Washington Nationals Improve, But Are Far From Ready

Ahh…to be young again.

Youth represents promise, growth, and an unknown but seemingly unlimited future. It also brings chaos, change, and volatility.

This offseason, the Washington Nationals leaned heavily into youth, assembling what is believed to be the youngest leadership group in Major League Baseball history. President of Baseball Operations Paul Toboni, 36; General Manager Ani Kilambi, 32; and Manager Blake Butera, 33—the youngest MLB manager in more than 50 years—represent a radical departure from the traditional image of gray-haired, cigar-smoking, bourbon-drinking baseball lifers. In its place is a model influenced by Toboni and Kilambi’s ties to UC Berkeley and built around data, innovation, and player development.

These young leaders have, in turn, fielded one of baseball’s youngest teams. The Nationals’ roster has an average age of 26.8, while its regular lineup averages just 24.9. In other words, most of Washington’s everyday players are barely old enough to rent a car without paying an additional fee.

If young teams are inherently volatile, then the Nationals are the Mount Vesuvius of baseball. And because this is a data-driven organization, the numbers bear that out. The results may be unpredictable, uneven, and occasionally explosive.

But they are rarely boring.

After 102 games, the Nationals are 51–51—a 10-win improvement over their 41–61 record at the same point last season. They have scored 105 more runs, hit 54 more home runs, and stolen 31 more bases than they had through 102 games in 2025.

Led by All-Stars CJ Abrams and James Wood, both acquired in the 2022 trade that sent Juan Soto and Josh Bell to San Diego, the Nationals’ offense leads Major League Baseball in runs scored (552), home runs (147), stolen bases (111), and slugging percentage (.440). Washington also ranks third in OPS at .766. It is a remarkable transformation for an offense that finished among MLB’s bottom 10 in most major categories last season. Baseball Reference lists the team’s current offensive totals, while MLB confirms Abrams and Wood’s All-Star selections and their connection to the Soto trade.

For most teams, that kind of production would inspire visions of a playoff run. For the Nationals, it has produced only a one-position improvement in the standings, from fifth in the National League East last season to fourth this year.

Such is the conundrum of youth: extraordinary progress does not always produce extraordinary results.

While the Nationals have done an elite job of scoring runs, they have been equally prolific at allowing them. Through 102 games, Washington’s pitching staff owns an MLB-worst 4.85 ERA, while its bullpen has absorbed a league-high 26 losses, roughly twice the major-league average.

The defense has created even more problems. Washington ranks in the bottom third of MLB by several measures: 24th in Defensive Runs Saved at minus-14, 23rd in Outs Above Average at minus-11, and second in total errors with 68.

The overall numbers are not entirely without bright spots. Jacob Young remains an exceptional defensive center fielder, while Wood has provided strong outfield play alongside his offensive production. The infield, however, has been a liability almost across the board.

Abrams, for all his offensive brilliance, continues to rate among baseball’s poorest defensive shortstops. Brady House has committed 14 errors at third base, and Keibert Ruiz ranks near the bottom of the league in both pitch framing and blocking. Those deficiencies place even more pressure on an already shaky pitching staff, extending plate appearances, creating deeper counts, and requiring pitchers to record additional outs.

Together, those problems have created one of baseball’s most confounding and whiplash-inducing teams. The Nationals can overwhelm an opponent one night and be overwhelmed by that same opponent less than 24 hours later. They demonstrated that against the Athletics, winning 23–4 on July 17 before losing 15–1 the following night. The 23-run outburst tied the second-highest single-game total in franchise history. MLB’s box score confirms the opener, while Reuters documented Oakland’s immediate response.

Those two games are the Nationals’ season in miniature. Their average victory has come by 5.4 runs; their average defeat, by 4.3. There is little middle ground. They either blow teams out or get blown out themselves.

The encouraging news for Nationals fans is that the front office appears unlikely to dismantle its young core at the trade deadline. Abrams and Luis García Jr. have reportedly generated interest, but interest does not guarantee a trade. Multiple teams have contacted Washington about García, and Abrams would command an enormous return, but either player is likely to move only if the Nationals receive an offer they consider impossible to refuse. Veterans and shorter-term pieces remain more plausible trade candidates.

Whatever happens at the deadline, the defining elements of this team are likely to remain intact. The Nationals should continue to score runs, surrender too many of them, steal bases, commit errors, produce blowouts in both directions, and generally confound anyone attempting to predict what comes next.

That may not produce a playoff berth. But chaos has its own appeal, and in Washington, chaos is rarely boring.