We are already 10 days into the Nationals’ offseason and it has already been busy with the introduction of Paul Toboni as the new president of baseball operations one week ago. But before we look ahead at what’s to come this winter and in the 2026 season, let’s take some time to look back at what was a very eventual 2025 season.

Amy Jennings and I took a deep dive into various storylines during this week’s episode of the “District Chat” podcast, but here is a small sampling of the big picture topics that were discussed. You can check out our full breakdowns on your favorite podcasting platform or watch the show here.

We’ll be taking a break from new episodes until after the World Series. So we’ll be back in November with new episodes of “District Chat” that you can watch live on the MASN Nationals YouTube channel and Facebook page or listen wherever you get your audio.

Without further ado, some of our top storylines …

A tale of two halves
Now as it pertains to the team, it may be more like a tale of ⅓ and ⅔ of the season. After proclamations in spring training from then general manager Mike Rizzo and then manager Davey Martinez that this team would be competing for October, the Nationals were 28-30 at the end of May, good for third place in the National League East and only five games out of Wild Card spot.

It was easy to see why Paul Toboni impressed the Nationals ownership group during his interview process for the team’s then-open president of baseball operations position, a job that he officially accepted earlier this week. He’s charismatic, personable and smart.

What may not have been so obvious to those watching Wednesday’s press conference without being there in person is that those traits extend well beyond his new job. They clearly apply to his role as a father, too.

And Toboni may not even be the best holder of those traits in his own family. During his first 30-minute meeting with the local media, his wife, Danielle, spent most of the time wrangling the couple’s four young boys, who are between the ages of 1 and 6.

She’s the real star of the family.

But as Toboni looked at his young family and thanked them multiple times throughout the day, it was clear that this is a loving family man taking over the Nationals family.

Yesterday was a fun and exciting day for Paul Toboni and his family, as he was officially introduced as the Nationals’ new president of baseball operations. But now that the hands have been shaken and pictures taken, his real work to rebuild the organization in his likeness begins.

How does Toboni, the 35-year-old executive who quickly rose from a baseball operations intern to the senior vice president and assistant general manager with the Red Sox, envision doing that?

“I’m stepping into this role with a clear vision, and that vision is to be the highest performing organization in all of sports,” he said Wednesday. “I want to help build something that becomes the envy of all of sports. Where we get X amount of months and years down the line and people are looking at this organization like, ‘Shoot, I want to be part of that organization.’ We have a lot of work to do. That’s OK. We’re going to embrace it. While it’s going to be challenging, it’s going to be really rewarding when we get to where we want to go.”

Toboni has a lot on his plate as he starts this job. He has to fill out his front office, including making decisions on people he wants to retain and those he wants to replace. He has to hire a new manager and coaching staff, a process of which he gave very little insight to. And he has to evaluate all the players in the organization, from the major league roster all the way down to rookie ball.

That final process he did offer a lot of thoughts about.

Earlier this week, the Nationals announced their 2025 Minor League Players of the Year. The five winners will be recognized tonight as part of a pregame ceremony, and they’ll also take part in a season plan holder autograph session during batting practice. This year’s award winners are:

Hitter of the Year – INF/OF Phillip Glasser
Pitcher of the Year – RHP Riley Cornelio
Defensive Player of the Year – OF Cristhian Vaquero
Baserunner of the Year – INF Seaver King
Nationals Way Award – OF Andrew Pinckney

Glasser, 25, led the Nats system with a .302 average, .389 on-base percentage and 143 total hits. He also ranked second in OPS (.793) and walks (60), and finished in the top 10 in stolen bases (tied for third, 32), runs (fourth, 71) total bases (fifth, 191), slugging percentage (fifth, .404), triples (tied for sixth, four) and doubles (tied for seventh, 19).

His 143 hits were the most by a Nats minor leaguer since Andrew Stevenson’s 152 in 2022. Glasser finished the season with 124 games between Double-A Harrisburg and Triple-A Rochester.

