JOEY MENESES NEWS

Inks deal with Mets The Mets signed Meneses to a minor-league deal with an invite to MLB spring training, Jon Heyman of the New York Post reports.

Impact Meneses elected free agency Nov. 4 after the Nationals removed him from their 40-man roster. The 32-year-old was in the middle his third season in the big leagues before being optioned to Triple-A Rochester on July 4 as he was putting up his worst season yet. He had an OPS of .593 during 2024 with the Nationals, but was able to put up a .793 OPS after his demotion. The right-handed bat now has a chance to earn a spot on the roster of a National League East opponent.

NOVEMBER 21 • ROTOWIRE

Hits free-agent market Meneses elected free agency Monday, Bobby Blanco of MASNSports.com reports.

Impact The Nationals booted Meneses from their 40-man roster and he has opted to test out free agency rather than accepting an outright assignment. Meneses was a solid regular for the Nationals from 2022-23 but bottomed out with a .593 OPS in 2024 and spent much of the season in the minors.

NOVEMBER 4 • ROTOWIRE

Hits free-agent market Meneses elected free agency Monday, Bobby Blanco of MASNSports.com reports.

Impact The Nationals booted Meneses from their 40-man roster, and he has opted to test out free agency rather than accepting an outright assignment. Meneses was a solid regular for the Nationals from 2022-23 but bottomed out with a .593 OPS in 2024 and spent much of the season in the minors.

NOVEMBER 4 • ROTOWIRE

Optioned to Rochester The Nationals optioned Meneses to Triple-A Rochester on Thursday.

Impact Through 313 plate appearances, Meneses has slashed just .231./.291/.306 -- his worst season at the plate in his three-year MLB career -- and he'll now attempt to right the ship in the minors. Meanwhile, the Nationals will likely turn to Harold Ramirez or Ildemaro Vargas to start at first base until Joey Gallo (hamstring) is able to return from the injured list.

JULY 4 • ROTOWIRE

Heating up at plate Meneses went 2-for-4 with a double, a run scored and two RBI in Thursday's win over Atlanta.

Impact The 32-year-old has five hits in his last two games, and since a May 14 doubleheader against the Red Sox, Meneses is slashing .333/.385/.438 with two doubles, a homer and seven RBI over 13 contests. With the Nationals' lineup fully healthy again, Meneses will need to keep hitting if he wants to maintain regular playing time between first base and DH.

MAY 31 • ROTOWIRE

Losing out on regular role Meneses is out of the lineup for Wednesday's game against Atlanta, Bobby Blanco of MASNSports.com reports.

Impact Though he kept his spot on the 26-man active roster when the Nationals brought back Lane Thomas (knee) from the injured list Monday, Meneses appears to be the odd man out of the starting nine in the wake of the outfielder's return. Jesse Winker has served as the Nationals' designated hitter in two of the three games in Atlanta while Joey Gallo has started at first base twice during the series, closing off Meneses' primary avenues to playing time. Meneses should still have a spot in the lineup versus lefties, but the lefty-hitting Winker and Gallo appear poised to start ahead of him against righties.

MAY 29 • ROTOWIRE

Homers Wednesday Meneses went 2-for-4 with a solo home run in Wednesday's 3-2 loss to Minnesota.

Impact Menses made things interesting in the ninth inning Wednesday, launching a solo shot off Jhoan Duran to lead off the frame. The 32-year-old Meneses had gotten off to a slow start this year, though he's now 6-for-17 with a pair of extra-base hits in his last three contests. Overall, he's slashing .234/.299/.299 with two homers, 24 RBI and nine runs scored through 43 games on the campaign.

MAY 22 • ROTOWIRE

Resting Saturday Meneses isn't in the Nationals' lineup for Saturday's game against the Athletics, Andrew Golden of The Washington Post reports.

Impact Meneses went 1-for-4 during Friday's loss to the A's and will now receive his second day off in Washington's last three games. Jesse Winker will instead serve as the Nationals' DH, moving Eddie Rosario to left field while Jacob Young starts in center.

APRIL 13 • ROTOWIRE

Homers, collects three hits Meneses went 3-for-6 with a two-run homer in Wednesday's victory over the White Sox.

