The Washington Nationals open the 2019 MLB season on Thursday, March 28. Meet the players sporting the Curly W this year.
While the Nationals enter the post-Bryce Harper era , many familiar faces are returning, along with a handful of new ones.
As we did last year , we’ve compiled the likely Opening Day roster, along with the players currently on the injured list (denoted by an asterisk) who are expected in D.C. sooner or later.
Catchers
Yan Gomes
Born: July 19, 1987 — Sao Paulo, Brazil
Acquired: Traded from the Cleveland Indians Nov. 30, 2018
Notable numbers: Made his first All-Star team in 2018, when he set a career high with 26 doubles.
(Michael Reaves/Getty Images)
Michael Reaves/Getty Images
Kurt Suzuki
Born: Oct. 4, 1983 — Wailuku, Hawaii
Acquired: Signed as a free agent Nov. 20, 2018; also played with Nats in 2012-13
Notable numbers: Was one of 11 MLB catchers, along with Yan Gomes, to hit at least 30 home runs over the last two seasons.
(Michael Reaves/Getty Images)
Michael Reaves/Getty Images
Infielders
Matt Adams
Born: Aug. 31, 1988 — Philipsburg, Pennsylvania
Acquired: Re-signed as a free agent, Dec. 18, 2018
Notable numbers: Hit a career-high 21 home runs over 121 games between Washington and St. Louis last season.
(Getty Images/Michael Reaves)
Getty Images/Michael Reaves
Wilmer Difo
Born: Apr. 2, 1992 — Santiago de los Caballeros, Dominican Republic
Acquired: Signed as an amateur free agent, June 3, 2010
Notable numbers: Played a career-high 148 games in 2018, setting career highs in most offensive categories.
(Michael Reaves/Getty Images)
Michael Reaves/Getty Images
Brian Dozier
Born: May 15, 1987 — Fulton, Mississippi
Acquired: Signed as a free agent Jan. 13 2019
Notable numbers: Is one of 11 MLB players, and the only second baseman, to hit more than 20 home runs in each of the last five seasons.
(Michael Reaves/Getty Images)
Michael Reaves/Getty Images
Howie Kendrick*
Born: July 12, 1983 — Jacksonville, Florida
Acquired: Traded from Philadelphia Phillies July 28, 2017 (re-signed Jan. 18, 2018)
Notable numbers: Batted .303 with 18 extra-base hits in 40 games before suffering a season-ending Achilles injury in 2018.
(Michael Reaves/Getty Images)
Michael Reaves/Getty Images
Jake Noll
Born: Mar. 8, 1994 — Punta Gorda, Florida
Acquired: Selected in the seventh round of the 2016 MLB Amateur Draft
Notable numbers: Has not played above the Double-A level prior to 2019, but impressed in Spring Training by batting .314 with four doubles and two home runs in 51 at-bats.
(AP Photo/Jeff Roberson)
AP Photo/Jeff Roberson
Anthony Rendon
Born: June 6, 1990 — Houston, Texas
Acquired: Selected in the first round (sixth overall) of the 2011 MLB Amateur Draft
Notable numbers: Led the National League with a career-high 44 doubles, finishing 11th in the NL MVP race. Ranks first in the NL and sixth in MLB in fWAR (13.0) over the past two seasons.
(Michael Reaves/Getty Images)
Michael Reaves/Getty Images
Trea Turner
Born: June 30, 1993 — Boynton Beach, Florida
Acquired: Traded from the San Diego Padres June 14, 2015 as the player to be named later to complete the deal that also included Joe Ross from Dec. 19, 2014
Notable numbers: Led the league with 43 stolen bases last year and has the fifth-highest stolen base total in the Major Leagues since his debut in 2015.
(Michael Reaves/Getty Images)
Michael Reaves/Getty Images
Ryan Zimmerman
Born: Sept. 28, 1984 — Washington, North Carolina
Acquired: Selected in the first round (fourth overall) of the 2005 MLB Amateur Draft
Notable numbers: Has hit 11 career walk-off home runs, tying him for eighth in Major League history, just two behind the all-time leader, Jim Thome.
