Washington Nationals 2025 Season

THE LEAD

Well, the only transaction that came across the wire yesterday was the Nats returning Andry Lara to Rochester after he served as the extra player in Sunday’s Coors Field doubleheader (but did not get into either game). Which means that, yes, the barbershop quartet (from the Upside Down) of Colin Poche, Lucas Sims, Eduardo Sálazar, and Jorge López is still intact in the bullpen. I’m old enough to remember a time when Mike Rizzo would have jettisoned a reliever with double-digit appearances and a WHIP well north of 2.000 (Sims and Sálazar both - Poche has appeared nine times but has the highest WHIP of anyone at 3.176, which means he more than loads the bases in every inning he pitches). Heck, my dogs are old enough to remember that time, but alas, poor Yorick, it is no more. Now everyone gets multiple opportunities to fail to play at an acceptable major league level - those four are a combined 2.3 wins below replacement level just three weeks into the season. Egad. Sell the team, Mark.

 Washington Nationals 2025 Season

Game Recap

There was no game yesterday, as the Nationals got to enjoy a day off at home after a late flight back from Denver thanks to the split doubleheader. They will take on the Oreos today, with Dean Kremer pitching for the Birds and (maybe staff ace???) Mitchell Parker taking the hill for the good guys. First pitch is scheduled for 6:45 PM.

 STORY TYPE

Garbage Plates? No, Just Garbage.

What on earth is happening with the Rochester Red Wings? Before the season it looked like more or less their entire roster had promise of a big league career in some role or another, but here on April 22 they are the Colorado Rockies of the International League, limping along at 4-15 and already ten games out of first place in their division. They are sporting a -52 run differential (one run worse than the Rockies) and have a collective slash line that wouldn’t look out of place on Jacob Young’s baseball card (.240/.330/.357). You never want to pay too much attention to minor league records and game results, but this sure looks out of character for a roster that was supposed to be in position to supplement a major league roster that itself was supposed to be winning more games this year.

There are some caveats. Eight players on the Nats’ 40-man roster (CJ Abrams, Paul DeJong, Andrés Chaparro, Derek Law, Zach Brzykcy, Orlando Ribalta, Michael Soroka, and Cade Cavalli) are currently on either the 10-day or 15-day injured list, which of course has a knock-on effect for both the Nats and the Red Wings, and DJ Herz’s blown elbow shortened the expected pitching depth as well. This spring has been pretty cold and miserable on the Great Lakes, and that has translated to many Rochester performances. Three of their four best hitters thus far are their catchers (Brady Lindsly, Andrew Kninzer, and Drew Millas), who of course rarely play in the same lineup. Five regulars or quasi-regulars have an OPS below .600 (Robert Hassell III, Juan Yepez, Nasim Nuñez, Darren Baker, and Stone Garrett). Tyler Stuart - expected to be a rotation anchor and possible call-up to the big club this season - has yet to pitch due to an undisclosed injury, and just one Red Wings starter (Shinnosuke Ogasawara) has a WHIP lower than 1.500. Things aren’t looking great for Rochester right now, and that will affect the Nationals as well (and may give the stinkier members of the Nats’ bullpen some more rope).

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 WHAT WE THINK THE NATIONALS FRONT OFFICE IS READING

Speed Reads

📌 The Legend of the Fenway Pizza Chucker (ESPN)

📌 Soto Getting Pitched As Carefully As Ever (Fangraphs)

📌 Acuña Has A Point (The Athletic)