CINCINNATI – The day has come. The 2024 baseball season begins later today, here in Cincinnati where the Nationals face the Reds in the opener of a three-game series. And for the first time in a while, there’s some genuine optimism surrounding the team.
Not enough optimism for anyone to predict this season will extend into October, mind you. But consider this: A year ago, four of us predicted the Nats would lose at least 100 games. This year, nobody is that pessimistic about their chances. Progress!
This is, hard to believe, the 20th season of Nationals baseball. And it’s the 15th season of Opening Day predictions by the beat crew. Most of the names have changed. Some left for a few years and then returned. All are convinced they’re smarter than anyone else in the group. Time will tell.
As always, I’m grateful to every one of them for participating in this exercise. And as always, we’ll revisit every one of these predictions at season’s end and cringe at how little we actually knew …
WHICH NATIONALS WILL BE SELECTED FOR THE ALL-STAR GAME?
Bobby Blanco (MASNsports.com) – CJ Abrams
Jessica Camerato (MLB.com) – CJ Abrams
Craig Heist (106.7 The Fan) – Josiah Gray, Keibert Ruiz
Chelsea Janes (Washington Post) – CJ Abrams
Andrew Golden (Washington Post) – MacKenzie Gore
Bill Ladson (MLB.com honorary) – Josiah Gray, Jake Irvin
Spencer Nusbaum (Washington Post) – MacKenzie Gore
Mark Zuckerman (MASNsports.com) – Kyle Finnegan
WHAT WILL TOTAL ATTENDANCE BE AT NATIONALS PARK?
Craig Heist – 2,100,000
Jessica Camerato – 1,985,721
Bobby Blanco – 1,969,333
Spencer Nusbaum – 1,943,391
Mark Zuckerman – 1,927,436
Bill Ladson – 1,900,000
Chelsea Janes – 1,870,000
Andrew Golden – 1,823,947
WHO WILL LEAD THE TEAM IN HOME RUNS? HOW MANY?
Bobby Blanco – Lane Thomas, 33
Chelsea Janes – Lane Thomas, 31
Jessica Camerato – Lane Thomas, 30
Mark Zuckerman – Lane Thomas, 27
Andrew Golden – Lane Thomas, 26
Craig Heist – Lane Thomas, 25
Spencer Nusbaum – CJ Abrams, 22
Bill Ladson – James Wood, 20
HOW MANY BASES WILL CJ ABRAMS STEAL?
Spencer Nusbaum – 63
Andrew Golden – 56
Bobby Blanco – 55
Jessica Camerato – 55
Craig Heist – 52
Mark Zuckerman – 51
Bill Ladson – 40
Chelsea Janes – 35
WHAT WILL JOEY GALLO’S BATTING AVERAGE BE?
Jessica Camerato – .216
Craig Heist – .210
Bobby Blanco – .199
Andrew Golden – .199
Chelsea Janes – .197
Spencer Nusbaum – .191
Mark Zuckerman – .181
Bill Ladson – .160
RANK THESE PLAYERS FROM HIGHEST TO LOWEST OPS: JOEY MENESES, EDDIE ROSARIO, KEIBERT RUIZ, LANE THOMAS, JESSE WINKER
Bobby Blanco – Thomas, Ruiz, Meneses, Winker, Rosario
Andrew Golden – Thomas, Ruiz, Rosario, Meneses, Winker
Craig Heist – Thomas, Rosario, Meneses, Winker, Ruiz
Chelsea Janes – Thomas, Rosario, Winker, Ruiz, Meneses
Jessica Camerato – Thomas, Meneses, Rosario, Ruiz, Winker
Mark Zuckerman – Thomas, Meneses, Rosario, Ruiz, Winker
Bill Ladson – Meneses, Thomas, Rosario, Winker, Ruiz
Spencer Nusbaum – Rosario, Thomas, Winker, Ruiz, Meneses
WHO WILL BAT THIRD IN THE STARTING LINEUP THE MOST TIMES?
Bobby Blanco – Joey Meneses
Jessica Camerato – Joey Meneses
Craig Heist – Joey Meneses
Bill Ladson – Joey Meneses
Mark Zuckerman – Joey Meneses
Andrew Golden – Eddie Rosario
Spencer Nusbaum – Eddie Rosario
Chelsea Janes – James Wood
WHO WILL START THE MOST GAMES AT SECOND BASE? HOW MANY?
Bill Ladson – Trey Lipscomb, 120
Chelsea Janes – Trey Lipscomb, 106
Bobby Blanco – Luis García Jr., 103
Jessica Camerato – Trey Lipscomb, 100
Mark Zuckerman – Trey Lipscomb, 87
Spencer Nusbaum – Trey Lipscomb, 82
Andrew Golden – Luis García Jr., 72
Craig Heist – Trey Lipscomb, 70
WHO WILL START THE MOST GAMES IN LEFT FIELD? HOW MANY?
