The start to the 2025 season for the Washington Nationals has left fans having a lot more questions than answers about the trajectory of the seemingly never-ending rebuild. With the club off to a 2-6 start heading into Sunday's game against the Arizona Diamondbacks, Nationals fans have every right to already be frustrated with the team's performance.
While some players like CJ Abrams, who hit a torpedo bat homer on Friday, Keibert Ruiz, and Nathaniel Lowe are already off to great starts, most of the rest of the team has sputtered out of the gate. The team has already given themselves little margin for error based on how poorly their offensive output has been, and the club needs to start helping out their starting pitchers.
These 3 players have already made me question if they will be able to turn things around, and for good reason. Again, while there were many different players I could have chosen, these are the 3 that are currently worrying me the most.
Jacob Young
For as much as everyone on social media has had absurd takes about Dylan Crews and his tough start to the season, outside of his stretch that saw him strike out 8 times consecutively, he has looked much better at the plate. He has hit the ball hard, and finally found some open grass as he picked up his first hit of the season on Friday night.
The other outfielder who has looked abysmal at the plate so far is Jacob Young, who is seemingly losing his grip on the starting center field spot by the day. We know that he is not much of a power hitter, but with Young having just 1 hit in 20 plate appearances and an ugly .067/.263/.133 slash line to begin the season, he is not doing himself many favors in his case to stay in the lineup. His best asset besides his Gold Glove defense is his speed, but he has already been nabbed twice on the basepaths, including a game-ending caught stealing to end Wednesday's game against the Blue Jays.
It seems as if Davey Martinez is thinking the same thing, as he gave Young a second off day in 3 games on Saturday in favor of Alex Call. An outfield alignment of James Wood, Dylan Crews, and Call seems to be the direction we are trending in, and if Young is not careful, he could find himself sent down or traded in favor of another young outfielder, Robert Hassell III, in the near future.
Colin Poche
If this site already sounds like a broken record when talking about Colin Poche and his struggles, it's for good reason. The veteran lefty is still struggling mightily with his control, as he has issued 7 walks compared to just 2 strikeouts in 4 appearances so far. He sports a ghastly 32.40 ERA to this point, and a 6.00 WHIP to go along with it. If he wasn't squarely on thin ice before, he definitely is now.
For a guy who was supposed to make the loss of Robert Garcia feel nonexistent, all he has done to this point is continue to struggle, with no signs that he is even improving. The clock is ticking for the 31-year-old Poche, and if he was a righty, there's a good chance he would already be off the team. He is simply not cutting it at this point, and is actively hurting the team whenever he gets the chance.
Jose A. Ferrer
The start to the 2025 season for Jose A. Ferrer has not been great, and I think it is completely fair to be a little bit worried about whether or not he can realize his upside under this current coaching staff. To be completely fair to him, he has not been put in the most advantageous positions, as Davey Martinez has left him in to face righties in big spots multiple times now, and has faced the consequences both times.
In just 4 appearances he has a 7.71 ERA and 2.14 WHIP, but is still missing bats with 6 strikeouts and just 2 walks surrendered so far. He needs to be put into better spots to be successful, and Martinez needs to realize that he needs to be eased into high-leverage spots, rather than being forced into the fire. I am more so worried about him simply due to the way he is being used to this point, and I don't want to see a guy with his upside have his confidence ruined by a manager who is stuck in his ways.
Which Nationals player are you most worried about to this point? As always, please let me know on X, @DCBerk.