(Michael Reaves/Getty Images)
Michael Reaves/Getty Images
Outfielders
Adam Eaton
Born: Dec. 6, 1988 — Springfield, Ohio
Acquired: Traded from the Chicago White Sox, Dec. 7, 2016
Notable numbers: Eaton has missed more than 200 games the last two years to injury, but has put up good numbers when healthy, slashing .300/.394/.422 in 118 games as a National.
(Michael Reaves/Getty Images)
Michael Reaves/Getty Images
Victor Robles
Born: May 19, 1997 — Santo Domingo Este, Dominican Republic
Acquired: Signed as an amateur free agent in 2013
Notable numbers: Has slashed .300/.395/.457 over parts of five minor league seasons in the Nationals’ system. Is rated the top prospect in the Nationals system and the fourth/10th overall in the minor leagues by MLB Pipeline/ESPN, respectively.
(Michael Reaves/Getty Images)
Michael Reaves/Getty Images
Juan Soto
Born: Oct. 25, 1998 — Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic
Acquired: Signed as an amateur free agent in 2015
Notable numbers: Hit 22 home runs in just 116 games in his first season, finishing runner-up in the 2018 NL Rookie of the Year voting.
(Michael Reaves/Getty Images)
Michael Reaves/Getty Images
Andrew Stevenson
Born: June 1, 1994 — Lafayette, Louisiana
Acquired: Selected in the second round of the 2015 MLB Amateur Draft
Notable numbers: Hit his first Major League home run as a pinch-hitter, helping the Nationals erase a 4-1 deficit en route to a 10-4 win over the Philadelphia Phillies on Aug. 21, 2018 at Nats Park.
(AP Photo/Jeff Roberson)
AP Photo/Jeff Roberson
Michael A. Taylor*
Born: Mar. 26, 1991 — Fort Lauderdale, Florida
Acquired: Selected in the sixth round of the 2009 MLB Amateur Draft
Notable numbers: Stole a career-high 24 bases last year and has stolen successfully on 71 of his 92 career attempts, good for a 77.2 percent clip.
(Michael Reaves/Getty Images)
Michael Reaves/Getty Images
Pitchers
Kyle Barraclough
Born: May 23, 1990 — Santa Clara, California
Acquired: Traded from Miami Marlins October 10, 2018
Notable numbers: Has struck out 279 batters in 218.2 innings pitched, good for an 11.5 K/9 IP rate over his career.
(Michael Reaves/Getty Images)
Michael Reaves/Getty Images
Patrick Corbin
Born: July 19, 1989 — Clay, New York
Acquired: Signed as a free agent Dec. 7, 2018
Notable numbers: Made his second All-Star Game in 2018, posting a career low 3.15 ERA and shattering his career best with 246 strikeouts en route to a fifth-place NL Cy Young finish.
(Michael Reaves/Getty Images)
Michael Reaves/Getty Images
Sean Doolittle
Born: Sept. 26, 1986 — Rapid City, South Dakota
Acquired: Traded from Oakland Athletics July 16, 2017
Notable numbers: Posted a career-low 1.60 ERA and made his second All-Star Game in 2018, converting 25 saves. Owns the third-highest career strikeout-to-walk rate (6.41) in Major League Baseball history of any pitcher with at least 300 IP, trailing only Koji Uehara (2009-17) and James Burke (1882-84).
(Michael Reaves/Getty Images)
Michael Reaves/Getty Images
Koda Glover*
Born: Apr. 13, 1993 — Monroe, Oklahoma
Acquired: Selected in the eighth round of the 2015 MLB Amateur Draft
Notable numbers: Posted a 3.31 ERA in 16.1 innings in 2018 before suffering a season-ending shoulder injury.
(Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images)
Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images
Matt Grace
Born: Dec. 14, 1988 — Palos Verdes Estates, California
Acquired: Selected in the eighth round of the 2010 MLB Amateur Draft
Notable numbers: Made a career-high 56 relief appearances in 2018, with a 2.87 ERA and a 3.69 K/BB rate. Is the only remaining member of the bullpen to have pitched for the Nationals each of the last four seasons.
(AP Photo/Jeff Roberson)
AP Photo/Jeff Roberson
Jeremy Hellickson
Born: Apr. 8, 1987 — Des Moines, Iowa
Acquired: Re-signed as a free agent Feb. 8, 2019
Notable numbers: Made 19 starts with Washington last year, pitching to a 3.45 ERA in 91.1 innings. Was the 2011 American League Rookie of the Year.
(Michael Reaves/Getty Images)
Michael Reaves/Getty Images
Justin Miller*
Born: June 13, 1987 — Bakersfield, California
Acquired: Signed as a free agent Jan. 12, 2018
Notable numbers: Posted a career year with the Nats in 2018, going 7-1 with two saves in 51 relief appearances while striking out 60 batters in 52.1 innings pitched.
(AP Photo/Jeff Roberson)
AP Photo/Jeff Roberson
Trevor Rosenthal
Born: May 29, 1990 — Lee’s Summit, Missouri
Acquired: Signed as a free agent Nov. 3, 2018
Notable numbers: Collected 121 saves over six seasons in St. Louis, where he ranks fifth on the Cardinals’ all-time save list. Struck out a career-high 14.3 batters per nine innings in 2017 before missing the 2018 season due to injury.
(Michael Reaves/Getty Images)
Michael Reaves/Getty Images
Anibal Sanchez
Born: Feb. 27, 1984 — Maracay, Venezuela
Acquired: Signed as free agent Dec. 27, 2018
Notable numbers: Had a bounce back year in 2018, matching his career low with a 2.83 ERA in 136.2 innings pitched with Atlanta. His 1.08 WHIP was 16th best in MLB among starters who pitched at least 130 innings.
(Michael Reaves/Getty Images)
Michael Reaves/Getty Images
Max Scherzer
Born: July 27, 1984 — St. Louis, Missouri
Acquired: Signed as a free agent Jan. 21, 2015
Notable numbers: Narrowly missed his third consecutive Cy Young Award and fourth overall, placing in the top five in voting for the sixth consecutive year in 2018. Set a career high and led the Major Leagues with 300 strikeouts.
(Michael Reaves/Getty Images)
Michael Reaves/Getty Images
Tony Sipp
Born: July 12, 1983 — Pascagoula, Mississippi
Acquired: Signed as a free agent Mar. 14, 2019
Notable numbers: Finished the year with a sub-2.00 ERA for the second time in his career in 2018. The southpaw has posted nearly identical numbers against righties (.216/.307/.404) and lefties (.219/.296/.400) in his career.
(Streeter Lecka/Getty Images)
Streeter Lecka/Getty Images
Stephen Strasburg
Born: July 20, 1988 — San Diego, California
Acquired: Selected in the first round (first overall) of the 2009 MLB Amateur Draft
Notable numbers: Owns the most wins (94) and strikeouts (1,444) in Nationals history. His 4.50 career strikeout-to-walk rate ranks fourth in MLB since his debut in 2010 among starters with at least 1,000 inning pitched, trailing only Chris Sale, Corey Kluber and Clayton Kershaw.
(Michael Reaves/Getty Images)
Michael Reaves/Getty Images
Wander Suero
Born: Sept. 15, 1991 — Sabana Larga, Dominican Republic
Acquired: Signed as an amateur free agent Feb. 2, 2010
Notable numbers: Made his MLB debut in 2018, pitching to a 3.59 ERA in 40 relief appearances. Opened his career with five straight scoreless outings, spanning 5.2 innings and culminating in his first Major League win.
(Michael Reaves/Getty Images)
Michael Reaves/Getty Images