Nasim

Nuñez

Nuñez is unlikely to hit for a high average, but he looks set to lead off for the Nationals this season and has four steals so far this spring. He’s likely not a draft target in shallow fantasy leagues given how bad the Nationals offense could be, but his lineup position and speed make him an intriguing bench or MIF target in deeper formats.

The 25-year-old infielder started at shortstop and hit leadoff for the Nationals in this one with many regulars missing from the lineup. He’s off to a slow start at the plate this spring, hitting just .188 (3-for-16), though he has picked up three stolen bases. He could wind up being a viable late-round fantasy option if he starts at second base for the Nats — and especially so if he sticks atop the lineup.

García receives his first opportunity at the cold corner after spending the last couple weeks practicing at the spot. The move gets red-hot rookie Nasim Nuñez in the lineup at second base with CJ Abrams back at shortstop. It’s been a down year for the 25-year-old infielder as he’s posed a lackluster .694 OPS with 13 homers and 13 steals across 134 games on the heels of last year’s impressive 18-homer, 22-steal breakthrough campaign.

Nuñez walloped his first career leadoff homer when he took Atlanta ace Chris Sale deep to right field. It was his fourth round-tripper since returning to the big leagues back in early September. He came a few feet shy of his second big fly on the night a couple frames later and finished the one-sided affair with a season-high three hits, reaching base safely in four of his five plate appearances. He’s shown enough down the home stretch to be considered a serious contender for an everyday role next spring.

The Nationals don’t much like playing Nuñez, but he came up big, both offensively and defensively at shortstop, for the second time in seven starts this month. In two years since joining the Nationals as a Rule 5 pick, Nuñez has started 42 major league games, with 25 of those coming in September. His run last year was the product of CJ Abrams’ punitive demotion, and he started today because Abrams got hurt Saturday.

Nationals interim manager Miguel Cairo confirmed that Abrams jammed his right shoulder on an awkward slide into third base during the 11th inning of Saturday’s marathon affair at Citi Field. It seemed like the 24-year-old shortstop had been benched following the play, but it appears he is dealing with some sort of injury issue. It’ll be rookie Nasim Nuñez filling in at shortstop in this one. There should be some additional clarity on his status at some point before Monday’s series opener against Atlanta.

Abrams is either dealing with an apparent lower-body issue or has been benched following an early exit from the late stages of Saturday’s game. It’ll be rookie Nasim Nuñez filling in at shortstop in this one. There should be some additional clarity on his status shortly.

CJ Abrams is also getting a breather in this one. Wood takes a seat against Atlanta ace Chris Sale after striking out four times in the front-end of Tuesday’s twin bill at Nationals Park. It’ll be Josh Bell taking over at DH and Nasim Nuñez handling shortstop during the nightcap.

Good for Nuñez, who was a bit of a surprise to get the call on Sept. 1 after spending most of the season as the No. 9 hitter at Triple-A Rochester. It certainly helped the cause that he hit .354/.421/.462 with 16 steals in August. Nuñez was hitting .221/.331/.250 in 127 major league plate appearances coming into this one, but he does have better exit velocity numbers than his lines suggest. There’s still a decent chance that the former Rule 5 pick will have a career as a major league utilityman.

With rosters expanding for September, the 25-year-old infielder will get another opportunity to show what he can do at the big league level. Nuñez has hit .186/.271/.233 with zero homers, five RBI and seven stolen bases in 49 plate appearances with the Nationals this season. He can continue to be ignored for fantasy purposes.