Impact Meneses singled in two of his first three at-bats before launching a two-run home run in the fifth to extend Washington's lead. The designated hitter has now homered in back-to-back games, collecting five RBI over that brief stretch, while it also marked his 14th game this season with at least three hits.

SEPTEMBER 21, 2023 • ROTOWIRE

Cranks pinch-hit homer Meneses went 1-for-1 with a three-run homer in Tuesday's win over the White Sox.

Impact Pinch-hitting for Blake Rutherford in the seventh inning, Meneses launched a clutch three-run homer off Bryan Shaw, putting the Nationals ahead 4-2 en route to a 4-3 victory. The homer was Menses' first in 37 games, with his last coming on Aug. 8. While he's only hit 12 homers this year, the 31-year-old Menses is still slashing a solid .279/.326/.406 with a team-high 84 RBI and 67 runs scored through 610 plate appearances.

SEPTEMBER 20, 2023 • ROTOWIRE

Not in lineup Tuesday Meneses is not in the lineup Tuesday versus the White Sox.

Impact Dominic Smith will start at first base for the Nationals as Keibert Ruiz takes a turn in the DH role and Drew Millas does the catching. Meneses went 0-for-4 in Monday's series opener against Chicago and is slashing just .222/.271/.259 in 59 plate appearances since the calendar flipped to September.

SEPTEMBER 19, 2023 • ROTOWIRE

Day off Saturday Meneses isn't in the Nationals' lineup Saturday against the Dodgers, Mark Zuckerman of MASNSports.com reports.

Impact Meneses will get a breather Saturday after going 1-for-4 with a run scored in Friday's series opener. Lane Thomas will fill in as the Nats' designated hitter while Jake Alu, Jacob Young and Travis Blankenhorn man the outfield.

SEPTEMBER 9, 2023 • ROTOWIRE

Gets rare day off Meneses is out of the lineup for Sunday's game against the Marlins, Mark Zuckerman of MASNSports.com reports.

Impact Meneses will head to the bench for just the ninth time all season and for the first time since July 28. His day off comes after he went 0-for-11 with four strikeouts over the first three games of the series. Prior to the dry spell at the dish, Meneses had cobbled together a seven-game hitting streak during which he batted .345 with seven RBI and three runs.

SEPTEMBER 3, 2023 • ROTOWIRE

Career-high five RBI in win Meneses went 2-for-5 with two doubles, five RBI and two runs scored in Thursday's win over the Red Sox.

Impact Meneses put the Nationals on top 3-1 with a two-run double in the bottom of the fifth and added another two-run double in the sixth to further extend the lead. The first baseman racked up a career-high five RBI on the afternoon and raised his batting average to .283 on the season with the two-hit performance. Meneses has now recorded multiple hits in two straight and in three of his last four, scoring six runs over that stretch to go along with his five RBI on Thursday.

AUGUST 18, 2023 • ROTOWIRE

Goes yard twice in nightcap Meneses went 2-for-5 with two home runs and three RBI in the second game of Tuesday's doubleheader against the Phillies.

Impact With the Nationals facing a 4-2 deficit in the seventh inning, Meneses took matters into his own hands, launching a two-run blast to left-center field off Jeff Hoffman before clubbing a game-winning solo shot off Craig Kimbrel in the top of the ninth. Meneses has gone yard four times in the last eight games, continuing a surge that started when the calendar flipped to July -- over his last 31 games, the 31-year-old is slashing .273/.326/.545 with nine of his 11 homers on the season.

AUGUST 9, 2023 • ROTOWIRE

Smacks clutch homer Meneses went 2-for-4 with a walk and a two-run home run in Friday's 6-3 victory over the Reds.

Impact Meneses touched up starter Graham Ashcraft for a game-tying home run in the eighth inning, his ninth homer of the season. He endured a power outage over the final two weeks of July as Meneses continues to be rather streaky. The late bloomer has five hits -- including two homers -- in his last four games, and fantasy managers will have to hope this is the start of a hot stretch.

AUGUST 5, 2023 • ROTOWIRE

Drives in three runs Meneses went 3-for-4 with a homer, a double and three RBI in Monday's win over Milwaukee.

