Uncustomed Heroes of 2024: Nationals

 

The Nationals, with another year of rebuilding after the dissolution of the 2019 squad, came very close to cementing a core for the coming seasons, by combining what worked in 2023 with new rookies who could immediately jump in and keep the momentum. You can definitely say that the 2025 team is gonna have more answers, and more confident answers, than the past few years. Yet at the same time...this team had two all-stars, one of them was just cut and the other was sent to the minors as a punishment for going to a casino to take part in completely legal, non-sports gambling.

And that's what kills me. C.J. Abrams should be in position to lead this team going forward, and yet I have no idea what his 2025 is going to be because I don't know how he'll perform with this level of organizational scrutiny on him. So that's depressing.

More depressing still is the deflation of Keibert Ruiz, from a can't miss prospect to...honestly, a perfectly serviceable catcher with minimal offensive production. This was Ruiz's best defensive season as a National, but he only hit .229 with 13 home runs and 57 RBIs. By most standards, fine. But it just seems like a step down after two seasons that rose in quality. This was gonna be a major centerpiece of the team going forward, and...I dunno, he's sort of evening out on the more 'passable' side.

2025 Prediction: 25 home runs. An improvement. As the team will be.

One of the reasons why I am confident that the Nationals will be better in 2025 is that, for the first time since 2019, they won't have to carry around Patrick Corbin's contract like a dead horse. In six years with the Nats, Corbin had one fantastic year, one okay pandemic-shortened year, and four absolutely miserable seasons, three of which saw him as a league leader in losses. This year he led the league in both earned runs and hits, as he made, like the previous few years, all of his starts. They just weren't very good. He finished with a 5.62 ERA, 139 Ks and a 1.500 WHIP. You cannot say the man hasn't been consistent as a National, as he's missed little to no time with injuries. He just...doesn't really have what made him so desirable in 2019 anymore. And the thing is, there were moments this season where Corbin was actually good, and it made teams mad. Like 'we're really losing to THIS GUY??'. But ultimately, Corbin is finally through with his contract, and the Nats can use his rotation spot to keep Irvin, Parker, Herz and Gore together all year. 

2025 Prediction: I know of nobody who'd actually see any positives in picking Corbin up, but somebody's clearly going to. He'll get his ERA closer to 4 somehow. Cause wouldn't it be funny if Washington was the problem?? Or if it was just the current administration that made him suck from January 2021 til January 2025? That ought to be STUDIED if that's the case, cause Josh Hader didn't drop off like that in this period.

Surprisingly, Trevor Williams, who was an Opening Day rotation member, actually put together an excellent season for the Nats, after a couple years of just bobbing along. In 13 starts, Williams went 6-1 with a 2.03 ERA, plus a 1.035 WHIP. It's without a doubt the best pitching performance on this team, which makes it so unfortunate that after two months, Williams went down with an injury and didn't come back til September. It did pave the way for Parker and Herz, but it also robbed the Nats of a proven veteran starter.

2025 Prediction: A pretty useful back-half starter for a competitor, though he may have to pitch out of the 'pen upon overflow.

The saga of Joey Gallo is becoming less funny and more sad. Whatever this man could pull together in Arlington during the late 2010s just seems far rarer now, and all that remains is a below-average power bat. In an injury-shortened year in Washington, during which he may or may not have knocked up Mark Davis's S.O., Gallo hit .161 with 10 homers and 27 RBIs in 76 games. Thrilling stuff.

2025 Prediction: Wherever he lands next, he's not making it to June.

The single best relief performance of 2024, better than even Kyle Finnegan, belonged to Derek Law, the former Giants reliever who'd been trying to pull together a full season performance for years with no avail. The closest he got was last year in Cincinnati, but even that had its flaws. With the Nats this year, Law finally felt fully untouchable; in 75 appearances, Law went 7-4 with a 2.60 ERA, 76 strikeouts and a 1.9 WAR. The Nats needed a guy like him this season.

2025 Prediction: Nothing as fully healthy as this season.

During the Gallo drought, the Nats brought up Juan Yepez, former Cardinals power bat from the 2022 postseason, to play a similar role. Yepez surprisingly has become a lot more versatile in Washington, and managed to hit .283 with 6 homers and 26 RBIs in 62 games. Far more accurate than Gallo, that's for sure, and in a way that gained him a ton of fans.

2025 Prediction: Similar DH role, though with the occasional dry spell.

Now for a ton of the September/August rookies. In addition to James Wood, Mitchell Parker and D.J. Herz, the Nats brought up their other huge organizational prospect, outfielder Dylan Crews. Crews was brought up in a series against the Yankees, and if that's not a way to welcome somebody to the bigs, I don't know what is. In 31 games, the 22-year-old Crews hit .218 with 3 homers and 8 RBIs, plus a 0.6 WAR owing mostly to his outfield play. He's still new at this, but he's going into 2025 with some major league experience.

2025 Prediction: Oh, him and Wood are gonna set the league on fire next year. Probably not right out of the gate, but it's gonna happen.

Jose Tena was a Lane Thomas return that had no room in Cleveland to play consistently. Thankfully the Nats' infield plan is still in flux, and Tena got some nice time to prove himself there. In 41 games he hit .274 with 43 hits, 15 RBIs and 3 homers. There is some under-the-radar pop hiding in this guy, and he could be a nice piece going forward.

2025 Prediction: The Nats' search for an everyday third baseman is over. Tena has a full breakout year here.

And in a classy move, the Nats brought up Darren Baker for 9 games to end the season. Baker is no stranger to the MLB level, as he was a regular presence in his father Dusty's Giants dugouts. But now, one year after his dad's retirement, Darren finally gets his MLB shot. He got a chance to display his fiery contact work, with 7 hits including 2 doubles, giving him a .500 average to start his career.

2025 Prediction: The only thing about Baker is that I'm not sure if the Nats know where to put him, as the spots are filling up. I say he plays a bench role in limited appearances next year, but there's some incredible moments in there.

Coming Tomorrow- A lot of leftovers from an Orioles team that should have done more in the postseason.