Nationals Pitching Staff Given Bleak Outlook in 2026 Projections

This does not bode well for the Washington Nationals.

Washington Nationals manager Blake Butera | Geoff Burke-Imagn Images

Pitchers and catchers are just days away from reporting to spring camp, as Feb. 11 marks the official preseason period ahead of the 2026 campaign for the Washington Nationals.

While that is exciting and it will be interesting to see how this young team performs after getting another year of MLB experience under their belt, there are multiple glaring weaknesses across the roster heading into the upcoming season.

By now, everyone is aware that this pitching staff looks shaky on paper. But in FanGraphs' depth chart rankings where they project the fWAR of each unit, both the starting rotation and bullpen of the Nationals have been given a bleak outlook for 2026.

Bullpen Projected to Have Worst fWAR in MLB

Cole Henry of the Washington Nationals | Daniel Kucin Jr.-Imagn Images

Last year, Washington's relievers finished with the worst ERA (5.59) and fWAR (-0.5) in the MLB. Despite that, the front office hasn't made notable additions to that unit this offseason. Some moves could still be made before Opening Day, and the waiver wire has been used heavily to add arms. But a gamechanger has not been brought in to reshape that group.

Because of that, it shouldn't be a surprise FanGraphs believes the Nationals will have the worst bullpen in the majors once again this year. They are projected to have an fWAR of 0.4. No other team in the MLB is expected to finish under the 1.0 mark.

Based on how poorly Washington's relievers performed last season, upgrading by almost a full win would be huge for the 2026 team. However, this projection still highlights some serious issues on the roster heading into the upcoming campaign.

Starting Rotation Expected to Struggle in 2026

Cade Cavalli of the Washington Nationals | Gregory Fisher-Imagn Images

Without MacKenzie Gore leading the rotation, it's likely going to be a struggle for the Nationals when it comes to their starting staff. That's especially scary to think about considering they finished last year with the second-worst ERA (5.18) in the majors even with their ace pitching every fifth day. However, it should be noted their fWAR was much better than their raw ERA, as Washington's mark of 7.4 put them fourth-worst in the MLB this past season.

But despite FanGraphs projecting they'll have an fWAR of 8.3 in 2026 -- which would be better than how they performed last year -- that number still has them finishing second-worst across the majors as a starting unit.

While these are just projections and teams can over or underperform what's expected out of them, it's pretty telling that one of the prominent projection sites believes the Nationals are going to have the worst bullpen and second-worst starting rotation in Major League Baseball this season.