Baseball fans rejoice! The Washington Nationals return to the field Thursday for opening day as they host the Philadelphia Phillies to kick off their 2025 season and start the 20th anniversary celebration.
First pitch is 4:05 p.m. Gates open at 2 p.m.
Opening Day details
The first 20,000 fans in attendance will receive an Opening Day “Next Gen Natitude” t-shirt.
Actor and former WWE wrestler Dave Bautista will be the special guest for Opening Day, and Washington Post columnist Thomas Boswell will throw out the first pitch. The Gay Men’s Chorus of Washington will perform “American the Beautiful” and D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser will give the call to “play ball.”
Other pregame festivities include an appearance by the world-famous Budweiser Clydesdales, red carpet player introductions and a giant American flag unfurling.[connatix_element_embed script_id=b58e4ff3178d49b68addfcb797e3e039 player_id=7bc491b4-922b-4e8d-b1b1-150648e80442 video_id=683fa492-6e1a-45ae-ad9f-f12bcfc07a20 align=right]
Fans can enjoy new food options, including a brand new food hall, and visit a renovated team shop that allows them to get their own baseball card made.
The new dishes include local restaurants to try, including 12 different spots starting in the park Thursday. One of the new ones is Ahi tuna ballpark nachos.
“There’s all of these diverse cuisines,” said Josh Satterthwaite, Vice President of Hospitality for Levy Restaurants.”
Fans can also purchase the Nationals’ new City Connect uniforms at the team’s store inside the stadium. The jerseys — named the District Blueprint – went on sale after a ceremony featuring Bowser on Sunday.
“This is the most exciting day of the year,” said Mike Carney, Chief Revenue Officer for the Nationals. “It’s a great day to duck out of work a couple of hours early and come down to the ballpark and watch the really exciting team we have on the field.”
When it comes to getting the grass green and ready to go, there are about 50 people actively working on it and the process begins at the end of the previous baseball season.
“Opening day, it’s exciting,” said John Turnour Director of Field Operations for the Nationals. “It went from what’s very typical of what grass looks like in the wintertime kind of that brown yellowish look and we looked like that a month ago.”
What to expect
Left-hander MacKenzie Gore has been selected as the Opening Day starter for Washington while 2024 NL Cy Young Award runner-up Zack Wheeler will pitch for Philadelphia.
The Nationals enter the 2025 season with optimism surrounding a young nucleus with upside but a minimal track record. After years of a rebuild, Washington will look to grow from a team of young and talented building blocks to championship contenders.
WTOP’s Dave Preston previews the upcoming season and explains why it could be a year to remember.
Weather
A light sweater may be enough for fans heading to Nationals Park.
After a chilly morning with below-freezing conditions, 7News First Alert Meteorologist Eileen Whelan says there should be ample sunshine, light winds and temperatures up around 60 degrees.
See more details on the forecast on WTOP’s weather page.
WTOP’s Kyle Cooper contributed to this report.