Nasim

Nuñez

Nuñez hit a fourth-inning Payton Tolle offering over the Green Monster to give Washington a 3-0 lead they would continue to build on. He’s been serving as the team’s primary second baseman all season long and leads MLB with 32 thefts.

Nuñez is up to 31 steals and 26 RBI after tonight. He hasn’t truly improved enough with the bat to project him as a long-term regular, and the Nationals might want to give one of their infield prospect a look over him in the second half, but a nifty career as a part-timer seems likely.

Nasim Nuñez slides over to shortstop with Jorbit Vivas taking over at second base. Abrams is presumably day-to-day for the moment. The 25-year-old five-category threat has delivered first-round fantasy value this season, slashing .286/.366/.530 with 51 runs scored, 17 homers, 57 RBI and 12 steals in 328 plate appearances over 77 games. There should be an update on his status following the contest.

Nuñez doesn’t start every game, but he continues to serve as Washington’s primary second baseman. The 25-year-old remains without a homer while leading MLB with 25 stolen bases. The speed would play up more in fantasy if it didn’t come alongside a .201 batting average and a .510 OPS. The absence of power or batting average makes him a non-factor in most roto formats. His best use case is likely streaming stolen bases in H2H leagues with daily lineups.

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 put the Nationals on the board with a single in the fifth to bring home CJ Abrams from second base. He then scored on a triple and later knocked in another run with his second hit in the seventh. The 25-year-old infielder has been all speed, hitting .222/.325/.232 with 16 runs scored, 12 RBI, and 14 steals across 116 plate appearances.

The primary second baseman is taking a seat for Jorbit Vivas, which enables the Nationals to get Curtis Mead into the lineup. Nuñez is off to a .202/.312/.213 start, but he does have a league-leading 14 stolen bases in 16 attempts so far, making him fantasy-interesting. We hope this isn’t the start of a cooling trend for his playing time, but a .525 OPS isn’t exactly screaming that Nuñez has to play every day.

Nuñez drew a walk in the third inning, then knocked a base hit in the fourth to put the Nats on the board with two runs. He collected two more RBI and extended the team’s lead in the tenth with a base-loaded single, driving in four of the team’s six runs on the day. The 25-year-old infielder is hitting .195/.298/.207 with 12 runs scored, 10 RBI, and 12 steals across 96 plate appearances.

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.

Abrams was away from the team Saturday due to a death in his family. Nasim Nuñez will get the start at second base after filling in at short for that contest, and Luis Garcia begins Sunday’s contest on the bench.