This past season for the Washington Nationals saw Cade Cavalli establish himself as the ace of the rotation and it showed that CJ Abrams and James Wood are two legitimate superstars that can carry a team throughout the season.
However, late in the season Wood went down with an injury and once again struggled in the second half. For the Nationals to get over the hump and get back to the postseason for the first time since 2019 they will need a couple of players to breakout and help carry the load. I have chosen a young bat, a starting pitcher, and a reliever who all have a chance to cement their places as part of the future of the Washington Nationals.
Abimelec Ortiz
Following the trade of Luis Garcia Jr. to the Yankees at the trade deadline the Nationals called up Abimelec Ortiz to fill his spot. The young Nats first basemen showed why the front office believed in him when he hit his first career home run in only his second career game. After only 14 career games he had five career homers and a 1.017 OPS.
He came back down to earth as he had a hard time adjusting to the level of pitching in the big leagues and finished the season with a .188 average and only the aforementioned five home runs. Ortiz has all the makings of the prototypical left-handed power hitting first baseman. In about five seasons in the minors, he hit 118 home runs and drove in 400 runs.
He is still only 24 and after getting a cup of coffee at the big-league level this past season I believe he will make the necessary adjustments this offseason and show up to spring training ready to claim his spot in the middle of the Nationals lineup next season.
Connelly Early
Connelly Early reminds me of Gio Gonzalez. Not in the way he pitches, but in that when the Nats acquired Gonzales, he was a young left-handed pitcher joining a team on the cusp of potential playoff baseball. In a previous article I explained why I think the Nats should sign Early to an extension before the season starts. Him and Cade Cavalli have a chance to become the best one-two punch the Nationals have had since Max Scherzer and Stephen Strasburg.
Early showed promise early on this past season with the Red Sox as he had a 3.44 ERA with 93 strikeouts in 17 games. Unfortunately, when the Nats acquired Early, he was on the injured list which limited him to only one start this season for the Nationals. I expect him to take a big leap into becoming one of the games better lefties next season.
Yovanny Cruz
Another trade deadline acquisition by the President of Baseball Operations Paul Toboni, Yovanny Cruz is a young relief pitcher with tons of upside. Cruz brings the heat as his fastball averaged over 99 mph and his sinker sits comfortably at 100. He pairs these with a nice slider that he throws around 49% of the time.
He has high strikeout potential as he finished last season with 59 K’s in 42.2 innings between Triple-A Scranton and Triple-A Rochester. In the big leagues with the Yankees and the Nationals he had an 8.4 K/9 in 16 innings pitched. I could easily see him becoming the closer next season as he was used late in games and notched the first save of his career following his call up late in the season.
Last season, the Nationals ranked 27th overall in K/9 at 7.62. With how bad the Nats bullpen was, Cruz will get plenty of opportunities to prove himself on the big-league squad.
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