The 2026 season has been nothing short of entertaining as a Washington Nationals fan. While the team has had a lot of disappointments overall, especially in breaking the all-time blown saves record, there have been a ton of positives as well like top prospect Eli Willits already being promoted to Double-A. But with all of the inconsistencies, let's identify the team's biggest disappointments in 2026.
1) Jose Tena
José Tena has spent parts of three seasons with the Washington Nationals and, as of this writing, has played just under 200 games for the team (199). He has been injured a fair amount, but has played in 108 games this season. By no means is he a star player, but according to WAR, he is below replacement level at -0.4.
His hitting numbers aren't great either: he is batting .227, has 7 home runs, and has an OPS+ of 88, putting him 12 points below league average in on-base plus slugging. Tena absolutely does not deserve a spot on the team next season. With the corner infield positions being pretty weak for the Nationals this season, the team will need to find a better performer in Free Agency when the potential lockout is inevitably over, and who can better help build around James Wood and CJ Abrams, who both have been incredible this season and were All-Stars this past July.
2) Dylan Crews' Health
We all know that Dylan Crews has the talent to be a star player. He was selected number two overall in the 2023 MLB draft behind his college teammate Paul Skenes for a reason--with whom he won a National Title at Louisiana State University. One of the things that is keeping him from performing at his highest potential is his health.
Since debuting in the big leagues in 2024, he has only played in 211 games. Playing in only 85 games last year and 95 games so far this season. While his career WAR of 1.3 is indicative of his health not being the best and not getting the chance to be on the field every day as a result, he is someone who, if he can get healthy and back to his elite college numbers, hitting to a .380 average and a 1.187 OPS, can emerge as an elite asset.
3) Miles Mikolas (Among other SPs)
Yes, I know Miles Mikolas is not on the team anymore. The Nationals kept him until he reached 10 years of major league service time, which I think was classy since 10 service years is an incredible feat for any ballplayer. However, when on the field, he was not good by any means. This season for the Nats, Mikolas carried a -0.9 WAR with a 3-9 record, an ERA of 5.82, making his ERA+ 74, 26 points below league average.
Yes, Mikolas was at the end of his career, and he wasn't a big name, but he gave up a fair number of runs, which helped hurt the Nationals in the long run. With the Nationals having a record of 67-81, Mikolas picked up one-ninth of the Nats' losses, as of their current record. Although the fraction of losses he picked up will get smaller (most likely) compared to the Nationals' overall losses, he played his part in the disappointments for the team this year.
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