The Washington Nationals have been fairly mediocre to start off the 2025 season. Nothing illustrates this theme better than this series with the Mets. Going from walk-off wins on Friday and Sunday to an absolute beatdown yesterday is almost exactly what we should expect from this team at this point.
However, in the midst of it all there have been two constants, which is the guys at the top of the rotation. MacKenzie Gore and Jake Irvin respectively have both been nothing short of incredible to start off this season. Both are seemingly performing like All-Stars at this stage and potentially even dark horses in the NL Cy Young race. Without them, the Nationals wouldn't be mediocre, they would be awful.
MacKenzie Gore is taking the league by storm to start off 2025, and he is currently leading the league in strikeouts as the ace of this Nationals rotation. The other interesting this about Gore is that he has sometimes been on the poor end of the Nationals mediocrity. If you remember back to Opening Day, he made history but still ended up taking a no-decision due to the lackluster offense. If you just look at his last few starts for example, he got the win in a 12-11 offensive showdown against Colorado, then, he took the loss in a 2-1 pitchers duel vs the Orioles. That is a good example as to why Wins and Losses shouldn't and is no longer a major stat for pitchers because it is heavily out of a pitcher's hands. Hopefully the voters for All-Star and yearly awards agree. I would love to see Gore throwing out that first pitch in Atlanta in July.
Jake Irvin, different from Gore was expected to be magnificent this season, and he is definitely living up to those expectations. He is the man with the rubber arm to this point for the Nationals, as he has pitched for at least six innings in his last 4 starts. His past three starts have all been wins for the Nationals and he was credited with two of those. Most recently, he pitched very well against the Mets, who have the best record in baseball as well. Irvin is set to join Gore at the All-Star game if he keeps at this pace. He is also on pace for a 200 inning season which are not as easy to come by in today's era as they used to be.
All in all, Nationals fans should be beyond excited for what's in store for the top of this rotation. Though the lineup is still figuring it out, these two guys will keep you in the game with a chance to win. That's exactly what a team like this needs, especially when you have other guys like Trevor Williams who are clearly not giving the team the best opportunity to win every 5th day.
What are your thoughts?