The former 10th-round pick out of Indiana University in the 2023 MLB Draft played mostly in left field (91 games) but also appeared as the designated hitter (20 games), second baseman (11 games) and right fielded (three games) in his third professional season.

ATLANTA – Luis García Jr. had never played anywhere other than second base and shortstop in the major leagues. Sprinkle in a few games at third base in the minor leagues and there was only one remaining infield position he hadn’t played in his professional baseball career.

That changed Tuesday night when he took the field at Truist Park with Andrés Chaparro’s glove and manned first base against the Braves. And to his credit, after only practice reps at the new position since the All-Star break, he made a good first impression.

“Really good,” García said, via interpreter Mauricio Ortiz, of how he felt at first following the Nationals’ 3-2 loss to the Braves. “The first three innings, I was kind of nervous, but then after that, I felt really comfortable.”

García was on the receiving end of 11 putouts at first through the eight defensive innings, thanks in large part to Brad Lord inducing nine ground balls over his six innings. Most were routine plays, with a few short hops needing scooping, which he did so cleanly every time.

“I was trying to stop the ball, keep the ball right in front of me and make the play,” he said. “But I feel all the plays that were made today and were thrown at me, I felt good.”

ATLANTA – The Nationals had just one game remaining on the road portion of the 2025 schedule. With a victory this afternoon, not only would they end this six-game losing streak to the Braves, but they would also finish with a road record that is one game better than last year’s.

Things have rarely been easy for the Nats this year. But with an overall solid pitching performance and three home runs from some big sluggers, this was as easy of a victory they’ve had in a while.

Andrew Alvarez had a solid start through 4 ⅓ innings, Josh Bell and James Wood combined for three homers, and the Nats held on for a 4-3 win over their division rivals in front of an announced crowd of 32,898 at Truist Park.

“It was nice to get a .500 road trip," interim manager Miguel Cairo said. "That was awesome to take two out of three against the Mets and 1-2 here. It was awesome. The guys fight. We put some barrels on the ball. Good pitching from the bullpen, from the starting pitcher. So it was a team win.”

Alvarez entered his fifth major league start looking to bounce back from his first tough outing last week in New York, when he gave up six runs (four earned) over 3 ⅓ innings against the Mets.

ATLANTA – Julian Fernández was supposed to be on a 10 a.m. flight this morning back home to the Dominican Republic. Instead, he flew to Atlanta on Monday night to join the Nationals ahead of their second game against the Braves.

The right-handed reliever, who the Nats claimed off waivers from the Dodgers on Aug. 17, then found himself taking the mound at Truist Park in the bottom of the eighth inning, trying to keep it a 3-2 game against the heart of the Braves order and give his new team one more chance in the ninth.

Fernández proceeded to toss a perfect frame on a scant 13 pitches, striking out Ronald Acuña Jr. and Drake Baldwin with some high heat in the process.

It was a full-circle moment for the 28-year-old, who made his major league debut with the Rockies against the Braves in 2021, the first of only six appearances he would make that season before making just one this year with the Dodgers.

“I felt really good,” Fernández said, via interpreter Mauricio Ortiz. “I haven't pitched in a while, a couple of days. But I kept myself ready for this. Yesterday was really special because I made my debut against Atlanta back in '21. It's a great team and I was able to have a good performance.”

ATLANTA – The Nationals have lost six straight to the Braves. They’ve already lost the season series to their rivals, trailing 3-9 with one game to go. But a win in this afternoon’s finale would at least end the losing streak on a positive note. Plus, it would give the Nats a better road record than they had in 2024.

Andrew Alvarez has been impressive for most of his first stint in the majors. But he hit his first bump in his last start when he gave up six runs (four earned) in just 3 ⅓ innings against the Mets. The young left-hander will look to finish his season with a strong outing against a tough Braves lineup.

Meanwhile, Bryce Elder is 8-10 with a 5.36 ERA and 1.420 WHIP in 27 starts this season. He’s coming off seven innings of one-run ball and six strikeouts against the Tigers in Detroit. And the right-hander held the Nats to one run over six innings in D.C. back in May.

