FanGraphs Weekly Mailbag: April 11, 2026

I went to the Nationals-Cardinals game on Wednesday afternoon at Nats Park to check out the two rebuilding clubs early in the season. Washington has been in perpetual rebuilding for almost the entire 2020s, while St. Louis just demolished its roster so far this past season. And yet, with Chaim Bloom installed as the new president of baseball operations, a deep farm system, and several young position players coming into their own, the Cardinals seem closer to their next winning season than the Nationals.

That’s certainly the case on Wednesday, when the Cards beat the Nats, 6-1, to take two of three in the series. St. Louis first baseman Alec Burleson, the second-tallest player on the team, went 3-for-4 and scored three runs, while second baseman JJ Wetherholt made a couple of smooth plays in the field. Wetherholt, who entered this year as the 12th ranked hitter in baseball, has reached base in all 11 of his starts this year, and has hit one in 10 of them. (He went 0-for-4 with a walk and a run on Wednesday.) The big story, however, was Jordan Walker, who drove in his fifth home run of the season in the fifth inning. It was the 17th time in franchise history that a player has hit five home runs in his first 12 games to start a season. After two sub-par seasons, it seemed unlikely that Walker would ever make good on his previous pedigree, but now he looks like a completely different player. He seems very confident and makes the best swing decisions; he lifts the ball, while moving more and hitting less. Yes, it’s only been 12 games, but the first comeback is promising. He enters Friday night’s game hitting .295/.367/.682 for the Red Sox with a 192 wRC+.

I will talk more about the Nationals in my answer to the first question below. We’ll also answer your questions about the World Series teams whose players accumulated the most and least WAR at the end of their careers, the potential injuries that could keep the Dodgers from being World Series favorites, and the three most successful pitchers of all time. But first, I’d like to remind you that this post bag is only available to FanGraphs members. If you are not yet a Member and would like to continue learning, you can sign up for Membership here. It’s the best way to experience the site and support our staff, and it comes with tons of other great benefits. Also, if you’d like to ask a question about a future mailbag, email me at mailbag@fangraphs.com.