With Opening Day coming up tomorrow, I am looking back at the Nats Opening Day history
Tomorrow is Opening Day for your Washington Nationals. With that in mind, I wanted to talk about the Nats Opening Day history. We will touch on the results, the fixtures in Opening Day lineups, and some of the most iconic moments.
Results:
The Nats have had less than stellar results to open seasons since moving from Montreal in 2005. They are 8-12 on Opening Day, and an even worse 6-14 in home openers. The Nats will look to change that against the Phillies tomorrow, who they surprisingly haven’t played on Opening Day since 2010.
While there probably isn’t much correlation, the Nats have been more likely to make the playoffs when they win the first game of the season. 2019 is the only time they made the playoffs when they lost on Opening Day. However, that was the one time they won when they got to the playoffs. The Nationals have lost three straight Opening Days and five of the last six. Davey Martinez and the boys will look to right the ship this year and get off to a fast start.
Opening Day Fixtures:
Over the years, there have been some names Nats fans have been accustomed to seeing in Opening Day lineups. Unsurprisingly, Ryan Zimmerman has been the most steady presence of all. He has started 15 Opening Days for the Nats. Zimmerman played nine of those at third base and the last six at first base. From 2006-2019, he played every Opening Day for the Nats. After missing out in 2020 due to opting out of the COVID season, he returned in 2021, starting at first base.
Max Scherzer has the most Opening Day starts for the Nats with six. Stephen Strasburg is close behind with four. Despite the Nats going 8-12 overall, they won all four of Strasburg’s Opening Day starts. The Nats only have one Opening Day win in the 10 season openers not started by Strasburg or Scherzer. Mackenzie Gore will look to make that 2 in 11 tomorrow.
Of the current group, Keibert Ruiz has the most Opening Day experience. Barring any surprises, tomorrow will be his fourth straight Opening Day start behind the plate. Notably, this will be the first Opening Day for young stars James Wood and Dylan Crews.
Iconic Moments:
By far the greatest Nationals Opening Day moment came in 2008. It was the first ever game in Nationals Park and it had a storybook ending. In the bottom of the ninth, a 23 year old Ryan Zimmerman hit a walk-off homer to officially open the doors of Nationals Park. It was one of the most legendary moments in Nats history, and we wrote about it in the Federal Baseball 20th anniversary series.
While that is the only moment that was truly an all-timer, there have been some other fun Opening Day moments. In 2021, the Nats walked off the Braves on Juan Soto base hit. Back in 2014, Anthony Rendon’s 10th inning home run off of old friend and two time Opening Day starter John Lannan propelled the Nats to victory against the Mets.
The Nationals have had their ups and downs on Opening Day, but there have been plenty of fun moments. Hopefully 2025 will give us an Opening Day win that will be the start of something special.