It is no secret that the Washington Nationals are not expected to be a good team in 2026. Anyone who has the club penciled in as anything higher than 4th in the NL East and probably above 70 wins might be a bit delusional. Despite some positive organizational steps taken this winter, there is still a long way to do,
That much became clear with Jeff Passan's latest Nationals take that he made in his ultimate 2026 MLB season preview, and it has become even more of a reality to any fans who have watched the team in spring training. While obviously the games are relatively meaningless, you want to at least see your star players perform well against often inferior opponents they are going up against.
This is a big reason why it might be time to panic a little bit, as although the Nationals dropped Sunday's contest to the St. Louis Cardinals by a score of 6-3 in Miles Mikolas' revenge start, he was not the sole reason for the defeat. Sure, he was not pitching like an ace by any means, but he did not get any real run support.
In fact, the team's star core of youngsters including CJ Abrams, James Wood, Daylen Lile, and Dylan Crews combined to go just 1/12 with a walk and 6 strikeouts...yikes. In fact, outside of Brady House, basically the entire rest of the projected Nationals' regulars are all hitting below .200, with a lot of them having notched over 20 plate appearances.
In the case of Crews, he added another hat trick of strikeouts and watched his average dip to .125, as his ugly spring training continues. At this point, it is legitimately fair to wonder if he is better off starting the season in AAA Rochester so that he can get back to work with a lot of the new technology the Nationals' new front office ahs brought in.
Whatever the case it, those 4 bats are essential to the team's success in 2026 and beyond, and while winning will not be a mainstay of this season, playing good fundamental baseball and proving themselves to be star-caliber players is something this organization desperately needs. However, the longer their struggles drag on, the darker and gloomier the outlook of this upcoming season is beginning to appear.
Do you think the young bats of the Nationals will be able to turn things around? As always, please let me know on X, @DCBerk.