WASHINGTON NATIONALS at ATLANTA BRAVES
Where: Truist Park
Gametime: 12:15 p.m. EDT
TV: MASN, MLBN (out-of-market only), MLB.tv
Radio: 106.7 The Fan, DC 87.7 (Spanish), MLB.com
Weather: Partly cloudy, 85 degrees, wind 6 mph in from right field

NATIONALS
DH James Wood
SS CJ Abrams
1B Josh Bell
LF Daylen Lile
RF Dylan Crews
2B Luis García Jr.
C Jorge Alfaro
CF Robert Hassell III
3B Paul DeJong

ATLANTA – No matter how this final week finishes, Brad Lord has already entrenched himself as one of the Nationals’ best storylines in an otherwise disappointing 2025 season.

The former 18th-round pick out of the University of South Florida spent last offseason working at Home Depot before getting himself ready for what he thought was going to be another season grinding through the minor leagues. Instead, the 25-year-old broke camp with the Nats and spent the entire season in the majors.

Even while going back and forth between the starting rotation and bullpen, Lord has been one of the most consistent pitchers for the Nats. And that stayed true tonight despite him suffering a tough-luck 3-2 loss to the Braves in front of 37,322 fans at Truist Park.

Lord also faced off against fellow rookie Hurston Waldrep last week. And although he was credited with a no-decision, the Nats fell 9-4 after Lord departed the game with 3-0 lead in the sixth.

Tonight was a similar game, although this time Lord was saddled with the loss despite once again holding the Braves mostly in check.

ATLANTA – The Nationals ended the season for two more pitchers this afternoon, placing MacKenzie Gore and Mason Thompson on the 15-day injured list with only five games to go.

Gore landed on the IL with a right ankle impingement after it came about during his start last week on a rainy, cold Tuesday night at Nationals Park. He started last night’s series opener against the Braves, but only lasted two-plus innings. After allowing the first two batters in the third inning to reach while reaching 71 total pitches, interim manager Miguel Cairo thought that was enough for the 26-year-old left-hander, who had mentioned the ankle was still bothering him.

“It happened the last game when it was wet over there at home,” Cairo said during his pregame media session. “He felt it a little bit. He went through it. He toughened (through it) a little bit. And we didn't want to risk anything. It's not worth it right now. He had a really good season. Now it's time for him to just chill out and make sure this is fine. Just look forward to the offseason and have a great offseason, work hard and come back ready. He did really amazing things this year.”

Gore finishes the year 5-15 with a 4.17 ERA, 185 strikeouts, 1.353 WHIP and 10.4 strikeouts per nine innings in 159 ⅔ innings over 30 starts. He was named an All-Star for the first time in his career after going 4-8 with a 3.02 ERA, 1.196 WHIP and 11.3 strikeouts per nine innings over his first 19 starts. But he ended the year 1-7 with a 6.75 ERA, 1.703 WHIP and 8.6 K/9 over his last 11 outings.

“He had a great year,” Cairo said. “Everyone goes through the ups and downs of the season. He had a really good first half. He went to the All-Star Game, pitched really well and came back. They all get a little tired and they go to rough spots, but he pitched unbelievable.”

ATLANTA – The Nationals and Braves will square off with another pitching rematch from last week in the second game of this three-game set. Brad Lord and Hurston Waldrep will take the mound again as they did in the Wednesday's finale of a four-game series at Nationals Park.

Lord held the Braves to two runs on six hits and one walk and notched four strikeouts over 5 ⅓ innings that day. He departed that game with a 3-0 lead in the sixth, but the bullpen collapsed behind him in the Nats’ eventual 9-4 loss to complete the four-game sweep on their home field. The Nats will hope the rookie right-hander can keep them in the game again and that they can hold onto a lead if they get one.

Something to look out for in what could be Lord’s last start of the season: If he can complete 5 ⅔ shutout innings, he would become just the second Nationals rookie pitcher to complete 120 innings with an ERA less than 4.00, joining John Lannan in 2008 (3.91).

