José

Tena

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.

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.

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.

Weird to sit someone who just hit a grand slam last night, but so be it. José Tena is DHing for the Nationals — his first start since April 15 — and Jorbit Vivas is manning third base against RHP Freddy Peralta as the Nats look to continue the misery for New York.

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.

It’s Wiemer’s first start against a right-handed starter this season, but he has gone 6-for-6 with two home runs to start the season, so it was bound to happen. Jacob Young is getting his first day off today, which allowed Wiemer to slide into center field with James Wood moving into right field and Jose Tena entering the lineup at designated hitter.

Tena launched a 401-foot bomb off of a Justin Hagenman cutter in the second inning, and also came around to score on each of his two walks. The 24-year-old has just 10 at-bats in seven Grapefruit League games and the home run is his only hit, though he now has five walks. Brady House appears likely to get the reps at third base early on for the Nats, but Tena could find his way into being a fallback plan yet again if House flops.