While some people want take more of a negative approach to any and every transaction that the Washington Nationals make, I will choose to go in a more positive direction, and identify 3 reasons why every Nats fan should be optimistic heading into the 2025 season.
Starting Pitching
Despite not having a true bonafide ace at this time, the Nationals have an abundance of MLB-level talent that will be competing for spots in the starting rotation in Spring Training. This is always a good problem to have, as while the Nationals avoided a lot of major injuries to their rotation last year, it's always good to have depth.
At this time, it appears as if 4/5 spots are already taken, with Trevor Williams announcing he will be returning to the rotation, joining fellow free agent signing Michael Soroka, as well as MacKenzie Gore and Jake Irvin. That means the final spot will likely be a battle between DJ Herz, Mitchell Parker, and possibly even Cade Cavalli, Brad Lord, or Tyler Stuart.
The bottom line is there is too much talent and not enough spots, which is a good problem to have for an organization trying to take a next step towards competing again.
New Faces
While the Nationals have brought back some familiar faces in Josh Bell and Trevor Williams, they have also brought in a couple new faces, and likely aren't done adding to them as well. They brought in first baseman Nathaniel Lowe from the Texas Rangers, who should be a great fit for this rebuilding club, and also brought in Michael Soroka from the Chicago White Sox, who might just be a hidden gem.
The club is likely to add at least an arm or two to shore up the back end of the bullpen in lieu of the departures of Robert Garcia and Kyle Finnegan, and perhaps they will even look to add another bat at third base? While we haven't seen the big splash everyone was hoping for, this club is almost certain to be better than the product we have seen for the past few years.
Growth and Development of the Young Talent
Last year, we saw a former highly-ranked prospect in Luis Garcia Jr. have a full-on breakout, saw CJ Abrams have a fantastic 1st half that netted him a selection to the All-Star game, and even saw multiple prospects like James Wood and Dylan Crews make their MLB debuts.
While I would certainly love to see the club make a big splash before the season starts to add another bat in the lineup to help protect the Nationals' young hitters, you can't help but not be excited about the young bats that will be counted on to have big roles in 2025.
We will also be hoping for steps forward from guys like MacKenzie Gore, Jake Irvin, and other young arms, who have showed flashes of brilliance at times, but have struggled with consistency. Hopefully, the additions of guys like Soroka and the return of Williams can help the young arms out by providing veteran advice, but of course we won't know until the season starts.
Why are you optimistic about the Nationals heading into 2025? As always, please let me know on X< @DCBerk.