Better, worse or the same in 2025: Position players

Spring training, believe it or not, starts three weeks from today when pitchers and catchers report to West Palm Beach, Fla. It’s hard to believe that, because it feels like the Nationals still have plenty of work to do between now and then, with a roster that still includes several glaring holes.

Maybe there are moves to come between now and Feb. 12. Or maybe there are moves to come after camp begins, as we’ve seen in several recent years. Regardless, we’re close enough now to start looking at the roster as currently constructed and wonder how it will compare with the one we saw in 2024.

The Nats’ goal – every team’s goal, for that matter – is to field a better team this season than last season. That can be accomplished through additions from the outside. It can also be accomplished by improvement from within. In this case, the Nationals are going to need both to come true if they want to make a necessary leap from back-to-back, 71-win seasons and approach (or even surpass) the coveted 81-win mark.

Are they positioned to pull that off? Let’s go position by position, determining if they should be better, worse or the same at each spot in 2025 …

CATCHER: Slightly better
The Nationals didn’t get nearly enough last season out of their catchers, who combined to bat .229 with a .269 on-base percentage, 16 homers and 63 RBIs. Keibert Ruiz, of course, was the primary culprit because he played the most games. But Riley Adams was a big disappointment as well, and Drew Millas didn’t show a whole lot when he got his opportunities after Adams was demoted to Triple-A. The Nats need improvement all around here, and it almost certainly has to come from within. Ruiz remains the No. 1 catcher, and there will be real pressure on him to be better in every way. You’d like to believe that’s more likely than a repeat performance from 2024.

FIRST BASE: Better
The Nationals didn’t get nearly enough last season out of their first basemen, who combined to bat .241 with only 14 homers, 74 RBIs and a weak .376 slugging percentage. Enter Nathaniel Lowe, who may not have Pete Alonso or Christian Walker’s pedigree but established himself as a solid big league first baseman during his time with the Rangers. If he simply delivers his average production over the last four seasons this year, Lowe will wind up batting .274 with a .359 on-base percentage, 20 homers, 75 RBIs and a .791 OPS (which would’ve ranked sixth among all regular MLB first basemen in 2024). Would the Nats love to get even more than that from the position? Sure. But if Lowe merely performs the way he typically has, it’ll still represent a significant improvement for the club.

SECOND BASE: Same
Luis Garcia Jr. finally delivered the breakthrough season the Nationals so desperately wanted from their longtime prospect, slashing .282/.318/.444 with 18 homers, 70 RBIs and 22 stolen bases. There’s no guarantee he’s going to duplicate those numbers, but you’d like to believe 2024 didn’t come completely out of nowhere and Garcia can establish something comparable as his new career norm. And it’s not out of the question he could improve in some ways, as well, considering he still hasn’t turned 25.

SHORTSTOP: Better (unless it’s worse)
OK, so that’s kind of a cop-out assessment, but it does underscore just how volatile this position is for the Nationals entering the new year. CJ Abrams was fantastic in the first half, earning his first career All-Star nod. Then he struggled mightily in the second half. Then he was demoted to the minors in late-September for disciplinary reasons. It’s impossible to say with any confidence at this point what we can expect from him in 2025. If he comes back strong and finds a way to sustain success over six months, he could put together a fantastic season. But if he doesn’t handle his situation well and comes to camp with a bad taste still in his mouth, it could really go south. And who knows what the Nats would do in that scenario. The positive development feels more plausible, but you can’t rule out the possibility of the negative outcome here.

THIRD BASE: Better (by default)
The Nationals had the worst third basemen in the NL last season, and the only reason they weren’t worst in the majors was the fact the 2024 White Sox existed. So it’s got to be better in 2025, right? Yes, even if we don’t know at this point who’s going to be at the hot corner on Opening Day, or on Independence Day or Labor Day. Does Brady House debut at some point and play like a top prospect? Does Jose Tena hold his own as a temporary solution? Does Mike Rizzo acquire someone else before the season begins? There are plenty of variables here, but no matter the solution it has to be better than the .228/.285/.304 slash line, seven homers and 45 RBIs the Nats got at the position last year.

LEFT FIELD: Better
Nationals left fielders actually were pretty good last season, ranking fifth in the majors with a .771 OPS. But a full season on James Wood should be even better. In 79 games as a rookie, he slashed .264/.354/.427 with nine homers, 41 RBIs and 14 stolen bases. Who wants to bet he improves in each category, especially in the power department, in his first full big league season?

CENTER FIELD: Same
At this point, we’ll assume Jacob Young retains his everyday job the entire season, based on his Gold Glove-caliber defense and ability to do just enough at the plate to warrant the playing time. It’s possible Young makes some strides offensively and improves his .648 OPS from last season, but that may be asking for too much. A repeat performance is probably more likely. The bigger question is what happens if he regresses at the plate. Would Davey Martinez move Dylan Crews to center? If that move does happen, the Nats probably will end up with better center field production, though they might take a hit in right field.

RIGHT FIELD: Same, maybe better
When you combine Lane Thomas, Alex Call and Crews’ stats from 2024, you get some decent total numbers for Nationals right fielders: a .752 OPS, 32 doubles, 21 homers, 80 RBIs and 50 stolen bases. Can Crews pull that off all by himself in his first full big league season? If he’s the real deal, he might pull that off and more. But he also needs to prove he can be a productive major league hitter in the first place before we talk about overwhelming numbers. The organization remains confident the 2023 No. 2 overall pick will be everything he’s supposed to be. It’s now up to him to actually show it.

DESIGNATED HITTER: Better
Nationals designated hitters were not good last season. They collective slashed a meager .205/.274/.341 with 16 homers and 83 RBIs. Now, maybe the signing of Josh Bell didn’t get you as excited as the signing of someone else closer to the prime of his career would have. But even a diminished Bell is better than what the Nats got out of the position last year. His 2024 stats: a .249/.319/.405 slash line with 19 homers and 71 RBIs. If he merely duplicates those numbers, it will represent improvement for the team. If he can hit a little more like his career norms, it will represent a major improvement for the team.