Nasim

Nuñez

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.

The Athletic’s Spencer Nusbaum reports Abrams is away from the team because of a death in the family. It’s possible he’ll be placed on the bereavement list to open up a roster spot if he’s going to be away from the club for a couple days. It’ll be Nasim Nuñez, who is a strong waiver wire pickup in deeper mixed leagues, taking over at shortstop on Saturday afternoon at Wrigley Field.

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.