Meanwhile, Waldrep was charged with three runs on five hits last week. But he did strike out eight over his five innings, so the Nats will look to be more patient against the right-hander and get him in the zone tonight.

The Nats also made some pregame roster moves. They placed MacKenzie Gore (right ankle impingement) and Mason Thompson (right biceps tendinitis, retroactive to Sept. 20) on the 15-day injured list, ending both their seasons. They recalled right-handers Julian Fernandez and Orlando Ribalta to take their roster spots.

ATLANTA – When the Nationals made Nasim Nuñez the No. 5 overall selection in the 2023 Rule 5 Draft, they knew what they were getting. The infielder was the best defensive prospect in the Marlins system with very little offensive upside. Any production they got from the switch-hitter at the plate would be a bonus.

Nuñez spent all of last season with the Nationals at the major league level as part of his Rule 5 status. He appeared in 51 games, mostly as a defensive replacement or pinch-runner, and made only 78 plate appearances. He collected one RBI on 15 hits, with only one going for extra bases.

This year, Nuñez was able to be optioned down to the minors. He appeared in 23 major league games between April and June, this time collecting five RBIs on eight hits, two for extra bases.

But when Nuñez came back up to the majors at the beginning of the month when rosters expanded to 28 players, no one expected to see this power surge the 25 year old has put on over his last 12 games.

He hit his first two major league home runs in his first game back on Sept. 3 against his former team. He hit what would end up being the game-winning home run Sunday against the Mets, a two-run shot in the third inning, in the city where he was born. And then he led off last night’s series opener against the Braves in what he considers his actual hometown by hitting a first-pitch homer off the reigning Cy Young Award winner.

ATLANTA – It is usually meaningless to try to compare two opposing starting pitchers. With the universal designated hitter, they don’t face each other in the batter’s box anymore. And opposing lineups are constructed differently with different approaches.

But after the level of pitching MacKenzie Gore and Chris Sale put on display in the nightcap of Tuesday’s doubleheader at Nationals Park – 13 ⅓ scoreless innings with 14 strikeouts between the left-handers – it was hard not to make comparisons between the two ahead of tonight’s rematch.

Unfortunately for Gore, there weren’t too many comparisons to be made between him and the reigning National League Cy Young Award winner after this 11-5 loss to open the Nats’ final road series of the 2025 season.

Gore lasted only two-plus innings tonight as the Braves drove up his pitch count by fouling balls off and drawing walks.

“He fell behind," interim manager Miguel Cairo said. "They take good pitches. And they fouled off a lot of pitches, so the pitch count went a little too high. And hey, they were able to lay off his good pitches. But they battled against him today."

ATLANTA – The Nationals get the unfortunate pleasure of facing Chris Sale for the second time in less than a week as they start their last road series of the season tonight at Truist Park. The reigning National League Cy Young Award winner shut out the Nats over eight innings with three hits, no walks and nine strikeouts in the nightcap of Tuesday’s split doubleheader back in D.C.

So interim manager Miguel Cairo made some tweaks to his lineup Monday, some due to injuries and some due to the matchup against Sale.

Daylen Lile and James Wood (both left-handed hitters) are sitting to start tonight’s opener against the Braves, while CJ Abrams returns to the lineup as the designated hitter.

Lile suffered a left knee contusion yesterday while sliding into the wall in the left field corner at Citi Field attempting to catch a fly ball. The rookie outfielder was able to walk off the field under his own power and didn’t even require an X-ray when he returned to the clubhouse. But Cairo wants to make sure Lile feels better before playing him again.

“He's feeling fine. He said a little sore,” Cairo said during his pregame media session. “I just want to make sure he has a day and make sure he's fine. But he's doing well.”

ATLANTA – The Nationals’ last road trip of the 2025 season got off to an exciting start, when they won two of three against the Mets over the weekend in Queens to knock their division rivals out of a playoff spot. This final away series doesn’t carry as much importance – as both the Nats and Braves are out of the postseason hunt – but it may be a meaningful chance at revenge for the visitors after Atlanta swept a four-games-in-three-days series in D.C. last week.

