José

Tena

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.

Tena was shipped back to the minors following Sunday’s loss to the Phillies. The 24-year-old infielder went 1-for-4 with a stolen base in that contest before being lifted for a pinch-hitter in the ninth inning.

Tena hit a hard grounder against a drawn-in infield with the bases loaded and got it past a diving Trea Turner. The lefty-swinging Tena was making a rare start against a lefty, as the Nationals have a pretty unbalanced lineup at the moment and simply can’t platoon everyone who needs to be platooned. Tena did wind up hitless against Jesús Luzardo, but he had the big hit versus a righty in Orion Kerkering. Tena, hitting .243/.315/.351 in 165 plate appearances, will remain a bench player for the most part, as the Nationals think Brady House is more interesting as a potential long-term option at third base.

Tena returns to Washington’s bench mix for Sunday’s game against the Twins after veteran Amed Rosario was shipped to the Yankees earlier this weekend. The 24-year-old infielder hit .248 with zero homers and two steals in 44 games with the Nationals earlier this season before they opted to promote top prospect Brady House to take over at the hot corner.