The Washington Nationals have started the season on a solid note, winning two of their first three games of the 2026 MLB regular season over a 2025 playoff team in the Chicago Cubs. On Sunday night, they sealed the series victory with a 6-3 win over the Cubs, and it was Joey Wiemer who starred in this close win over a very good team.
Wiemer, who can do no wrong to begin the 2026 season, was back at it again on Sunday. The Nationals right fielder is catching the attention of plenty of fans, as he has begun the new campaign having recorded six hits in his first six at-bats. In fact, through eight plate appearances, he has reached base eight times. Wiemer, quite frankly, may never record an out again.
This dream start to the 2026 season has Wiemer in elite company. By reaching base safely through his first eight plate appearances of the season, he became just the third player in the Expansion Era (since 1961) to do so on eight consecutive plate appearances to start one's tenure with a new team, joining Jeremy Hazelbaker (2017 with the Arizona Diamondbacks) and Steve Henderson (1983 with the Seattle Mariners) in that exclusive club, as per Sarah Langs of MLB.com.
Should Wiemer reach base in his first plate appearance tomorrow night when the Nationals take on the Philadelphia Phillies, even more history will be made.
Is Joey Wiemer going to break out for the Nationals?
Two games and eight plate appearances is such a small sample size that it's hard to buy that Wiemer is suddenly this elite on-base magnet. Prior to the 2026 season, he's posted a batting average of .205 and an OBP of .278 in 499 plate appearances across stops with the Milwaukee Brewers, Cincinnati Reds, and Miami Marlins.
This, however, would not be far from first time in MLB that someone seemingly out of nowhere breaks out and becomes star, and perhaps Wiemer has truly turned a corner and sets himself up for sustainability instead of being a mere early season mirage.
