Where Nationals' Blake Butera Ranks Among First Year MLB Managers

Where Nationals' Blake Butera Ranks Among First Year MLB Managers

The Washington Nationals fell back in the loss column following an 11-3 loss in game one against the Minnesota Twins, putting the struggles at home back under the microscope once again. Yet big picture, the Nationals have been one of the more impressive teams to start the 2026 regular season, especially among first year managers.

Manager Blake Butera ranked third in CBS Sports' rankings of first year managers to start the 2026 regular season, slotting Butera behind Walt Weiss of the Atlanta Braves and Craig Stammen of the San Diego Padres.

Butera, of course, is the youngest among all the first year managers after becoming the youngest to become an MLB manager since the 1970s, giving the Nationals juice after the Mike Rizzo era. CBS Sports pointed to Washington outperforming preseason expectations with the Nationals hovering around .500 throughout the season despite botching a handful of attempts to climb back over the hump.

Maybe the biggest question not related to the roster has been why the Nationals have struggled so mightily at home, yet still, it has been an encouraging start under the youth movement now taking over at Nationals Park.

Dayn Perry of CBS Sports noted the Nationals are "deep in a rebuilding process" while noting they're comfortably ahead of both the Philadelphia Phillies and New York Mets in both the division standings and run differential.