Washington Nationals Offense Can Only Do So Much To Overcome Bullpen Woes

The Washington Nationals offense has had some bright spots but they are overshadowed by a poor bullpen.

Apr 29, 2025; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA; Washington Nationals second base Luis García Jr. (2) celebrates his home run with third base coach Ricky Gutierrez (12) during the sixth inning against the Philadelphia Phillies at Citizens Bank Park. | Eric Hartline-Imagn Images

There have been several reasons to be excited about the Washington Nationals over the first month of the 2025 MLB regular season.

Their starting rotation has a legitimate foundation with MacKenzie Gore, Jake Irvin and Mitchell Parker all coming into their own. That trio will be the bedrock of the staff for years to come with Irvin being the oldest at 28 years old.

Unfortunately, no such positivity can be found in the bullpen, where the team has been woeful all year.

Jorge Lopez, Lucas Sims and Colin Poche, all veteran additions in free agency expected to fill prominent roles, have a combined -1.5 WAR with ERAs of 7.30, 11.32 and 11.42, respectively.

Jose A. Ferrer, viewed as a future closer by some coming into the season, has a -0.7 WAR with a 7.36 ERA.

Even Kyle Finnegan, who went a perfect 9-for-9 out of the gate on save chances, has had a blown save and a blown lead in his last two outings.

The bullpen struggles are what Kerry Miller of Bleacher Report highlighted when it came to placing the Nationals in his starting nine rankings through the first month of the season.

Washington was ranked No. 18, but he wrote, “unfortunately, no lead is ever safe with this bullpen.”

Things have to be bad on the mound for the focus of a positional player power ranking to be on the mound, but that is the case for the Nationals.

All of the good that has been happening with their lineup is overshadowed because the team is 13-18 overall.

But, that shouldn’t diminish the job that some of the players have done to this point, such as left fielder James Wood.

His prodigious power potential has been on full display, launching nine home runs in 136 plate appearances after having nine through 336 plate appearances in his rookie season.

Catcher Keibert Ruiz looks to be realizing some of his immense potential as a former top prospect with a .301/.351/.398 slash line heading into May.

Shortstop CJ Abrams has been excellent this season despite a stint on the injured list. He has a .282/.316/.549 slash line with a 141 OPS+, hitting nine extra-base hits in only 77 plate appearances.

Right fielder Dylan Crews, who was hitting under .100 nine games into the campaign, has begun to find his groove as well.

There is a lot of incredible young talent in the Washington lineup that is shining, but the underwhelming performance of the bullpen is stealing all of the attention.