Uncustomed Heroes of 2025: Nationals

 

I think I can pinpoint exactly when the Nationals' 2025 season peaked. Opening Day, MacKenzie Gore struck out 13 Phillies in 6 innings. That was the first and only time this season the Nats would have any leverage. Because immediately after that, the Phils took over, kept them at 0-1, and the Nats would be struggling to play catch-up all year. They were 4 losses away from a 100-loss season, and they did win 4 games against the Phillies this year, so perhaps the Phils just saved them from a worse fate.

Regardless. The Nationals had the third-worst record in baseball a year after things seemed like they were on the up-and-up. The Marlins progressed, and even the Braves sort of came back to life a little by the end of the year. The Nats needed to improve from their still-alright 2024 if they wanted to stay out of last, and they couldn't. Adding James Wood to their core is a good thing, but the man struck out 221 times this year. Dylan Crews isn't all the way there yet either, and neither is Robert Hassell. So either 2026 is the year it all clicks, or these guys really need to rethink things.

One of those things might be Keibert Ruiz, who was the big takeaway from the Scherzer/Turner deal, and like fellow prospect Josiah Gray, he just hasn't amounted to much in Washington. In an injury-shortened year, Ruiz struggled to stay on target, hitting .247 with 25 RBIs in 68 games. Riley Adams had to make up a lot of the work, and he wasn't much better. Ruiz is signed til the end of the decade, and seriously needs to get himself together.

2026 Prediction: Okay, so let's be real. He's gonna be 27 next year, and though he's one of the foundational piece of this team, he's barely done the work to warrant it. I think the Nats will be forced to give Ruiz some starts at catcher next year, and some of them will go well, but with Harry Ford now waiting in the wings I do think he'll be phased out at some point.

Similarly, after finally breaking out last year at the plate, longtime Nats infielder Luis Garcia took a step back and put in some mediocre innings, hitting .252 with 16 homers and 66 RBIs. Some potent contact moments, but not nearly as much as last year.

2026 Prediction: Isn't starting at 2nd by the end of the year.

Then you have outfield speedster Jacob Young, who wasn't 2024-good, and actually led the league in caught steals this year, but was still a great asset for this team. Young's defense led to a lot of excellent catches and great outfield moments, and he still stole 15 bases in 120 games, despite a lack of real batting highlights.

2026 Prediction: Once again we need to be realistic. Next year, the outfield will include a fully healthy Dylan Crews, plus Robert Hassell and Daylen Lile, in addition to James Wood, though honestly Wood really should be starting at DH more. That makes Young the fifth string outfielder, and likely the backup centerfielder to Hassell. And plus guys like Christian Franklin and Nick Schell are back there, possibly ready and even worth dealing. Young is in a crowded field, and unless he makes himself known in this picture, he might be playing somewhere else next August.

To that point, the latter half of this season featured Daylen Lile, who initially struggled to find his footing and hit .234 in the first half, then hunkered down and took reps at RF, filling in for Crews, in the second half and took off. That second half for Lile came with a .333 average, 33 RBIs, 7 homers, 70 hits and, crucially, 10 triples, which turned a lot of heads. This finish to the season got Lile a ton of Rookie of the Year votes, and a surprising amount of confidence for a team that thought it had itself figured out.

2026 Prediction: The year that Wood had in power, Lile will have in contact. 

Andrew Alvarez was a September 'break in case of emergency' starter for the Nats, and it's honestly weird they only really needed one. Like maybe Cade Cavalli counts but they were always thinking he'd be back. Alvarez was killing it in the minors, they brought him up, he did the trick. In 5 starts, he had a 2.31 ERA and 20 Ks. In a year with varying degrees of Mitchell Parker, no D.J. Herz and Jake Irvin leading the league in earned runs, it's nice that somebody showed a little stability.

2026 Prediction: 15 starts, 4ish ERA, the occasional electric start.

Coming Tomorrow- A lot of Baltimore Orioles who were probably really confused as to why they didn't compete this year.