If there is one thing we know about the Washington Nationals and the current state of the franchise, it's that the organization is going to look a whole lot different. Those changes have already begun, as the offseason so far has been a very busy one for all of the key decision-makers within the club.
Some of those key decisions and changes that had to be made included cleaning house in the front office, which actually began back in July when Mike Rizzo and Dave Martinez were fired, but continued this offseason as numerous officials lost their jobs due to their superiors within the front office letting them down.
After that, the team had to decide who would lead the Nationals into their new era of competent baseball, and tabbed Paul Toboni to be the overall leader as the President of Baseball Operations. He has been a very busy man, hiring on a ton of new hires including a new General Manager recently, and also hired the youngest skipper in the sport to lead his club moving forward.
But as far as performance on the diamond goes, the old saying "look good, feel good, play good" is a motto that a handful of young Nationals are seemingly taking to heart heading into the 2026 season. While the Nationals are certainly embracing the youthfulness of the organization, it appears as if a few players are embracing a fresh start and clean slate.
They are doing this with updated jersey numbers, and some of them are looking to be major upgrades from the ones they had before. The first change comes from Jackson Rutledge, who will be moving from number 79 to number 44, which was last worn by catcher Jorge Alfaro to end last season. While his future on the team is murky at best, maybe a new number will give the big righty some confidence.
Starter Brad Lord is switching from number 61 to number 41, which was last worn by Colin Poche this past season. Lord resembling anything close to a big league pitcher in the number will be an automatic upgrade over Poche. New acquisition Harry Ford will wear number 17, last worn by Alex Call as recently as this past season.
Finally, the last two number changes should be fan favorite ones, as these two pieces are looking to firmly establish themselves as cornerstone players for the Nationals moving forward. Brady House will be switching from number 55 to number 12, last worn by Kyle Schwarber, while Daylen Lile will move from number 51 to number 4, which was last worn by Howie Kendrick in 2017. The number 4 jersey was also previously worn by Martinez in the dugout for years.
Which new jersey number are you most excited to see in action in 2026? As always, please let me know on X, @DCBerk.