Fun Fact: Only one team wins the World Series every year. Which means 29 teams don’t win the final game of the year which according to Moneyball means their season didn’t fucking matter. When a team gets eliminated from winning the World Series I’ll do a profile of their season.
The Washington Nationals
How Did They Get Eliminated
August 31st the Nationals were no longer able to win the division when they lost their 8th straight game capping off a 9-19 August. They would bounce back from getting eliminated from the division and managed to sweep the Marlins and take 2 of 3 from the Cubs. They would then go on to split a series with the Marlins in Miami. They were able to hang in contention thanks to a long losing streak by the Mets. But a 5-1 loss to Pittsburgh sealed their fate.
What Do I Know About This Team Because I Only Follow the Brewers
The weekend before they played the Brewers they fired both their manager and general manager. It always seems like the Brewers will play a team that has just fired their manager.
Whenever this happens that team will win at least 2 games against the Brewers. Luckily for the team I follow that didn’t happen. The Brewers would sweep the Nationals heading into the All-Star Break.
The Brewers would then go to DC and get more hits against the Nationals than any team had ever gotten in a 3 game series. The Brewers absolutely singled the Nationals to death and that was the start of the Brewers 14 game winning streak.
I can’t name a single player on this team. Which is pretty common for the first few articles of teams that are getting eliminated first.
Dave Martinez seemed like a good manager, but in reality he had one good season where he took the Nationals to the World Series, and that was as the Wild Card team. He somehow was able to ride the wave of that Championship through Covid and into the 2025 season.
This team will always, to me, be the team that knocked the Brewers out of the playoffs in the Wild Card game in 2019. I was in Florida watching the game and was surprised that the Brewers were actually hanging on to a lead late in the game and on the road. Well thanks to Juan Soto and a horribly timed error the Brewers magic ran out. If Yelich doesn’t shatter his leg against the Marlins the Brewers could have gone on another run. But alas, the Nationals win, and then they go on to win the World Series.
That was essentially the peak for the Nationals.
We once were the host family for the Play-by-Play announcer for the Wausau Woodchucks. He was a Nationals fan.
So Now That I’ve Actually Done Some Research What Happened to this Team
The Nationals didn’t start out that bad, they were only 2 games under .500 through May, but since then they’ve gone 33-57, the 2nd worst record in the NL in that time; just one game better than the Rockies. They would have an 11 game losing streak in the month of June which was the precursor to the firing of Martinez.
The pitching staff is one of the worst in the league. They have the 2nd worst WHIP and 3rd worst total strikeouts. They’ve given up the 6th most dingers on the season and opponents have the 2nd highest batting average against them.
The offense wasn’t much better: 28th in home runs hit, 23rd in slugging and 21st in On-base percentage. They don’t take their walks and they are 27th in that category.
The Nationals held a fire sale at the deadline and got rid of some guys that were heading into free agency. Most notable was their closer Kyle Finnegan. While this didn’t balance out the books and unload a ton of salary it paved the way for what the Nationals will be for the next few seasons. A rebuilding team that will have a new manager in 2026 and new GM who is going to have to build this team from the ground up.
Did Anything Go Right For This Team
They got the number one pick in the draft and used it on Eli Willits who they have started right away in A ball. He is already their number one prospect but is only 17 years old. He probably won’t be up with the Nats for awhile but they have a high ceiling shortstop they can build around.
This team doesn’t strike out a lot which is good, and they are in the top ten in average with Runners in Scoring Position.
Its actually pretty rare that you can start almost absolutely fresh with a GM/front office philosophy right before the draft. So the Nationals can basically burn the place to the ground (quick send in the National Guard!) and rebuild from there in the off-season. It can almost be freeing if you are a Nationals fan to know that you have to start from scratch, have some low expectations, and maybe build something great. (Is that something going right? I don’t know. It also doesn’t matter)
Are They Going to Get Good Anytime Soon?
Steven Straussburg is going to make $35 million next year from the Nationals. Fun Fact: Steven Strasburg is retired. The biggest payout on the team next year is going to a guy that isn’t going to pitch an inning for the team. So that could tell you a lot about where this team is heading in the next few years.
Some key pieces for the Nationals will be coming back. They have Keibert Ruiz locked up as their catcher for the next 5 years. I’ll call out some more guys below when I have Grok help me out.
Their farm system is ranked 23rd and according to their write up on MLB.com it sounds like the draft has more promise than any of the players they got from the trade deadline which can be a problem if the plan is to compete in the near future.
Their top two pitching prospects will likely be a couple of years away as they haven’t shown great stats in the minors. They have a ton of shortstops in their top prospect list which, I guess, you can never have too many of them and they can probably move around to third or second base.
But with a new staff in the dugout and in the front office it looks like this team is going to be building until Willits makes his big league debut which is at least 3 years away.
Just one postseason award.
Let’s throw a NL Silver Slugger Award at James Wood. 27 HRs, 31 Doubles, and 86 RBIs leads all Left Fielders and his OPS is 2nd in the NL.
Hey Grok, in 100 words summarize the 2025 Washington Nationals. Please don't be racist.
The 2025 Washington Nationals season has been a challenging one, marked by significant organizational changes. As of August 25, the team holds a record of 53-77, placing them in last in the NL East. In-season changes included the firing of both General Manager Mike Rizzo and manager Dave Martinez on July 6, signaling a shift in leadership. On the field, young prospects are emerging, with James Wood leading the team in home runs (26) and hits (123). MacKenzie Gore has been a bright spot on the pitching staff with a 4.11 ERA and 170 strikeouts.
Hey there’s two players I can do a little more research on. So let’s start with James Wood. Yeah, he is the stud. He was part of the Juan Soto trade and its looking like the Nationals are coming out on top on this one. Not only is Wood a good offensive player, but he is also pretty solid in the field as well with a .991 fielding percentage. It also says a lot about where the Nationals are because I watched the whole Home Run Derby and forgot that Wood was in it. And thanks to Grok I mentioned him above in the only one award section.
Mackenzie Gore was also a part of that Juan Soto trade. He gives up a lot of home runs and lead the league in wild pitches last year and leads the league in wild pitches this year as well. He still seems like a work in progress, but he’s in the rotation getting the reps and that’s what matters when you on a rebuilding team like this.
Did the Savannah Bananas Play at their Fieldt his year?
They did! A Nationals community website “Federal Baseball” praised the Bananas for putting an entertaining product on the field something the Nationals don't seem interested in doing.
Yeah, that sounds about right.
Is there a baseball movie that focuses on this team that doesn’t understand how baseball works?
No movies and barely even mentions of the Expos in past movies either. If they do want to feature the Nationals it should be a National Treasure movie. Maybe they’ll find a clue under home plate. Nicolas Cage will do it, he’ll do any movie.
How Will Your Team Do Next Year?
This team has played good September baseball and won a series against a Cubs team that is trying to climb back into a divisional race. They have a lot of young talent that will get some time to shine, but this team will probably be at the bottom of the standings again, they have a promising draft class and they have a few guys in the bigs now that could help them but its probably going to be another struggle. Next year 64-98.
Next on the Chopping Block
Looks like on the same day the Nationals got bounced from the playoffs the Twins will be joining the club as well.