagues, batting .156 (7-for-45) with one homer and four RBI during that span. He’s unlikely to garner enough playing time to make an impact for fantasy purposes.