The Washington Nationals have had an interesting 2024 season filled with lots to unpack. There have been impressive breakouts as well as disappointing low points. The brand of baseball played in Washington, D.C. isn't always beautiful and could certainly be tinkered with and improved. What main problems from this season could extend into the 2025 season for the Nationals?
Defensive Problems
The Nationals have the third-most errors in the Majors (105) and the third-worst fielding percentage (.981), according to foxsports.com. The Nats are one of the worst defensive teams in the league in 2024 and have shown no signs of improvement. They have already recorded 15 more errors than the 2023 season (90). Washington ranked 18th in the MLB in fielding percentage in 2023 (.985). Washington has gotten significantly worse in most defensive statistics.
Jacob Young, the Nats center fielder, is at the top of every defensive statistic for his position, and might even win a Gold Glove this season. He's in the 100th percentile for range in center field, according to Baseball Savant, but his success has made no dent in the Nats' putrid statistics. CJ Abrams has committed 17 errors at shortstop, Jose Tena has 9 at the hot corner in 30 games, and Mitchell Parker has five as a starting pitcher. These issues should be resolved in Spring Training before next season, but there needs to be some drastic improvements. Parker has committed errors on routine plays in his starts and Tena has also struggled with simple ground balls at third base. While blame can be placed on coaches, players must take accountability for their actions.
Luis García Jr., who committed 16 errors in 2022 between shortstop and second base, often struggled to make routine plays. In 2023, he improved mightily and recorded just 8 errors all season at second base, and has just 10 this season. García Jr. took the initiative over the last couple of off-seasons and improved his defensive prowess and become one of the more steady defenders on the team. Hopefully, others will follow suit going into next season.
Baserunning
When looking at the statistics, the raw number of stolen bases (210) makes the Nats seem like a great baserunning team, however it might actually be the exact opposite. The Nats lead the MLB in times caught stealing (69) over the next closest team by 20. The amount of bone-headed plays we've witnessed from Nats players on the bases this season is alarming from pick-offs to coaching failures on the bases, fans have truly seen it all in the 2024 season. The Nats have drastically changed their approach on the bases from conservative in 2023 to ultra-aggressive this season, and it's come with some growing pains that must be ironed out moving forward.
I do agree with the coach's approach to baserunning because the Nats don't have the raw power to manufacture runs on their own. What's puzzling about the Nats is that they commit the same errors on the bases repeatedly, and it appears that fundamental coaching issues are the source of the Nats' baserunning blunders in 2024. Please, if you haven't seen it already, do not research the gaffe against the Yankees in August.
Rollover
Why will these problems continue into the 2025 season? A strong reason is that the entire coaching staff has already been confirmed as returning next season. The same coaches that contributed to the atrocious errors committed this season will be back in the saddle for at least the immediate future. I firmly believe that these issues cannot be resolved until the Nats make a full-scale coaching change, but who knows when that will be?