PLAYER REVIEW: LANE THOMAS
Age on Opening Day 2024: 28
How acquired: Traded from Cardinals for Jon Lester, July 2021
MLB service time: 4 years, 14 days
2023 salary: $2.2 million
PLAYER REVIEW: ILDEMARO VARGAS
Age on Opening Day 2024: 32
How acquired: Signed as minor league free agent, May 2022
MLB service time: 4 years, 7 days
2023 salary: $975,000
The Nationals are adding another experienced name to a revamped scouting department, hiring Brad Ciolek away from the Orioles to serve as senior director of amateur scouting, a source familiar with the move confirmed.
Ciolek spent 12 of the last 13 seasons with the Orioles in a variety of roles, most recently as director of draft operations. Owner of a bachelor’s degree in business administration and a master’s degree in computer information systems, and having spent a year working as an analyst for Bloomberg Sports, he brings an analytical background to a Nats scouting department that appears to be making an effort to bolster that area.
In D.C., Ciolek will hold a title not previously held by anyone in the front office. He’ll work for recently hired vice president of amateur scouting Danny Haas, who replaces longtime head of scouting Kris Kline, who is moving into a new role as a special assistant to general manager Mike Rizzo.
Haas, who came from the Diamondbacks, previously worked for the Orioles with Ciolek, so the two are being reunited in Washington, tasked with overhauling an amateur scouting department that has produced few notable big league players in recent years.
Ciolek first joined the Orioles in 2011 as a player development intern at their spring training complex in Sarasota, Fla. He left after one year to work for Bloomberg Sports but returned to Baltimore in 2013 as scouting administrator, advancing to assistant director of scouting, supervisor of domestic scouting operations and ultimately director of draft operations the last two seasons.
PLAYER REVIEW: CARTER KIEBOOM
Age on Opening Day 2024: 26
How acquired: First-round pick, 2016 draft
MLB service time: 2 years, 167 days
2023 salary: $733,400
PLAYER REVIEW: CJ ABRAMS
Age on Opening Day 2024: 23
How acquired: Traded with MacKenzie Gore, Robert Hassell III, James Wood, Jarlin Susana and Luke Voit from Padres for Juan Soto and Josh Bell, August 2022
MLB service time: 1 year, 130 days
2023 salary: $724,200
PLAYER REVIEW: LUIS GARCÍA
Age on Opening Day 2024: 23
How acquired: Signed as international free agent, July 2016
MLB service time: 2 years, 142 days
2023 salary: $739,000
PLAYER REVIEW: DOMINIC SMITH
Age on Opening Day 2024: 28
How acquired: Signed as free agent, January 2023
MLB service time: 5 years, 81 days
2023 salary: $2 million
PLAYER REVIEW: JOEY MENESES
Age on Opening Day 2024: 31
How acquired: Signed as minor league free agent, January 2022
MLB service time: 1 year, 65 days
2023 salary: $723,300
Davey Martinez is returning for his seventh season as Nationals manager, but he’ll do so with a number of changes to his coaching staff.
Several members of Martinez’s big league staff have been informed in recent days their contracts are not being renewed, including bench coach Tim Bogar, third base coach Gary DiSarcina, first base coach Eric Young Jr. and assistant hitting coach Pat Roessler, a source familiar with the decisions confirmed.
Jim Hickey will be brought back for his fourth season as pitching coach, the source said. It wasn’t immediately clear if decisions have been made on hitting coach Darnell Coles, catching and strategy coach Henry Blanco and bullpen coach Ricky Bones, along with others on the staff who aren’t among the official eight coaches the team employed.
The Athletic was first to report these changes.
With everyone on the staff working on contracts that were due to expire Oct. 31, the possibility of changes has loomed for weeks. Asked during the season’s final week about the fate of his coaches, Martinez said no decisions had been made at that point, and he intended to meet with general manager Mike Rizzo once the season ended to discuss each position.
PLAYER REVIEW: KEIBERT RUIZ
Age on Opening Day 2024: 25
How acquired: Traded from Dodgers with Josiah Gray, Donovan Casey and Gerardo Carrillo for Max Scherzer and Trea Turner, July 2021
MLB service time: 2 years, 64 days
2023 salary: $1.375 million
Never let it be said we don’t hold ourselves accountable around here. For more than a decade, all of us who cover the Nationals have made Opening Day predictions for the coming season. And each year, we revisit those predictions and reveal just how we all did.
Some years, we have a pretty good take on things large and small. Other years, we don’t come close to getting anything right. This year was a mixed bag. While as a group we did pretty well in some categories, we completely whiffed on some others.
As always, a profound thanks to all my colleagues who were willing to subject themselves to this particular form of torture. And with that, here’s how we did in 2023 …
WHICH NATIONALS WILL BE SELECTED FOR THE ALL-STAR GAME?
