Washington Nationals 2025 Season

THE LEAD

You don’t want to read too much into just six games, but taken altogether, the early returns are…not good at all. While the starting pitching has been good enough to excellent in each of the six games (we can’t expect MacKenzie Gore to pitch like literal Bob Gibson every time he takes the mound), and three hitters (CJ Abrams, Keibert Ruiz, and Nathaniel Lowe) have come roaring out of the gates (a combined 22-for-69 with 6 of the Nats’ 9 home runs and 15 of 21 RBI), the rest of it has been pretty uninspiring. The bullpen has given up at least a run in every game so far, and walked 18 batters and given up 23 hits in 19 2/3 innings (that’s a WHIP of 2.085, which is execrable).

Defensively, while there have been a few spectacular plays, including by the much-maligned Abrams, the Nats have also failed to finish a number of innings thanks to some sloppy glovework. Hitless Jacob Young, he of the 97th percentile sprint speed across all of MLB, has gotten himself thrown out twice in three tries at stealing bases, including yesterday afternoon to end the game, and may have only been successful on the one because the equally hitless Dylan Crews was stealing in front of him.

Speaking of Crews, the supposedly high-floor, can’t-miss outfielder that the Nationals have banked many of their hopes on has more strikeouts (10, half of them on just three pitches) than balls put in play (8) - all of which have found gloves so far. Designated hitter Josh Bell, at $6 million the second-most expensive free agent signing of the past winter of “hitting the gas,” is 2-for-24 (one of which was a swinging bunt yesterday) while fouling off middle-middle fastballs by the case.

Other than that, how was the play, Mrs. Lincoln?

 Washington Nationals 2025 Season

Game Recap

MacKenzie Gore was not Bob Gibson again in his second start, unfortunately, allowing nine hits and three runs - all earned - while walking a pair and striking out five in five innings. The biggest positive takeaway from his outing was that he did not let a single one of those innings get out of control, showing a degree of mental fortitude far superior to that in similar situations last year. To be sure, in the second inning he was bailed out by the thinnest of replay margins (on the end of a relay from Dylan Crews to Amed Rosario to Keibert Ruiz to just barely get Ernie Clement by a whisker), followed immediately by a diving catch by Crews on a sinking Bo Bichette liner. But in both the fourth and fifth innings, he stranded multiple Jays after surrendering a run, either or both of those situations last year would have turned into a crooked number as Gore lost his composure entirely.

At the plate, the Nats were befuddled for five innings by journeyman southpaw Easton Lucas, a 28-year-old on his fifth organization who never managed better than a 3.87 ERA in college despite playing half his games in the pitcher’s haven of Eddy D. Field Stadium in Malibu, California (the prevailing ocean breezes and batter’s eye of the actual Pacific Ocean do plenty to stymie offense). Lucas held the Nats to a Keibert Ruiz single before giving way to a procession of four relievers.

CJ Abrams hit a carbon copy of his Monday home run off of the first one (Brendon Little), but that was the only further hit the good guys managed until the ninth, when they strung together three two-out hits and a run off of closer Jeff Hoffman (a James Wood single - what felt like the first ball that got past human vacuum Andrés Giménez all series - followed by a Nathaniel Lowe double and the aforementioned Josh Bell swinging bunt single before Jacob Young was hosed at second base to end the game). And thus Toronto completed the sweep, sending the Nationals back home at 1-5 overall.

 Washington Nationals Analysis

How Much Longer?

It isn’t just the losses piling up early; it’s how they are doing it. The team is now 7-for-42 with runners in scoring position after going 1-for-1 yesterday, although Bell’s infield single didn’t score a run. The bullpen is flammable; its only three relievers that one could squint and call reliable are a guy whom the Nats non-tendered and left on the market deep into February for anyone else to sign (Kyle Finnegan), a flame-throwing 25-year-old with a mountain of promise but a molehill of experience (Jose A. Ferrer), and a dude who got DFA’d last season by the most Real Housewives franchise of them all - the Mets, obviously - for chucking his glove into the stands after a meltdown (Jorge López).

Hopefully, Brad Lord and Orlando Ribalta - who allowed one unearned run, one hit, and no walks yesterday in their three combined innings of work - can prove themselves worthy of high-leverage work immediately. The base running has been spotty, not just yesterday’s walk-off CS. Batter after batter beats the ball into the ground (32 ground ball outs this series). I feel like I’ve seen this movie before. And the production team hasn’t changed. How long can this quality of play go on before any changes are made?

If they do indeed get swamped by the Snakes and Doyers and then don’t turn in at least a .500 road trip against the only NL teams with a serious claim to be worse than the Nats (the Marlins, Pirates, and Rockies - although the Nats are currently lined up to face BOTH Alcántara and Skenes on that ten-game road swing), will there be any kind of shakeup? Or will this be yet another year of “throw young guys at the wall and see who sticks”?

 theFUTURE

Down on the Farm Update: Rochester Red Wings

Yesterday’s Rochester Red Wings game was postponed due to bad weather. Yeah, it was pretty cold. So today there will be a double-header with both games lasting only seven innings. The first game is at 1:05 p.m. EDT, and RHP Hyun-il Choi is scheduled to get the start in the afternoon, and then RHP Chase Solesky is scheduled to make his Rochester Red Wings debut during the second game. Bill, our Rochester Red Wings beat reporter, will cover all the action from Innovative Field up in Rochester. Be sure to follow him on X and our dedicated X handle that focuses on the Washington Nationals Minor Leagues. For Nats Report+ subscribers, we will have a prospect profile of RHP Chase Solesky on the site later today.

No one covers the Washington Nationals’ minor leagues like we do here at the Nats Report. Be sure to tell your fellow Washington Nationals fans to like, subscribe, and follow us on all social media channels and subscribe to the Nats Report today!

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 WHAT WE THINK THE NATIONALS FRONT OFFICE IS READING

Speed Reads

📌 Senate committee advances bill to fund Major League Baseball stadium in Portland (KATU ABC 2 Portland)

📌 Juan Soto spent 3 weeks with his minor-league host family. Memories endure 7 years later (The Athletic)

📌 Every team and player in MLB using the new 'torpedo' bat (Fox Sports)