Following a stunning weekend series effort in which our beloved Washington Nationals took full advantage of their change to play spoiler, the team came crashing back down to earth on Monday night. After leaving their fellow division rival New York Mets clinging to life support for their playoff chances, the Nationals failed to get it done against a much more inferior opponent.
While Monday's game did have some nice moments, such as the towering homer hit by Dylan Crews as he continues to finish the season strong, the team could not get out of the hole that scuffling ace MacKenzie Gore put them in early on. After Nasim Nuñez homered to lead off the game, it appeared as if the visiting team would be in business, but that proved not to be the case.
Gore, who is supposed to be one of the cornerstones of this franchise, has dropped off drastically in the second half of the season, and looks like a shell of the guy who made his first All-Star team in 2025. He failed to make it out of the 3rd inning, and following a promising start to the season, it looks as if he will end up falling short of the 200 strikeout mark.
Speaking of Gore, who's arrival in DC along with fellow top prospects in James Wood, CJ Abrams, and others in the infamous Juan Soto trade officially announced to the baseball world that the Nationals were entering a rebuild, how is everything going on that front? The answer would be not great, and ESPN's Bradford Doolittle agreed with that sentiment as well.
In a recent article he put out for the site, listing each team's biggest success and failure in the 2025 season, Doolittle was quick to point out that the current state of the Nationals' rebuild is without a doubt the biggest failure of this season. He harped on the fact that the Nationals have a chance at a fresh start this offseason, and how desperately it is needed.
On the flipside, Doolittle did list the biggest success of the year for the Nationals in Gore's fellow trademate in Wood, who, like Gore, has regressed dramatically since the All-Star break. However, Doolittle pointed to Wood's first half .915 OPS to show his true star potential, although his .663 OPS since the break is definitely something worth monitoring as well.
Outside of Daylen Lile and perhaps a couple other younger assets like Brad Lord, Cole Henry, and even a late surge from Nasim Nuñez, there hasn't been a lot to be excited about as a Nationals fan this season, and they really tied Doolittle's hands for points of success. Hopefully, ownership heeds Doolittle's advice and takes a long look in the mirror before giving this team the fresh start it so clearly needs.
What do you think the biggest success and failure for the 2025 Nationals is? As always, please let me know on X, @DCBerk.