Bobby Blanco (MASNsports.com) – Keibert Ruiz
Jessica Camerato (MLB.com) – Keibert Ruiz
Jesse Dougherty (Washington Post) – Hunter Harvey
Andrew Golden (Washington Post) – Joey Meneses
Craig Heist (106.7 The Fan) – Keibert Ruiz, Dominic Smith
Chelsea Janes (Washington Post) – Keibert Ruiz
Bill Ladson (MLB.com honorary) – Josiah Gray, Keibert Ruiz
Mark Zuckerman (MASNsports.com) – Joey Meneses
Correct answer: Josiah Gray earned the first All-Star selection of his career with a strong first half. The right-hander struggled for a good chunk of the second half but did close strong to finish with a respectable 3.91 ERA.
The Nationals are hiring Danny Haas, a key member of the Diamondbacks’ scouting department (and prior to that the Orioles and Red Sox), as their new scouting director, a source familiar with the decision confirmed.
Haas, 47, replaces longtime Nats scouting director Kris Kline, who last month was shifted into another role in the front office working for general manager Mike Rizzo.
After a season that produced encouraging progress at the big league level and the ascension of several key prospects in the minors, the Nationals are reshaping multiple areas of their baseball operations department. Among the most notable changes: DeJon Watson was let go after two years as director of player development, and Johnny DiPuglia resigned after more than a decade running the team’s international scouting operation.
The reassignment of Kline, who had been the Nationals’ amateur scouting director since 2009, signaled another major change, the organization seeking improved performance in the MLB Draft after a sustained stretch that produced few notable big league players.
Haas has never run an entire scouting department, but he has extensive scouting experience with three organizations that enjoyed considerable success developing homegrown players.
Beginning on Trade Deadline Day 2021, and repeated countless times since, Mike Rizzo has summed up the Nationals’ rebuilding efforts with some variation of the same line:
“We’ve done this before. We know what we’re doing.”
Indeed, the first stretch of Rizzo’s 15-year tenure as general manager saw the organization tear down its existing roster, emphasize the drafting and developing of a new crop of young players, watch that group reach the big leagues and then supplement it with free agents. Thus did the Nationals go from 59 wins in 2009 to 69 wins in 2010 to 80 wins in 2011 to 98 wins and the first of four division titles in 2012.
The road map has always been there, and it’s only been natural to try to figure out how this current rebuild will mirror that one.
There are obvious comparisons. The Nats bottomed out in 2022, just as they did in 2009. And then they took a step forward in 2023, just as they did in 2010.
If, way back on Opening Day, they knew they would make it through the entire season using only eight starting pitchers, the Nationals would’ve been ecstatic.
Only twice before in club history had so few starters been needed, and each time (2012, 2014) the team won a division title. Surely, this was a sign the 2023 rotation was destined for greatness.
That’s not exactly how it played out. The Nats rotation still ended the year with a 5.02 ERA and 1.501 WHIP, ranking 25th in the majors in each category. The group also finished near the bottom of the sport in walks (27th), strikeouts (25th) and homers (29th).
But while better overall performance certainly would’ve been nice, the mere fact the Nationals rotation proved so durable was significant.
“It was a very healthy year for our pitching staff, which was great,” general manager Mike Rizzo said. “It’s a testament to the training staff and the medical staff and to the pitching coaches, and to the way (manager Davey Martinez) handled them.”
As he watched his rebuilding club play seven of its final nine games against the team that tied the major league record for home runs in a season, Mike Rizzo couldn’t help but acknowledge what was all too obvious about the Nationals’ 2023 lineup.
“We had some strengths,” the longtime general manager said. “We put the bat on the ball. We didn’t strike out much. But we didn’t have enough power. … When you see teams like the Braves, that’s a formula for winning baseball.”
The Braves, for those who weren’t paying attention, tied the all-time record with 307 home runs and set the all-time record with a .501 slugging percentage as a team. They also won 104 games and are as well-positioned to win the World Series as anyone else in the field of 12 that opened postseason play Tuesday.
The Nationals, for those who didn’t realize it, ranked 29th out of 30 MLB clubs with 151 home runs. Not one individual player slugged .500. They won 71 games and for the fourth consecutive October will be watching the postseason from home.
There are other ways the Nats can improve, to be sure. But from an offensive standpoint, it’s clear from where the improvement needs to come.
The Nationals’ improvement at the big league level this year was important, no doubt. It wouldn’t have meant much, though, if they didn’t also see improvement at the minor league level.
This organization’s attempt to rebuild itself back into a perennial contender won’t be realized unless enough homegrown players emerge from its farm system in the next two years to supplement what’s already on the 26-man roster. In some regards, what happened nightly in Rochester, Harrisburg, Wilmington, Fredericksburg and West Palm Beach this season mattered even more than what happened in D.C.
By all accounts, the Nationals are pleased with the results. A farm system that rated in the lower-third of the sport only 18 months ago now rates in the upper-third, with several of baseball’s top prospects headlining the list.
“The best part of the minor league season was that all the players that we really were looking forward to take a step forward, we believe have,” general manager Mike Rizzo said. “We think that was a success in that regard.”