Impact Meneses put the Nationals on the board with a solo shot in the second inning and later knocked a go-ahead, two-run single in the seventh. It was his second homer in the last six games and he's gone 10-for-25 (.400) during that stretch. His season slash line is up to .283/.324/.409 with 33 extra-base hits and 58 RBI through 426 plate appearances.

AUGUST 1, 2023 • ROTOWIRE

Getting day off Meneses is not in the lineup for Friday's game against the Mets, Mark Zuckerman of MASNSports.com reports.

Impact It looks to be a rare day off for Meneses. The Nationals are giving Jeimer Candelario a start in the designated hitter spot and covering third base with Ildemaro Vargas.

JULY 28, 2023 • ROTOWIRE

Socks seventh homer Meneses went 3-for-4 with a double, a three-run home run and a second run scored in Tuesday's 6-5 win over the Rockies.

Impact The 31-year-old supplied the big blow for the Nationals, taking Justin Lawrence deep in the eighth inning for the game's final runs. Meneses had a sluggish start to the season, but through 19 games in July he's slashing .268/.329/.535 with five of his seven homers on the season.

JULY 26, 2023 • ROTOWIRE

Fourth homer in three days Meneses went 1-for-3 with a solo homer in Sunday's 7-2 win over the Rangers.

Impact Meneses finished the first half of the 2023 campaign on a high note, clobbering four home runs during Washington's three-game series against Texas. Though his outburst was certainly encouraging for his post-All-Star break prospects, Meneses had only hit two long balls prior to the series, so fantasy managers shouldn't expect his newfound power to carry over. Through 83 games, Meneses is slashing .284/.328/.404 and is only striking out 20.2 percent of the time.

JULY 10, 2023 • ROTOWIRE

Power surge continues Meneses went 2-for-4 with a double, a home run and two RBI in Saturday's 8-3 win over the Rangers.

Impact He went back-to-back with Jeimer Candelario in the first inning against Andrew Heaney, helping the Nationals jump out to a 4-0 lead. Meneses has suddenly re-discovered his power stroke, going yard three times in the last two games after managing only two homers in his first 80 contests of the season.

JULY 9, 2023 • ROTOWIRE

Goes yard twice in loss Meneses went 2-for-4 with two solo home runs in Friday's 7-2 loss to the Rangers.

Impact The 31-year-old took Cody Bradford deep in the first inning and tagged Glenn Otto in the sixth, with both blasts going to deep left field. It's the first career two-homer performances for Meneses, who ended a brutal 47-game power drought in the process while doubling his home run total on the season. He's been making plenty of contact -- he hit .280 (51-for-182) during that homerless stretch -- but after he slugged 13 long balls in 56 games during his surprising big-league debut last year, more was expected from Meneses in 2023.

JULY 8, 2023 • ROTOWIRE

Not in starting nine Meneses will be on the bench for Saturday's game against the Phillies.

Impact Meneses finds himself on the bench for the second time in three games. The only previous time that's happened this season came when he missed a pair of games due in mid-May to paternity leave. It's possible he continues to lose playing time going forward, as his .283/.322/.371 slash line is good for merely an 89 wRC+, a mark which isn't close to good enough for a player who almost exclusively serves as the designated hitter. Corey Dickerson will fill that spot Saturday, with Ildemaro Vargas taking Dickerson's usual spot in left field.

JULY 1, 2023 • ROTOWIRE

On bench Wednesday Meneses is not in the lineup Wednesday against the Mariners, Mark Zuckerman of MASNSports.com reports.

Impact Meneses will take a day of physical and mental rest after going 0-for-5 with four strikeouts Tuesday. Keibert Ruiz is serving as the Nationals' designated hitter Wednesday and Riley Adams will start behind the plate.

JUNE 28, 2023 • ROTOWIRE

Collects three RBI Meneses went 2-for-5 with a double and three RBI in Sunday's win over the Padres.

Impact Meneses knocked an RBI single in the sixth inning followed by a two-run double in the seventh. He was stuck in a 7-for-38 (.184 skid) over his previous 10 games. Despite what's been a lackluster June, Meneses is hitting .293 with 18 doubles and 39 RBI through 72 games.

JUNE 26, 2023 • ROTOWIRE