The 2025 season is halfway done. Many storylines have crossed the headlines in these three months both good and bad. Hitting has been spotty across the lineup as has been pitching. Some players have thrived, and some have not. Prior to the season, the staff made our predictions on the team's upcoming season. As we approach July, some midseason awards have come to light.
MVP
James Wood
James Wood has consistently shown himself to be an all-star caliber weapon for this Nationals team. The young left fielder has played every game of 81 thus far this season and strung together a stellar .927 OPS in the process. This comes with 22 home runs, 44 walks, and 63 RBIs. The National League has come with tremendous talent in the outfielding position leading Wood to be just 9th in All Star voting behind guys like Pete Crow-Armstrong, Corbin Carroll, and Juan Soto. A cornerstone of this team, James Wood is going to be great to build around.
CY Young
MacKenzie Gore
It is hard to sit here an ever argue against Paul Skenes being the NL Cy Young winner in 2025. He has proven to be a generational pitcher. However, if you look beyond Skenes, you will not read much longer before MacKenzie Gore is discussed as a top NL pitcher. Gore has started 17 games for the Nationals this season and not let up much. His ERA stands at 3.09 with 129 strikeouts across 99 innings. His record may be 3-8, but that is truly a knock on the team around him and not Gore himself. He is lights out.
Breakout Player
Brad Lord
The Nationals entered 2025 with many young names with optimistic futures. A name amongst that conversation was pitcher, Brad Lord. Despite being discussed as a rotation piece, he has pitched mostly in the bullpen this season. Some may argue that he should be starting, but sometimes to become a bullpen piece in a lead up to a larger role can work for a young prospect. That topic is up for debate, but a non-debate is how he has broken out. Lord has played 23 games in a relief role with highlighted stats in a 2.43 ERA, .265 BABIP, and a 22.2% K Rate. On a team of struggling pitching, Brad Lord has stood out quite well.
Biggest Regression
Nathaniel Lowe
The Nationals, unfortunately, carry quite a few disappointments this season. Some have been subpar, but some others have regressed into that title. One name is new first baseman, Nathaniel Lowe. With Texas last season, Lowe rated +12.7 offensively and +2.8 in WAR - two very good offensive statistics. His average was .262 with his OPS at .762 . Lowe clearly was a very solid MLB player. Since coming to Washington, he has slipped behind expectation quite a bit. The average has dipped to .226 and the OPS has dropped about 10% below last years mark. All we can hope is that Nate improves in the second half.
Breakout Prospect
Travis Sykora
The Washington pipeline runs quite deep, a very good thing. Deep down that line is Travis Sykora, whom has been playing stellar Single-A baseball this season. Sometimes players get drafted out of college, but Sykora went the route of High School - MLB , achieving himself a 3rd round selection by the Nationals in 2023. Across his 2025 campaign, his pitching has been extremely adequate. In all of his MiLB season, Travis has 10 starts with a 1.11 ERA and 15.49 K/9 . He has a long way to go, but he is quickly becoming an extremely hyped name.
What do you fans think of the team halfway through the season? Are there any others awards you want to see? Do you have any conflicting opinions? Let me know on X - @jetbets17