This series will start with a rematch from last week of an intriguing pitching matchup between two left-handed All-Stars on the bump. When MacKenzie Gore and Chris Sale faced off in the nightcap of Tuesday’s doubleheader at Nats Park, the two starting southpaws dominated their respective opposing lineups.

Gore held the Braves scoreless with two hits, three walks and five strikeouts over 5 ⅓ innings, while Sale shut out the Nats over eight innings with three hits, no walks and nine strikeouts. But in the end, neither had a say in the final score as the Braves put up five runs in the 10th inning for a 5-0 victory.

How will this rematch shape out?

WASHINGTON NATIONALS at ATLANTA BRAVES
Where: Truist Park
Gametime: 7:15 p.m. EDT
TV: MASN, MLBN (out-of-market only), MLB.tv
Radio: 106.7 The Fan, DC 87.7 (Spanish), MLB.com
Weather: Partly cloudy, 82 degrees, wind 6 mph in from left field

All seasons are judged on final records. The Nationals were hoping their 2025 season would finish with a better record than they had in each of the previous two seasons. But unfortunately, that goal of improving upon 71-91 has long been out of reach.

Given the state of the team, the next-best thing would be to avoid a 100-loss campaign, which would be the Nats’ second since losing 107 in 2022.

But with this 5-0 extra-inning loss to complete a doubleheader sweep at the hands of the Braves, the Nats still need to win one more game over their final 10 to ensure they will avoid that dreaded 100-loss season.

After the Nats spoiled a chance to walk it off in the bottom of the ninth inning of a scoreless game (they had the winning run 90 feet away with only one out, but then popped out and had a hard-hit Luis García Jr. line drive — 101.4 mph off the bat with a .580 expected batting average — caught at the wall by Ronald Acuña Jr.), Mason Thompson entered for the 10th and immediately surrendered the first run. Pinch-hitter Drake Baldwin drilled a low slider off the right field wall to easily score the automatic runner at second, giving the Braves a 1-0 lead.

But that wasn’t the worst of it, as Thompson proceeded to load the bases with a single and a walk and then give up a three-run triple to Matt Olson to turn this once 0-0 extra-inning game into a 4-0 Braves lead. An Ozzie Albies sac fly put the final nail in the coffin, sending the announced crowd of 19,216 home after a long, cold and wet day.

And we’re back! The Nationals will try to put this afternoon’s 6-3 loss to the Braves behind them and earn a split in this doubleheader with a victory tonight.

To do that, though, they’ll have to fare much better against another left-handed Atlanta starting pitcher. José Suarez held the Nats to two runs on five hits and two walks with nine strikeouts over seven innings earlier today. The task only gets harder against Chris Sale in the nightcap.

Sale has followed up his 2024 National League Cy Young Award with another stellar campaign, posting a 5-5 record, 2.52 ERA, 1.121 WHIP and 11.9 strikeouts per nine innings over 18 starts in his ninth All-Star season. He missed time between mid-June and late August with a fractured rib cage, but he has a 2.55 ERA over his three starts since returning from the injured list.

The Nats will counter with their own All-Star southpaw starter: MacKenzie Gore. In his return from the IL with left shoulder inflammation, Gore held the Marlins to two runs over five solid innings in a tough-luck loss last week. This will be his first start of the season against the Braves.

You’ll notice Miguel Cairo’s lineup for the second game looks very different from the usual. CJ Abrams and James Wood (who struck out four times in the first game to have 209 on the season) are on the bench, while Nasim Nuñez plays shortstop and hits leadoff (yes, leadoff!) and Dylan Crews gets bumped up to the No. 2 spot.

With the season series tied 3-3 and seven games scheduled between the two teams over a 10-day stretch in the season’s final two weeks, the Nationals entered this four-games-in-three-days series with a chance to close the gap between themselves and the Braves before the end of the year.

Last night’s 11-3 drubbing was a setback, but the Nats have not one, but two chances to get back in this long set with today’s split doubleheader. But by dropping the first game, which was rescheduled from a May 21 rainout, 6-3 on this Tuesday afternoon, the Nats now must win tonight to avoid the twinbill sweep and the possibility of a four-game sweep in tomorrow’s finale.

