When the Washington Nationals take the field in 2021 they will be looking to rebound from a disappointing title defense that saw them never really get things going during an unprecedented, COVID-shortened season last year.
In 2021, Nationals games will be locally televised on MASN or MASN 2, while some will be on MLB Network (out of market only, but those will also be on MASN or MASN 2), and others may be nationally televised on ESPN, Fox or Fox Sports 1.
But if you don’t have cable, here’s how you can watch a live stream of every Nationals game in 2021, including options for both in-market and out-of-market fans:
Note: Heavy may earn an affiliate commission if you sign up via a link on this pageIf You’re in the Nationals Market: AT&T TV
AT&T TV is the only streaming service that includes MASN and MASN 2, so if you live in-market, this is the only way to watch every Nationals game live online without cable.
There are four different channel packages: “Entertainment”, “Choice”, “Ultimate” and “Premier.” ESPN, Fox and FS1 are included in every bundle, while MASN, MASN 2 and MLB Network are included in the “Choice” and above bundles.
The “Choice” channel package is $84.99 per month, but you can pick any package and any add-on you want with your free 14-day trial.
Note that the free trial isn’t advertised as such, but your “due today” amount will be $0 when signing up. If you watch on your computer, phone or tablet, you won’t be charged for 14 days. If you watch on a streaming device on your TV (Roku, Fire Stick, Apple TV, etc.), you will be charged for the first month, but you can get still get a full refund if you cancel before 14 days:
Once signed up for AT&T TV, you can watch every Nationals game live on the AT&T TV app, which is available on your Roku, Roku TV, Amazon Fire TV or Fire Stick, Apple TV, Chromecast, Samsung Smart TV, iPhone, Android phone, iPad or Android tablet. Or you can watch on your computer via the AT&T TV website.
If you can’t watch a game live, AT&T TV also comes with 20 hours of Cloud DVR storage (with the ability to upgrade to unlimited hours for an extra $10 per month).
If You’re Out of the Nationals Market: MLB.TV on Amazon
Amazon Prime subscribers (Prime comes with a 30-day free trial) can watch every out-of-market, non-nationally televised MLB game on the Amazon Prime MLB.TV channel.
It costs either $24.99 per month to watch every out-of-market game (“All Team Pass”) or $109.99 for the year to just watch out-of-market Nationals games (“Single Team Pass”), but either option comes with a free seven-day trial:
Once you’re signed up for the MLB.TV Prime Video channel, out-of-market viewers can watch Nationals games live on the Prime Video app on your Roku, Roku TV, Amazon Fire TV or Fire Stick, Apple TV, Chromecast, Nvidia Shield, Xiaomi, Echo Show, Echo Spot, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, most Smart TV’s, iPhone, Android phone, iPad or Android tablet. You can also watch on your computer via the Amazon website.
If you can’t watch live, all games are available on-demand by the next day.
If You’re Out of the Nationals Market: MLB.TV
Note: This is ultimately the same as the Amazon Prime option above, only you’ll watch games on MLB’s digital platforms instead of Amazon’s
You can watch all out-of-market, non-nationally televised MLB games via MLB.TV. It costs $24.99 per month or $129.99 for the year to watch every out-of-market game, or $109.99 for the year to just watch out-of-market Nationals games, but the monthly and yearly all-team options include a free seven-day trial (the single-team option does not):
Once signed up for MLB.TV, out-of-market viewers can watch Nationals games live on the MLB TV app on your Roku, Roku TV, Amazon Fire TV or Fire Stick, Apple TV, Chromecast, Xbox One, PlayStation 4, various Smart TV’s, Samsung Smart TV, Android TV, iPhone, Android phone, iPad or Android tablet. You can also watch on your computer via the MLB.TV website.
If you can’t watch live, all games are available on-demand by the next day.
If You’re Out of the Nationals Market: ESPN+
This isn’t going to be an option to watch many Nationals games, but if you’re looking for a cheap way to watch a random MLB game daily, ESPN+ will have at least one out-of-market game every day during the regular season:
In addition to one live MLB game every day, ESPN+ also has college baseball and other college sports, UFC, international soccer and dozens of other live sports, every 30-for-30 documentary, and additional original content (both video and written) all for $5.99 per month.
