As we look at the Nationals 2026 season, we see both good and bad. Today, however, I am choosing to look upon the good. What that pertains to exactly is hitting, which was elite. The team finished T-2 in runs per game, 3rd in slugging, T-3rd in OPS, and 1st in stolen bases. More intriguing to me this week is a post by Ballpark Pal that truly showcases this roster's batting dominance.
Advanced Metrics Showcase Hitting Depth in DC
The top-rated hitter at each point of the 2026 season. Based on overall Ballpark Pal rating (exp hitting value over last 100 pitches) pic.twitter.com/yifMR29Dll
— Ballpark Pal (@BallparkPal) October 1, 2026
Ballpark Pal is a new, upcoming avenue for advanced baseball metrics. A favorite is their "Park Factor" tool, which measures not just MLB field dimensions but also weather factors daily.
Nonetheless, the above post refers to the best hitters in MLB each day this past season. It is based on their Hitting Value metric. On their website, Ballpark Pal states that this metric measures how the ball exits the bat rather than the result. It removes outside factors such as weather, great fielding plays, field dimension adjustments, and more.
Of 180 total measured days, a National player had the best hitting value in the entire MLB on 19 occasions. That is about 11% of the time. To put that in perspective, if MLB were divided evenly, each team would have a player on this list about 6 times total. The Nationals tripled that.
Not only did the team show up in droves, but the Nationals did, too, with multiple players, expected or not. The Nationals feature five different players, as split below.
- Keibert Ruiz (6)
- Andres Chaparro (5)
- CJ Abrams (3)
- Luis Garcia Jr. (3)*
- James Wood (2)
Luis Garcia Jr. was traded to the Yankees on August 2, although did not again remerge on the list.
Before 2026, I don't think any Nationals fans would have expected Ruiz to make this list, let alone six times. Over the prior three seasons, Ruiz had no better than a minus-10.2 offensive rating according to Fangraphs. In 2024 and 2025, he didn't even reach 70 wRC+.
Ruiz came onto the scene in much better fashion in 2026, featuring a .280 batting average and career-best 105 wRC+.
I would also label Chaparro a pleasant surprise. In both 2024 and 2025, Chaparro played fewer than 34 games in MLB. In fact, over 26 games played in 2025, Chaparro had an abysmal wRC+ of 40. Yet, he played 83 games in 2026 and scored a stupendous wRC+ of 141. If Chaparro had played 162 games, he would have paced for about 27 home runs and over 90 RBI's.
The above is a great poster to hang regarding team improvements. The Nationals made their stand as a top-hitting team, and did so through many different players. The next plan for Paul Toboni now has to be to deepen the Nationals' pitching.
Cade Cavalli just signed a well-deserved contract after a 13-win, 3.02 ERA season. He now needs a supporting cast. Maybe Travis Sykora can have a revival like Cavalli's? Both would have come into formidable seasons after very lengthy injury recoveries.
It's time for the Nationals to work behind the scenes. About 18 weeks until pitchers and catchers report!
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