Much like Monday night’s starter Mitchell Parker, Jake Irvin entered this afternoon’s start looking to build any positive momentum before the offseason.

For a moment, it looked like Irvin had something going to start this one. With so much talk about his velocity being down this year (his four-seam fastball has averaged 92.3 mph this season), he struck out Matt Olson with a 95.1 mph heater and touched 94 mph during his strikeout of Drake Baldwin in the first inning, stranding Ronald Acuña Jr. after a two-out single.

Irvin then stranded runners on the corners with back-to-back strikeouts in the second, but his pitch count was already up to 41. And with a 2-0 lead in the third, he induced a double play ball and stranded Acuña again after the Braves slugger hit a comebacker off Irvin’s left foot and the 6-foot-6, 234-pound starter did a somersault while trying to field the ball and throw to first.

Cole Henry wasn’t sure if the opportunity would ever come. He wasn’t even sure his baseball career would continue following thoracic outlet syndrome surgery in August 2022, just two years after the Nationals made him their second-round selection out of LSU in the 2020 MLB Draft.

But after a long road back, the right-hander was cleared to resume a normal baseball workload, leading to his major league debut on April 13 in Miami. Unfortunately, Henry’s rookie season came to an end over the weekend when he was placed on the 15-day injured list with a back strain with exactly 15 days left to go in the season.

“Yeah, it was pretty tough,” Henry said ahead of Tuesday’s split doubleheader against the Braves. “Obviously, you don't want to end that way at all, but sometimes it's just like that. It's been a long year. It's something that my body really hasn't been through before, so it just kind of happened at the end of the season, which if it were to happen, I'd rather happen now than at the beginning. So yeah, nothing major. I'll be good for a normal offseason. But yeah, it's been a great year. I felt like I had a pretty solid season. I'm just trying to look to get better this offseason. Kind of figure out where I need to improve and work on those things. And then come back next year ready to roll.”

Given Henry’s injury history with thoracic outlet syndrome, the back strain actually came as good news for the 26-year-old, who doesn’t require a serious rehab plan for the offseason and instead will just focus on strengthening for an increased workload in 2026.

“Yeah, definitely. It's nice to know that I won't have to rehab in the offseason at all,” Henry said. “Just kind of working on a couple of things and keeping my body in shape and ready to take on a bigger workload next year. So yeah, just normal wear and tear stuff that just happens throughout the season. And yeah, I'll be ready next year to go.”

Let’s play two! That’s right, the Nationals will have not one, but two chances to get back into this series against the rival Braves in today’s split doubleheader. This 1:05 p.m. game is a makeup from a rainout on May 21, which technically gave Washington a two-game series sweep over Atlanta.

After last night’s 11-3 drubbing, the Nats will look to put together better at-bats against a slew of Braves relievers, starting with opener José Suarez. The 27-year-old left-hander has spent most of this season with Atlanta’s Triple-A affiliate after making three major league relief appearances over the season’s first 12 games. He was charged with three runs (two earned) and seven walks with five strikeouts across 7 ⅓ innings.

The Nats typically don’t fare well when the opposition commits to a bullpen game, so it will be in their best interest to get to Suarez early and often.

Meanwhile, Jake Irivn will start the afternoon game for Miguel Cairo’s squad. The right-hander has been the losing pitcher of record in each of his last five starts and hasn’t won a game since his gem in his hometown of Minneapolis on July 27. The Nats have lost seven of the eight games he has started since. But he did toss a quality start against the Braves in Atlanta back on May 12.

WASHINGTON NATIONALS vs. ATLANTA BRAVES
Where: Nationals Park
Gametime: 1:05 p.m. EDT
TV: MASN, MLBN (out-of-market only), MLB.tv
Radio: 106.7 The Fan, DC 87.7 (Spanish), MLB.com
Weather: Chance of rain, 70 degrees, wind 13 mph in from right field