Philosophy of Nationals' New Boss Should Immediately Improve Pitching Staff
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The Washington Nationals need a complete overhaul of everything related to pitching.
When it comes to the players on the big league field, they were atrocious this past season with the second-worst staff ERA (5.35), worst bullpen ERA (5.59) and second-worst starter's ERA (5.18). That was a major reason why they had a poor record, and it was a shocking display from a staff that posted a 4.30 ERA in 2024.
However, the issues go beyond just that, as their top pitching prospects continue to suffer injuries on the farm that requires Tommy John procedures and sets their careers and timelines back by multiple years. In addition to that, the overall approach by the Nationals has been archaic.
According to FanGraphs data, Washington threw fastballs 55.6% of the time in 2025. That was the second-most behind only the Seattle Mariners, which isn't bad company to keep considering that team is in the ALCS and had the 13th-best staff ERA (3.87).
But the major difference between the Nationals and Mariners when it comes to their fastballs is velocity, as Washington averaged the second-slowest fastball velocity (93.7 mph) while Seattle averaged the second-fastest (95.2 mph).
Paul Toboni's Philosophy Should Change Pitching Approach by Nationals
The good news is the hiring of Paul Toboni to become the team's newest president of baseball operations should help with that. The Boston Red Sox were one of the teams at the forefront of moving away from fastball usage during his time there. And they threw it under 50% of the time in 2025, even while having the third-fastest velocity average at 95 mph.
Personnel will dictate what the Nationals can and can't do next season, but there's no doubt that Toboni and his staff will look into what the strengths of Washington's 2026 pitching group will be so they can be put into the best possible situations to succeed.
Of course, spending some money to add some better pitchers would help a lot, too. But it's not clear if the Lerners will be willing to open up their checkbooks this winter even after making an aggressive front office hire.
At the very least, though, Toboni's experience with the Red Sox as they have gotten away from heavy fastball usage should be a great asset to Washington heading into next season since this staff doesn't have pitchers who have overwhelming velocity.
Whether or not that will get the Nationals back to being an average pitching unit will be seen. But it at least should be an improvement upon what took place in 2025.
