PREVIEW Starts 8:15 PM ET · Busch Stadium
September 18, 2026 · NL Cent

Washington Nationals at St. Louis Cardinals

September 18, 20268:15 PM ETBusch Stadium
AWAY
Washington Nationals
56-61
@
HOME
St. Louis Cardinals
57-58

Lineups

Lineups are usually announced ~90 minutes before first pitch. Check back soon.

Hitter season stats

Season-to-date lines for each hitter in the projected lineup, with a Marcel projection (Proj OPS). Season columns are 2026 to date; Proj is a forward-looking estimate, not a result.

AWAY · WSH Projected · top 9 by AB
BATTER 2026 SEASON PROJ OPS
AVGOBPSLGOPSHRRBIK
1 Daylen Lile LF · L .242 .294 .411 .705 14 56 89 .759
2 CJ Abrams SS · L .287 .362 .551 .913 28 88 110 .743
3 Nasim Nuñez 2B · S .233 .317 .272 .589 1 33 79 .735
4 Jacob Young CF · R .242 .310 .397 .707 9 39 60 .707
5 Keibert Ruiz C · S .270 .307 .439 .746 7 38 31 .706
6 Dylan Crews RF · R .221 .300 .371 .671 9 25 62 .731
7 Jorbit Vivas 3B · L .236 .324 .327 .651 3 18 34 .733
8 José Tena DH · L .235 .304 .382 .686 5 20 66 .731
9 Brady House 3B · R .228 .282 .401 .683 8 27 62 .733
HOME · STL Projected · top 9 by AB
BATTER 2026 SEASON PROJ OPS
AVGOBPSLGOPSHRRBIK
1 Alec Burleson 1B · L .287 .351 .480 .831 18 77 76 .739
2 Jordan Walker RF · R .285 .343 .491 .834 22 81 119 .728
3 Iván Herrera DH · R .239 .355 .373 .728 12 47 89 .752
4 JJ Wetherholt 2B · L .248 .351 .388 .739 16 43 76 .746
5 Masyn Winn SS · R .238 .317 .317 .634 4 45 88 .732
6 Nathan Church CF · L .236 .283 .366 .649 9 35 63 .729
7 José Fermín LF · R .237 .297 .355 .652 5 24 30 .724
8 Pedro Pagés C · R .206 .251 .323 .574 4 11 45 .716
9 Blaze Jordan 3B · R .252 .271 .370 .641 1 22 20 .746

Manager comparison

AWAY · WSH
Blake Butera
Lineup 3.3 R Bunts 2.5 R IBBs 1.9 R
HOME · STL
Oliver Marmol
Lineup 2.9 R Bunts 2.5 R IBBs 2.0 R

Bullpen availability

AWAY · WSH
  • Available 6
  • Limited 2
  • Rest required 0
  • Inactive 0
HOME · STL
  • Available 8
  • Limited 0
  • Rest required 0
  • Inactive 0

Recent form

AWAY · WSH
2-8 L1 -19 run diff
LWLLLLLLLW
HOME · STL
4-6 W1 -9 run diff
WLWWLLLWLL

Pitching & bullpen preview

Probable starters and each bullpen's availability load in the sections above — the Nationals and Cardinals staffs going in.

Once the game ends, a full pitching and bullpen breakdown appears here: starter lines, the relief sequence and each arm's role, pitch counts, and where the game turned.

Keep reading

How RunsLeft analyzes games

Standard content on this page comes from the MLB Stats API. The pitching analysis describes how the game was pitched — the starter's line, the bullpen sequence and each arm's role (opener, bulk, setup, closer), pitch counts as a fatigue signal, and the leverage context where the game turned. Reliever roles are inferred from how the manager used each arm up to that date. It describes structure and constraints; it does not grade the manager.

Read the full methodology.