Crazy Nationals rotation announcement will have every Phillies fan salivating

The Philadelphia Phillies are fresh off their first run of back-to-back NL East titles since a dominant five-year stretch from 2007-11, but that banner won't come so easily this year. The rebuilt New York Mets and have-to-be-healthy-at-some-point Atlanta Braves will provide stiff competition, and even the Miami Marlins should be able to score enough runs to make things interesting behind their pitching staff.

But the Washington Nationals... oh boy. They're mired in a never-ending rebuild, five seasons deep into their ignominious streak of 90-loss seasons. And it doesn't look like 2026 will provide better fortunes, at least if their Opening Day rotation proves to be a paradigm of the roster as a whole.

I'll remind you all that it's 2026. The Phillies will first draw the Nationals this week, right after closing their series with the Texas Rangers. There should be plenty of fireworks at Citizens Bank Park.

Phillies must dominate season series with Nationals to get leg up in NL East in 2026

Before diving into the numbers, it should be clear that the Phillies will have the matchup advantage in any game they play against the Nats this year. There's a case to be made that the latter's de facto ace, Cade Cavalli, isn't even a better pitcher than No. 5 starter Taijuan Walker or top prospect Andrew Painter.

And while Cavalli has at least been good against the Phillies in two starts (2.08 ERA), that's not true for the rest of his compatriots.

Miles Mikolas was just blown up by the Chicago Cubs (again) and has a 4.39 ERA in his career against Philadelphia. Irvin is 0-5 in eight appearances and didn't escape the third inning of his most recent start against the Phillies last August. Littell is sitting on a 5.40 ERA. And Griffin has all of eight MLB innings to his name, and none since 2022.

As the great Shaquille O'Neal once said: Barbecue Chicken Alert.

On the other end of things, the Phillies' rotation should have no problem dominating a fledgling lineup. Outfielder James Wood and shortstop CJ Abrams are building blocks, but the rest of the Nationals' batting order looks like a team that just held a fire sale, not one that's been rebuilding since 2020. That's precisely why they rebuilt their front office over the offseason, adding some Philly executives along the way.

Last year, the Phillies finished 8-5 against the Nats, including a 4-2 mark at home. That should be the bare minimum expectation in 2026, given the massive advantage they'll have on the mound.