April 24, 2025
Washington Nationals outfielder
Jacob Young and third baseman
Jose Tena will start on the bench for Thursday's contest against the visiting Baltimore Orioles at Nationals Park.
Dylan Crews is starting in center field and will bat eighth,
Alex Call is in right field and in the two-hole, and
Amed Rosario is starting at third base and batting sixth versus Orioles left-hander
Cade Povich. Young went 0-for-3 on Wednesday to snap a three-game hitting streak and is hitting just .220 (11-for-50) with no homers, one RBI, two steals and six runs scored as a platoon outfielder in D.C. Tena has hits in both of his at-bats against lefties this year with two RBI, but the left-handed hitter will take a seat in favor of Rosario. Although Call has yet to clear the fences in 42 at-bats in 2025, he'll be the better DFS sleeper play in the second spot. The 30-year-old is hitting .310 (13-for-42) with eight RBI and seven runs scored.
--Keith Hernandez - RotoBallerSource: MLB.com
April 6, 2025
Washington Nationals outfielder
Jacob Young is out of the lineup again on Sunday against the visiting Arizona Diamondbacks at Nationals Park.
Dylan Crews will slide over to center field again and hit ninth, while
Alex Call is making another start in right field and will bat seventh against Arizona right-hander
Corbin Burnes. The Nationals have held Young out of the lineup the last two days while he works to clean up his hitting mechanics after starting the 2025 season with a .067/.263/.133 slash line with a double, two runs scored, a stolen base, three walks and two strikeouts in his first seven games. Manager Dave Martinez said that the 25-year-old will return to the starting lineup for Monday's series opener against the Los Angeles Dodgers, but fantasy managers in deeper leagues may want to keep him benched until he shows signs of breaking out of his early-season slump.
--Keith Hernandez - RotoBallerSource: MLB.com
April 5, 2025
Washington Nationals catcher
Keibert Ruiz and outfielder
Jacob Young are both resting on Saturday against the visiting Arizona Diamondbacks at Nationals Park.
Riley Adams will do the catching for left-hander
Mitchell Parker and will bat ninth, while
Alex Call will start in right field and bat sixth against D-backs left-hander
Eduardo Rodriguez.
Dylan Crews is sliding from right field to center. Ruiz entered Friday's lost to Arizona riding a six-game hitting streak to begin the year but had it snapped when he went 0-for-4 . The 26-year-old Venezuelan has gone 8-for-25 in the early going with two homers, five RBI and four runs scored. Young, meanwhile, has struggled with just one hit in 15 at-bats in his first six games of the year. Adams is hitless in just one career at-bat against E-Rod, while Call has never faced him in his career.
--Keith Hernandez - RotoBallerSource: MLB.com
March 6, 2025
If Washington Nationals outfielder
Jacob Young struggles early in 2025, MASN's Mark Zuckerman believes that he could be in danger of losing the job to outfield prospect
Robert Hassell III. Hassell, a former eighth overall pick by the San Diego Padres in 2020, is considered the team's No. 12 prospect, per MLB Pipeline. The 23-year-old has turned heads so far in Grapefruit League play, hitting .360 (9-for-25) with a homer, three doubles, five RBI and two stolen bases in 10 games after he hit .241/.319/.328 with five homers, 28 RBI and 15 steals at High-A Wilmington, Double-A Harrisburg and Triple-A Rochester in 2024. While he's looked good this spring, it's a small sample size, and the Nats will likely want to see him hit better at Rochester to begin the 2025 season before they even consider him for his first MLB call-up. Hassell is merely a dynasty stash for the time being.
--Keith Hernandez - RotoBallerSource: MASN Sports - Mark Zuckerman
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