Not every prospect improved, though, and there is now evidence the organization isn’t 100 percent satisfied with the 2023 season. DeJon Watson, the Nationals director of player development the last two years, won’t be back in 2024, a source familiar with the decision confirmed. (The Washington Post was first to report the news Monday evening.)
A collective sigh of relief emanated from the visitors’ dugout in Atlanta late Friday night when Kyle Finnegan recorded the final out of a 10-6 victory over the Braves, the out that ensured the Nationals would finish the 2023 season with at least 70 wins.
That number had been on everyone’s minds for a while. One month earlier, with the team playing its best baseball in years, it looked like a stone-cold lock. By the time the final week of September arrived, it was suddenly in doubt.
A late-season regression turned what could’ve been a remarkable turnaround – a club record, 20-game improvement from the previous year – into something less rousing. Even so, win No. 70 (and then win No. 71 in Sunday’s finale) was significant for an organization that was an abysmal 55-107 last season.
“Every win is important,” manager Davey Martinez said. “But to get to 70 – when, honestly, when we started the season, we didn’t know what to expect – it feels good.”
It also raised the bar for next season. Another 16-game improvement would turn this 71-win last place club into an 87-win wild card contender.
ATLANTA – The 2023 Nationals didn’t have many defining characteristics, but here are two that stood out: 1) They were excellent at scoring runs in the first inning, and 2) They always battled through the ninth inning (and sometimes beyond).
That combo was on full display during today’s finale. The Nats jumped out to a quick lead, gave it back, then rallied late to re-take the lead and ultimately escape town with an uplifting, 10-9 victory over the Braves in Game 162.
Some of the least experienced players on the roster made it happen. Trailing by a run entering the ninth, rookie catcher Drew Millas drew a bases-loaded walk off Atlanta’s Michael Tonkin to tie the game. Moments later, rookie center fielder Jacob Young drilled a two-run single to not only give his team the lead, but give closer Kyle Finnegan a little bit of cushion for the bottom of the ninth.
"When those moments come as a young guy, you try to do your best and help your team," said Young, who was playing his 33rd big league game. "They're new situations for most of us. To experience those for the first time, you hopefully get used to them for the future."
And when Finnegan finished it off (in spite of a solo Marcell Ozuna homer and a subsequent Michael Harris II double), he secured his 28th save and the Nationals’ 71st victory, a 16-game improvement from the previous season that hasn’t been lost on the players, management or fans.
ATLANTA – When he last appeared in a ballgame for the Nationals, Victor Robles was enjoying one of the best-sustained stretches of his career. Over 126 plate appearances to begin the season, the enigmatic center fielder was batting .299 with a .385 on-base percentage and a revamped approach at the plate that had club officials as encouraged as they had been in a long time.
That, unfortunately, was way back on June 20. Which was six weeks removed from the initial back injury that ruined his season.
Robles hasn’t been back on the field since, and today he ends the season on the 60-day injured list, his 2023 campaign wasted, his future with the organization up in the air.
There has been progress in recent months, just not enough to get Robles into actual baseball activities. But the Nationals are hopeful he’ll be ready for that soon, and that he will be able to participate in winter ball in his native Dominican Republic to help make up for all the lost time.
“We think his back is healthy right now,” general manager Mike Rizzo said. “He’s doing his rehab workouts. He’s going to begin baseball workouts soon. And hopefully he’ll get some time in the winter league and recoup some of the at-bats he missed with all the injuries this year.”
ATLANTA – The day has come. It’s Game 162. The final game of the 2023 season for the Nationals. There have been a lot of positives this year, and there have been some negatives. Across the board, though, it’s safe to say most people inside and outside the organization are encouraged by the events of the last six months. The outcome of today’s game won’t change any of that, but it would certainly be nice to end on a high note and finish a respectable 5-8 against the 104-win Braves on top of that.
Jackson Rutledge accounted for one of those wins, his first career win, only seven days ago. The rookie right-hander impressed against this Atlanta lineup, allowing one run over five innings on 86 pitches. It’ll be interesting to see if he goes about it with the same game plan today, or if he tries to change anything up in the rematch against the best-hitting team in the majors.
Davey Martinez has some new faces in his lineup for the finale, most notably Alex Call in left field and Drew Millas behind the plate against Braves left-hander Dylan Dodd. Keibert Ruiz is still playing, though, just serving as the designated hitter, with Joey Meneses (who needs two RBIs to reach 90) at first base. Perhaps the most notable thing at stake today for the Nats: CJ Abrams needs one more stolen base to break Trea Turner’s single-season club record of 46. If he reaches at any point, you have to assume he’s going to be running.
WASHINGTON NATIONALS at ATLANTA BRAVES
Where: Truist Park
Gametime: 3:10 p.m. EDT
TV: MASN2, MLB.tv
Radio: 106.7 FM, MLB.com
Weather: Partly cloudy, 80 degrees, wind 6 mph left field to right field
NATIONALS
SS CJ Abrams
RF Lane Thomas
1B Joey Meneses
DH Keibert Ruiz
3B Carter Kieboom
2B Ildemaro Vargas
LF Alex Call
C Drew Millas
CF Jacob Young
