Why Nationals Benched Young Outfielder for Second Straight Game

The Washington Nationals have good reason to leave this outfielder out of their starting lineup for the second straight game.

Mar 31, 2025; Toronto, Ontario, CAN; Washington Nationals outfielder Jacob Young (30) fields the ball against the Toronto Blue Jays during the eighth inning at Rogers Centre. | Kevin Sousa-Imagn Images

The Washington Nationals gave their star center fielder the day off on Saturday against the Arizona Diamondbacks. Then, on Sunday, they did it again.

So, what’s up with Jacob Young?

He’s not injured, but as MASN Sports’ Bobby Blanco reported, Washington is taking a reset approach with Young after he struggled at the plate to start this season.

That means that Dylan Crews, the franchise’s first-round pick in 2023, was in center field again on Sunday with Alex Call in right field.

Nationals manager Davey Martinez said Saturday’s lineup was due to matchups, but Sunday’s move was to give Young an extended rest as the Los Angeles Dodgers prepare to visit on Monday.

“I talked to him a couple days ago. We're just doing a reset on him,” manager Davey Martinez said. “He's got a little frustrated just (with) how he is swinging. We saw some things that we wanted to address. He's been working the last two days on his swing, so he'll be back in there tomorrow.”

Young’s numbers are, well, bad. In seven games he’s slashed .067/.263/.396. He doesn’t have a home run or an RBI. In fact, he only has one hit in 15 official at-bats. He’s managed to score two runs and steal a base, as he’s drawn three walks.

While power isn’t Young’s game, getting on base and defense is his game. That’s his value to this team. The Nationals need him to hit like he did a season ago, as he slashed .256/.316/.331, to justify keeping his Gold Glove-caliber defense on the field.

So what’s going on? Martinez told reporters that Young is diving to the baseball, which basically means he’s chasing pitches out of the zone. He said that the Nationals started seeing the issue in the latter stages of spring training and this extended break is meant to help Young get the issue corrected.

“The thing about Jacob is that he understands he has to be short,” Martinez said. “We're not looking for him to hit home runs. We're looking for him just to put the ball in play, hit the ball hard. Play the game the right way. He's a situational guy. We got to understand, too, his defense is really important to us, too. So, as I told him, he's our center fielder.”

Call has proven to be an adequate replacement in the short term, as he had four hits in his first eight at-bats this season. But, Young makes this outfield a great unit defensively. He covers plenty of ground in Nationals Park’s spacious center field. Martinez made it clear that Young will be back out on the field on Monday.

Hopefully his bat will come around by then.