Nationals right fielder Joey Wiemer started the 2026 season on a historic run. Weimer reached base safely in his first 10 plate appearances of the season. His streak tied Carlos Delgado’s 2002 streak for the longest out-free start to a season. He didn’t record an out until his 11th plate appearance, grounding out against Phillies starter Taijuan Walker.
Wiemer entered Monday 6 for 6 with two walks on the season. He went 2 for 2 to begin the night in Philadelphia, including a first-inning infield single that was overturned after Wiemer was initially called out.
Here are the only players to start a season with an on-base streak of at least eight plate appearances (via MLB.com):
Longest streaks of reaching safely to begin an MLB season
- Joey Wiemer, 2026: 10 times
- Carlos Delgado, 2002: 10 times
- Yogi Berra, 1956: 9 times
- YermÃn Mercedes, 2021: 8 times
- Jeremy Hazelbaker, 2017: 8 times
- Gerónimo Peña, 1993: 8 times
- Steve Henderson, 1983: 8 times
These haven’t been cheap times on base, either. Wiemer has a triple and two home runs, and most of his singles have been hit hard. Through Sunday, he was averaging over 100 miles per hour exit velocity and his hard hit percentage was 83.3. Obviously those numbers will come down, but just as a point of reference, the MLB leaders in those categories last season were at 95.8 mph and 59.6%.Â
Simply, Wiemer’s been stinging the ball.Â
We’ll forgive you if you hadn’t previously heard of Wiemer. A fourth-round pick in 2020, he was a part-time player for the Brewers in 2023 (410 plate appearances in 132 games), but only appeared in 21 games in 2024 for the Brewers and Reds before appearing in 27 games for the Marlins last season. He entered 2026 a career .205/.279/.359 (74 OPS+) hitter.Â
It’s possible this is a just fluky start, but it’s also possible this new, Nationals coaching staff and front office has found and unlocked something in Wiemer. He’s 27 years old. It can happen.Â