Washington Nationals on Receiving End of Brutal Updated NL East Prediction
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The Washington Nationals have been battling and playing hard in the first few weeks of the 2025 MLB regular season.
Entering play on April 24, they have an 11-13 record, playing well against what are supposed to be some of the best teams in baseball.
They went 1-2 against the Philadelphia Phillies but went 4-2 against the Arizona Diamondbacks and Los Angeles Dodgers. The first two games of their series against the Baltimore Orioles have been won, rising to the occasion when it is needed most.
Some timely hitting and incredible performances from the starting rotation have buoyed the team’s early success.
First baseman Nathaniel Lowe has lived up to and exceeded expectations in the early going with a .291/.365/.488 slash line, four home runs, five doubles and a team-high 19 RBI.
Catcher Keibert Ruiz is in the midst of a breakout with a .325/.372/.450 slash line. Left fielder James Wood is showcasing his immense power potential with eight home runs and five doubles.
On the mound, MacKenzie Gore and Mitchell Parker have been an excellent one-two punch. Gore is mowing down opponents with an MLB best 14.0 K/9 ratio.
Parker has the highest WAR in baseball with a 1.7 through five starts with a 1.39 ERA and 20 strikeouts across 32.1 innings. He has surrendered only one home run and 11 walks thus far.
The only thing that has truly held the Nationals back to this point has been a shaky bullpen.
Closer Kyle Finnegan has been lights out, converting all nine of his save opportunities. He has a 1.69 ERA across 10.2 innings with 13 strikeouts and has yet to surrender a home run, which had been an Achilles heel for him previously.
Unfortunately, their other offseason additions, Jorge Lopez, Lucas Sims and Colin Poche, have struggled mightily. They own ERAs of 9.00, 15.26 and 15.00, respectively, giving up 34 total runs, 33 of which have been earned, in 23.2 innings.
Veterans who have solid track records previously will likely turn things around at some point, but even an improvement from the bullpen isn’t enough to keep Washington out of the cellar of the National League East in 2025 in the opinion of Kerry Miller of Bleacher Report.
In a recent piece, he made way-too-early playoff predictions one month into the campaign, including how divisional standings will shake out.
Miller predicted the Nationals will finish last in the NL East, with the Atlanta Braves finding their footing enough to move from their current spot of last into third, while the Miami Marlins also beat out Washington for fourth place.
If things shake out that way, it will be interesting to see what ownership does with the front office and coaching staff.
They have been given a lot of grace working through a rebuild, but if the team is that far out of the playoff race again, changes could be made this offseason.
