We spend most of our time around here asking what the Nationals are going to do about their most glaring roster needs. Are they going to sign a big-name slugger to play first base? Are they going to spend money on a proven starting pitcher? Are they going to bolster a now-depleted bullpen with experienced late-inning arms?

So far, we don’t have the answers to any of those questions. The Nats have not yet acquired a major league player this offseason, aside from reliever Evan Reifert in last week’s Rule 5 Draft. Their most glaring holes remain holes to this point.

Let’s start this week off, though, looking at the roster in an entirely different way. We know what the Nationals need. Which means we also should know what they already have. It’s worth remembering where around the field they already appear to be set, because it’s actually a majority of the positions on the team.

The Nats have a middle infield, no questions there. CJ Abrams, despite his end-of-season demotion, is the everyday shortstop, coming off an All-Star year that showcased his elite combination of skills. Yes, he needs to prove he can put those skills together on a more consistent basis over a six-month season. But the team remains fully committed to him, of that there appears to be no doubt.

They’re also fully committed to Luis Garcia Jr., who after a spring full of tough love finally blossomed into the second baseman they always believed him to be. Garcia was the most pleasant development of the 2024 season, and the expectation will be for more of the same, if not even more improvement from him in 2025.

OK, maybe this hasn’t been as great a year as many probably hoped it would be. There’s still plenty to be thankful for today, though, right?

Of course there is. Even as it pertains to baseball, which may not be back to the level we’d all prefer but undoubtedly is trending in the right direction at last, with the ultimate payoff perhaps not as far off as you’d think.

So before you put the turkey in the oven and sit down to watch what on paper looks like three pretty blah football games, let’s run through everything the Nationals are thankful for on this day …

KEIBERT RUIZ
The opportunity to bounce back from a poor season that in some circumstances could have cost him his job, but won’t here because of the contract extension he signed in 2023.

LUIS GARCIA JR.
Just enough of a display of faith from his manager and general manager to get one last shot to realize his potential this year, which he most definitely did.

Organizational prospect rankings, by their nature, are going to fluctuate year to year. And this has especially been true for the Nationals, who have seen their farm system completely overhauled in recent seasons.

As recently as 2021, the organization’s top 10 list (as compiled by Baseball America) was headlined by three homegrown pitchers (Cade Cavalli, Jackson Rutledge, Cole Henry) and two internationally signed infielders (Yasel Antuna, Armando Cruz).

Only two years later, that list looked totally different, bolstered by the additions of top prospects acquired in the Juan Soto trade (James Wood, Robert Hassell III) and more recent first round draft picks (Elijah Green, Brady House).

The top-tier talent perhaps peaked one year ago, when Dylan Crews and Yoyo Morales joined Wood, House and Cavalli to create a pretty impressive one through five.

Now, with Baseball America releasing a new top prospects list within the last week, there’s a whole new set of promising young players busting down the doors, with five of the new top 10 having been acquired by the Nationals in the last 16 months alone.

I want to thank reader and commenter Peter Wood for posing this question back in September that I thought was an interesting topic to address in the offseason: Who do we think will have a better career, Dylan Crews or Jackson Holliday?

It is, of course, way too early to make any proclamation one way or the other. But with each playing a substantial amount in the major leagues this season, there are significant data points to start the conversation.

Crews and Holliday are both highly touted young players and former No. 1 overall prospects in the sport. The Nationals got Crews out of Louisiana State with the No. 2 overall pick in 2023. Holliday, out of Stillwater High School in Oklahoma, was the No. 1 overall selection when the Orioles drafted him in 2022.

Both youngsters were anticipated to make their big league debuts this year, which they did. In fact, they each had a shot at making his respective team’s Opening Day roster. Many around the league believed that leaving Holliday off the Orioles roster to start the season was a surprising snub.

And so it was that both prospects started the year in the minor leagues, with Crews at Double-A Harrisburg and Holliday at Triple-A Norfolk.

PLAYER REVIEW: DYLAN CREWS

Age on Opening Day 2025: 23

How acquired: First-round pick, 2023 Draft

MLB service time: 35 days

2024 salary: $740,000

Despite a 16-win improvement in 2023, the Nationals were careful not to call last year a success. Even though they jumped from 55 to 71 victories, they still lost 91 games for their fourth straight losing season.

“I don't think that it's a successful season, but it's a very encouraging season,” said general manager Mike Rizzo on Sept. 13, 2023. “Nobody wants to aim to win 70 games in a season. We want to win 97 games in the season. So that's our goal. That's always been our goal. But this is a good step in the right direction to that.”

The Nats looked like they were going to take a similar step in that direction this year. Through the first 77 outings in late June, they were on pace to win about 80 games. That would have been close to another double-digit win improvement from last year and close to their first finish at or above .500 since winning the World Series in 2019.

But from that point on, starting with a three-game sweep at Petco Park at the hands of the Padres (which also helped turn San Diego’s season around), the Nats went 33-52 (.388) the rest of the way en route to finishing with the same 71-91 record they had in 2023. Although this year, they did finally end their four-year streak of finishing last in the National League East, with the woeful Marlins residing in the division’s basement.

So if last year was more “encouraging” than a “success,” what’s the word the Nats would use to describe the 2024 season?