Or, if you also want Disney+ and Hulu, you can get all three for $13.99 per month, which works out to about 31 percent savings:
Once signed up for ESPN+, out-of-market viewers can watch select MLB games live on the ESPN app on your Roku, Roku TV, Amazon Fire TV or Fire Stick, Apple TV, Chromecast, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, iPhone, Android phone, iPad or Android tablet.
You can also watch on your computer via ESPN.com.
Nationals 2021 Season Preview
The Washington Nationals got off to slow starts the past two seasons – one resulted in a World Series title in 2019 and one ended with a last-place finish in 2020. The difference was that due to the 60-game, pandemic-shortened season last year, the Nats didn’t have enough time to recover from two months of poor baseball.
The highly-touted Nationals pitching rotation let them down in 2020 – Max Scherzer and Patrick Corbin had down years, Stephen Strasburg missed the majority of the season due to injury and Joe Ross opted out. The limited depth coupled with one of the worst defenses in the league put the Nats in a deficit they weren’t able to overcome to make it back to October.
In the offseason, Washington went out and grabbed a few big-name free agents, including Kyle Schwarber, Josh Bell, Brad Hand and Jon Lester.
Schwarber and Bell will provide protection for one of the MVP favorites going into the season – the 2020 NL batting champ, Juan Soto. The veteran Lester solidifies a pitching rotation that lacks depth but features Max Scherzer, Patrick Corbin and Stephen Strasburg – that when healthy, are one of the top 1-2-3 punches from the mound in the game. Hand, the three-time All-Star lefty reliever, will slot in as closer out of the gate.
The Nationals will roll-out a veteran squad in 2021, with just two players under the age of 25 – Soto and Victor Robles. The average age of their starting rotation is 33 (Lester, 37; Scherzer, 36; Strasburg, 32; Corbin, 31; Ross, 27).
Let’s take a full look at what the Nationals will be bringing to the table in 2021, as they look to get back to the postseason:
2020 Recap
Finished 26-34, tied for last in NL East
Spent only one day in first place
Plagued by poor defense – third-worst batting average on balls in play
Offseason Summary
Key Additions: Kyle Schwarber, Josh Bell, Brad Hand and Jon Lester
Projected Lineup
1. Trea Turner – SS (2020 – 12 HR, 41 RBI, .335 AVG, 12 Steals in 59 games, 7th in NL MVP voting)
2. Juan Soto – RF (2020 – 13 HR, 37 RBI, .351 AVG, NL batting champion, 5th in NL MVP voting)
3. Josh Bell – 1B (Will be playing his first season for the Nationals after spending five years in Pittsburgh; Was an All-Star in 2019, when he finished with 37 HR and 116 RBI)
4. Kyle Schwarber – LF (Will be playing his first season for the Nationals after spending six years in a Cubs uniform; Best season came in 2019 when he finished with 38 HR and 92 RBI)
5. Starlin Castro – 3B (Four-time All-Star enters his 12th season in the big leagues and second as a National)
6. Josh Harrison – 2B (Two-time All-Star takes the field for his second season in Washington)
7. Yan Gomes – C (2020 – 4 HR, 13 RBI, .284 AVG in 30 games)
8. Victor Robles – CF (Struggled in 2020, hitting .220 in 52 games; Put up solid numbers in 2019 with 17 HR, 65 RBI, .255 AVG and 28 steals)
*BENCH: Alex Avila C, Ryan Zimmerman 1B, Josh Harrison INF, Andrew Stevenson OF
Projected Pitching Rotation
1. Max Scherzer – RHP (The Nationals’ ace needs 216 strikeouts to reach the 3,000K milestone; 7-time All-Star and 3-time Cy Young Award winner was 5-4 with a 3.74 ERA in 12 starts in 2020)
2. Patrick Corbin – LHP (Struggled mightily in 2020, going 2-7 with a 4.66 ERA in 11 starts)
3. Stephen Strasburg – RHP (After going 18-6 in 2019 and winning the World Series MVP, he only made two starts and was lost for the season due to an injury to his wrist)
4. Jon Lester – LHP (The five-time All-Star enters his 16th season and first go-around with the Nats)
5. Joe Ross – RHP (Opted out of the 2020 season)
Projected Bullpen
Brad Hand – Closer
Daniel Hudson
Tanner Rainey
Will Harris
Wander Suero
Kyle Finnegan
Luis Avilán
Erick Fedde
Austin Voth
Projected Lineups via MLB & CBS Sports
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