Bobby Blanco – Eddie Rosario, 111
Craig Heist – Eddie Rosario, 100
Bill Ladson – Eddie Rosario, 100
Jessica Camerato – Eddie Rosario, 90
Spencer Nusbaum – Eddie Rosario, 90
Mark Zuckerman – Eddie Rosario, 65
Andrew Golden – Eddie Rosario, 54
Chelsea Janes – James Wood, 95
WHO WILL START THE MOST GAMES IN CENTER FIELD? HOW MANY?
Chelsea Janes – Victor Robles, 132
Bill Ladson – James Wood, 110
Spencer Nusbaum – Victor Robles, 101
Bobby Blanco – Victor Robles, 95
Andrew Golden – Victor Robles, 88
Jessica Camerato – Victor Robles, 87
Craig Heist – Victor Robles, 80
Mark Zuckerman – James Wood, 79
LIST THESE PROSPECTS IN THE ORDER OF THEIR MLB DEBUTS: DYLAN CREWS, ROBERT HASSELL III, BRADY HOUSE, TREY LIPSCOMB, JAMES WOOD
Bobby Blanco – Lipscomb, Wood, Crews, Hassell, House
Jessica Camerato – Lipscomb, Wood, Crews, Hassell, House
Spencer Nusbaum – Lipscomb, Wood, Crews, Hassell, House
Chelsea Janes – Lipscomb, Wood, Crews, House, Hassell
Bill Ladson – Lipscomb, Wood, Crews, House, Hassell
Andrew Golden – Lipscomb, Wood, Hassell, Crews, House
Mark Zuckerman – Lipscomb, Wood, Hassell, Crews, House
Craig Heist – Wood, Crews, House, Lipscomb, Hassell
WHO WILL LEAD THE PITCHING STAFF IN WINS? HOW MANY?
Bobby Blanco – MacKenzie Gore, 13
Andrew Golden – MacKenzie Gore, 12
Craig Heist – MacKenzie Gore, 12
Chelsea Janes – MacKenzie Gore, 12
Bill Ladson – Jake Irvin, 12
Mark Zuckerman – MacKenzie Gore, 11
Jessica Camerato – MacKenzie Gore, 10
Spencer Nusbaum – MacKenzie Gore, 10
RANK THESE PITCHERS FROM LOWEST TO HIGHEST ERA: PATRICK CORBIN, MACKENZIE GORE, JOSIAH GRAY, JAKE IRVIN
Bobby Blanco – Gore, Gray, Irvin, Corbin
Jessica Camerato – Gore, Gray, Irvin, Corbin
Spencer Nusbaum – Gore, Gray, Irvin, Corbin
Mark Zuckerman – Gore, Gray, Irvin, Corbin
Chelsea Janes – Gore, Gray, Corbin, Irvin
Andrew Golden – Gore, Irvin, Gray, Corbin
Craig Heist – Gore, Irvin, Gray, Corbin
Bill Ladson – Irvin, Gray, Gore, Corbin
HOW MANY MLB STARTS WILL CADE CAVALLI MAKE?
Andrew Golden – 16
Bobby Blanco – 15
Mark Zuckerman – 15
Jessica Camerato – 12
Chelsea Janes – 10
Spencer Nusbaum – 7
Craig Heist – 6
Bill Ladson – 5
WHO WILL LEAD THE TEAM IN SAVES? HOW MANY?
Mark Zuckerman – Kyle Finnegan, 31
Chelsea Janes – Kyle Finnegan, 27
Andrew Golden – Kyle Finnegan, 26
Bill Ladson – Hunter Harvey, 25
Jessica Camerato – Kyle Finnegan, 22
Bobby Blanco – Tanner Rainey, 18
Craig Heist – Kyle Finnegan, 17
Spencer Nusbaum – Hunter Harvey, 16
WHO WILL HIT THE MOST HOMERS AGAINST THE NATIONALS? HOW MANY?
Bill Ladson – Pete Alonso, 10
Bobby Blanco – Ronald Acuña Jr., 9
Andrew Golden – Ronald Acuña Jr., 6
Jessica Camerato – Ronald Acuña Jr., 6
Craig Heist, Pete Alonso, 6
Mark Zuckerman – Matt Olson, 6
Chelsea Janes – Matt Olson, 4
Spencer Nusbaum – Bryce Harper, 5
HOW WILL THE NL EAST FINISH FROM TOP TO BOTTOM?
Jessica Camerato – Braves, Phillies, Mets, Nationals, Marlins
Andrew Golden – Braves, Phillies, Mets, Nationals, Marlins
Chelsea Janes – Braves, Phillies, Mets, Nationals, Marlins
Mark Zuckerman – Braves, Phillies, Mets, Nationals, Marlins
Bobby Blanco – Braves, Phillies, Mets, Marlins, Nationals
Spencer Nusbaum – Braves, Phillies, Mets, Marlins, Nationals
Craig Heist – Braves, Phillies, Marlins, Nationals, Mets
Bill Ladson – Braves, Mets, Phillies, Nationals, Marlins
HOW MANY GAMES WILL THE NATIONALS WIN?
Jessica Camerato – 80
Craig Heist – 79
Mark Zuckerman – 76
Bobby Blanco – 75
Chelsea Janes – 70
Bill Ladson – 70
Andrew Golden – 68
Spencer Nusbaum – 66