3 Nats With The Most to Prove in the Final 2 Weeks
In a year of revelations for many young Nationals players, it hasn't quite been smooth sailing for everyone. In this article, I will give my takes on 3 Nats players with the most to prove in the final 2 weeks of the season.
The article title is fairly self-explanatory, as the 2024 season has not been smooth sailing for every member of the Washington Nationals. While some Nats have experienced true breakout seasons, some have had very inconsistent years. In this article, I will give my takes on the 3 Nats players with the most to prove in the final 2 weeks of the season.
1. C Keibert Ruiz
This season has been a maddening one for Keibert Ruiz. After a stint on the IL in late April that caused him to lose almost 20 pounds, his season got off to a rough start that he never completely recovered from. His overall slash line of .232/.266/.375 and .640 OPS is solid but not great, and he continues to make a lot of the same mistakes that he has the last few years. While his defense has always been fairly lackluster, the fact that he has elite contact skills yet not nearly enough hard contact is frustrating to watch, and when you realize he has only drawn 16 walks in 448 plate appearances, it's fair to wonder if his approach is ever going to come around.
Although he earned a $50M extension from the club that will tie him to the organization until at least 2030, it's clear the Nationals are preparing for him to be pushed to be better. The organization spent 2 of their first 3 draft picks on college catchers this year in Caleb Lomavita from California and Kevin Bazzell from Texas Tech, and Drew Millas is already nipping on Ruiz' heels for more consistent playing time. It will be interesting to see how much playing time Millas can carve out going into next year due to his advantage athletically and defensively. The end of the season will be crucial for Ruiz to generate some more momentum going into next year.
2. LHP MacKenzie Gore
Arguably the most frustrating case of inconsistency in the MLB might be lefty MacKenzie Gore. Look, when he's firing on all cylinders, he's shown that he has legitimate Cy Young potential and the clear ace of this team moving forward. However, when he's off, it is hard to watch him struggle to make it through 5 innings and go into deep counts with inferior hitters.
The reality is that the real MacKenzie Gore is probably somewhere in the middle, but I truly believe he is better than his overall season numbers including a 9-12 record, 4.17 ERA, and 1.49 WHIP. It's clear that his conditioning needs work, as his collapses in the middle of the season the last two summers have been tough to watch. He's at his best when he's attacking the strike zone early, and to Gore's credit he has been much better recently, with a 2-3 record, 2.65 ERA, and 1.37 WHIP in his last 7 starts. He likely will have 2-3 more starts to finish the season, and similar to Ruiz it will be big for him to see if he can create some positive momentum going into 2025.
3. LHP Jose A. Ferrer
The first two felt like pretty obvious picks to me, but the last one was tough to decide on. In a decision between Andres Chaparro, José Tena, and Jose A. Ferrer, I chose to go with the reliever due to what these last couple weeks mean for the outlook of his future. While I believe Chaparro will likely at a minimum be in the mix for the first base job next year and Tena should be the Opening Day starter at the hot corner in 2025, Ferrer has a chance to audition for a number of roles in the bullpen for next season.
He just recorded his 1st career save on Sunday, and Ferrer has been solid overall since returning from the IL, with a 3.51 ERA and 1.21 WHIP. His role in the bullpen could be a number of things next year. I could see a possibility in which the Nationals deal Kyle Finnegan in the offseason and make Ferrer the closer, or he could take over the Hunter Harvey role as the setup man for Finnegan next season as well. To me, his role for next season has so many possibilities but the only thing we know for certain is that he will be a key piece in the bullpen in 2025 and beyond, it's just a matter of where, which is why he has a lot to prove over the final 2 weeks.
Which Nationals player do you think has the most to prove over the last 2 weeks of the season? Is it someone on this list or someone else? As always, please let me know your thoughts on X, @DCBerk.
All stats in this article were provided by MLB.com.