Joey Wiemer, Nats look to stay hot, keep Phillies cold

Joey Wiemer's first week with the Washington Nationals couldn't be going much better.

Fresh off two strong performances during the season's opening weekend, Wiemer leads the Nationals into Monday's opener of a three-game series at the Philadelphia Phillies.

On his fourth major league team since debuting in 2023, Wiemer has reached base in all eight of his plate appearances with Washington. The outfielder went 3-for-3 with a home run and a walk in Thursday's season-opening 10-4 win over the host Chicago Cubs, then duplicated that effort in Sunday's 6-3 triumph to help secure a series victory.

Along the way, Wiemer became the first player in franchise history (Montreal Expos/Washington Nationals) to reach base in each of his first eight plate appearances with the team. He is also tied with two other players for the most consecutive plate appearances reaching base to begin a tenure with any MLB club since at least 1961.

"It means a lot," said Wiemer, 27, who played for the Milwaukee Brewers, Cincinnati Reds and Miami Marlins before joining Washington. "I've put in a lot of work. It's been a winding road, so head down and keep going."

Keibert Ruiz also homered in Sunday's win for the Nationals, who will turn to Foster Griffin for his first major league outing since 2022 and first career start.

The 30-year-old left-hander spent the last three seasons playing in Japan with the Yomiuri Giants. He was an All-Star in the Nippon Professional Baseball league last year, when he went 6-1 with a 1.62 ERA.

"He has that presence that he's confident and has been there and can slow things down, that you like when he's out there because you trust what he's going to be able to do and knows what he's doing," first-year Washington manager Blake Butera said.

Griffin will face a Philadelphia lineup that endured a tough opening weekend. The Phillies managed just one hit in the first eight innings in Saturday's 5-4, 10-inning loss to the Texas Rangers, then they were no-hit through five frames Sunday in an 8-3 defeat.

"We've got to get something going earlier in games, obviously," Philadelphia manager Rob Thomson said. "I think everybody in the lineup is trying to get off to a good start. They're maybe a little bit anxious. They'll settle in."

Trea Turner, Kyle Schwarber, Bryce Harper, Alec Bohm, Adolis Garcia and J.T. Realmuto are all hitting .200 or lower.

"Everybody wants to get off to a good start, but sometimes it doesn't happen," Turner said.

Taijuan Walker (5-8, 4.08 ERA in 2025) makes his season debut for Philadelphia after a bounce-back year in which he was generally productive in 21 starts and 13 relief outings.

The veteran right-hander is 2-3 with a 3.56 ERA in 10 lifetime starts against the Nationals.

This time he'll be unveiling a new pitch -- a slider -- as part of his arsenal.

"I feel like to righties, it's (historically been) mostly cutter, splitter, and I think a lot of teams know that," he said. "So just adding that pitch that goes away from them, instead of coming in, has kind of been a big weapon for me."

--Field Level Media