Washington Nationals Enter 2025 Season With Plenty of Roster Turnover

The Washington Nationals made a lot of moves this offseason, so their Big League roster is going to look a bit different in 2025.

Theo DeRosa of MLB.com took a look at teams with the most roster turnover heading into the new year. To calculate this, DeRosa looked at FanGraphs projections and took plate appearances for hitters and batters faced for pitchers. He then got a combined percentage in which he labeled roster turnover.

Washington ranks fifth in the MLB on that list with 34.5% of their projected plate appearances and batters faced coming from new players.

Who are the new faces in the Nationals lineup?

Well, the first player may not totally count, but Dylan Crews is one of them. Crews played in just 31 games last season, but he is poised for a full year of Big League baseball in 2025. There are a lot of high hopes for Crews, so there could be a National League Rookie of the Year award in his future.

As for true newcomers, Nathaniel Lowe leads the pack.

Lowe was acquired via trade with the Texas Rangers.

The 29-year-old hit .265/.361/.401 with 16 home runs, 69 RBI and he has a great eye at the plate. Additionally, the Mississippi State product is one of the better defensive first baseman in the MLB. He won the American League Gold Glove award in 2023, but 2024 was just as good a season for him in the field.

The Nationals also signed Josh Bell this offseason.

Bell has already spent time in D.C., and he played well in the nations capital. The switch hitter slashed .278/.363/.483 and he had his two highest WAR seasons with the Nationals.

The first baseman - who will most likely be the designated hitter - played 145 games in 2024. He slashed .249/.319/.405 with 19 home runs. The 32-year-old has some pop left in his bat, so the Nationals are hoping he can keep that up this year.

Paul DeJong is the third new face in the starting nine.

DeJong is someone that has a lot of pop, but does not hit for a whole bunch of average. He is coming off a 24-homer season, but has a career batting average of just .229. The infielder can play well defensively, though. He should be the starting third baseman out of camp for Washington.

Amed Rosario will also get some playing time, but he will most likely be a platoon player.

On the mound, Washington made a couple key additions to their bullpen while also snagging a starting a pitcher.

These pitchers include Michael Soroka, Lucas Sims, Jorge Lopez and Shinnosuke Ogasawara.

Soroka has not been the same since he missed two full season due to injury. Still, the Nationals saw enough out of him last year to give him a chance. He is having a great spring training, which has solidified his spot in the rotation.

Lucas Sims is not having a lot of success in spring training. He is, however, a very consistent reliever in his career. The right-hander has a career 4.50 ERA with 10.4 K/9. Washington would like to use him as a backend reliver to set up Kyle Finnegan. No matter his role, you can expect a decent year out of Sims.

Lopez finished his 2024 season pitching like he did when he was an All-Star. In his last 26.2 innings, the right-hander had a 2.03 ERA with a 1.088 WHIP and a K/9 over 10.0. Before the Nationals decided to bring back Finnegan, Lopez was a real contender to win the closer role.

Finally, Ogasawara comes to D.C. after nine seasons in Japan. He has not been great in his first taste of baseball in the United States. During spring training, the left-handed pitcher has an ERA well over 7.00 and a WHIP higher than 2.00. He was signed with the expectation that he will start games, but nothing is set in stone.

Washington is not expecting to compete for a playoff spot, but they should be much better than last season. These new faces are going to be a big part of that.

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