Go back and peruse some random Nationals lineups from 2022, and you’re likely to find a lot of names who aren’t here anymore, many of them veterans in the waning days of their careers.

Move ahead to 2023, and you’ll find a few more promising young players, the so-called first wave of prospects who either were acquired via trade or drafted and developed from within. You’ll also still find a number of veteran stopgaps who have since departed.

The same was actually true early in 2024. Lest anyone forget, the Nats’ Opening Day lineup included the likes of Jesse Winker, Joey Meneses, Joey Gallo and Eddie Rosario, with Nick Senzel a planned part of that group until he fractured his thumb in pregame warmups.

By season’s end, though, the transformation was finally complete. The Nationals’ regular lineup was built almost entirely with young players, most of them at least potential long-term solutions.

James Wood, Dylan Crews and Jacob Young didn’t make the team out of spring training, but they were everyday players by Game 162. Mitchell Parker and DJ Herz weren’t in the Opening Day rotation, but they were trusted stalwarts before long.

The 2024 Nationals wound up being a team of contradictions. They unquestionably showed real signs of progress from a year ago, especially in the pitching department. And yet when you look at the final standings, you’ll find a 71-91 record that looks identical to their 71-91 mark from 2023.

They wound up in this familiar situation after taking a 6-3 loss to the Phillies this afternoon in their season finale. Having already won the previous two days against the division champs, the Nats dug themselves into an early hole created by Jake Irvin and couldn’t quite claw all the way back, despite one last-ditch attempt in the bottom of the ninth.

"We made it interesting," manager Davey Martinez sighed. "Testament to the guys. They fought hard all year long. I'm proud of them. Obviously, nobody wants to go home this time of year. You want to keep playing. But the effort was definitely there this year."

There wasn’t as much intensity on display today as there was Friday and Saturday at Nationals Park, where the young home team seemed extra motivated to beat the Phillies and deny them a shot at home-field advantage throughout the postseason. With nothing at stake anymore, this was a more low-key affair, with the Phillies sitting Bryce Harper and pulling Trea Turner early, though the Nats decided to battle one last time.

Loading the bases with no outs in the ninth, they had three shots to win the game with one swing. But Luis García Jr. struck out, James Wood struck out looking and Juan Yepez drove a ball to the wall in left that left everybody holding their breath until Kody Clemens made a leaping catch to end the game.

We have reached the finish line. It’s Game 162, and while this one doesn’t officially matter for either team, there are still some personal achievements on the line. And for the Nationals, a chance to close out the year with a surprising sweep of the playoff-bound Phillies and to top last year’s win total with No. 72.

It’ll be Jake Irvin on the mound one last time. And as was the case Saturday with MacKenzie Gore, he’ll be looking for win No. 11, a number no Nats starter has reached since 2019. Unlike Gore, Irvin can’t get his ERA down below the 4.00 mark – unless he can go 10 2/3 scoreless innings – but he can finish on a high note. And if he can complete 6 2/3 innings, he’ll reach the 190 mark for the season, no small accomplishment.

At the plate, James Wood needs another homer to reach 10 in his rookie season. Dylan Crews needs a good day to get his batting average over .200. Oh, and in the bullpen, Derek Law needs to record one more out to get to 90 innings for the season.

WASHINGTON NATIONALS vs PHILADELPHIA PHILLIES
Where: Nationals Park
Gametime: 3:05 p.m. EDT
TV: MASN, MLB.tv
Radio: 106.7 FM, 88.7 FM (Spanish), MLB.com
Weather: Chance of rain, 74 degrees, wind 7 mph in from center field

NATIONALS
2B Luis García Jr.
LF James Wood
DH Juan Yepez
3B José Tena
RF Dylan Crews
1B Joey Gallo
C Drew Millas
CF Jacob Young
SS Nasim Nuñez

The primary object of the great game of baseball is to score runs. You can’t win games without doing that. And the Nationals are being made all too aware of that here in the season’s final week.

For the third straight game, they were shut out, this time in a 3-0 loss to the Royals. They have not scored a run in their last 31 innings.

"I think they're pressing, for sure," manager Davey Martinez said. "We've just got to go out there relaxed tomorrow. Just get a good pitch to hit."

The last member of the Nationals to cross the plate? Joey Gallo, via his three-run homer in the top of the sixth Saturday afternoon at Wrigley Field. Gallo, as a matter of fact, has driven in six of the team’s last nine runs.

Not depressing enough? How about this one: The Nats have been held to zero or one run in seven of their last nine games.

As the final week of the major league season gets underway, the Nationals took some time this afternoon to honor some of their top minor league players at the conclusion of the season on the farm.

The Nationals today announced the winners of their 2024 minor league awards, with those not already on the major league roster joining the team in D.C. for a pregame ceremony before the series opener against the Royals:

* Hitter of the Year – Dylan Crews
* Pitcher of the Year – Travis Sykora
* Defensive Player of the Year – Elijah Green
* Baserunner of the Year – Darren Baker
* Nationals Way Award – Daylen Lile and Brad Lord

Although Crews, 22, is currently playing every day with the Nationals, the top prospect in the sport, per MLB Pipeline, had a strong season in the minors leading up to his major league promotion.

He finished his 2024 minor league campaign hitting .270 with 21 doubles, six triples, 13 home runs, 68 RBIs, 36 walks, 25 stolen bases and 60 runs scored in 100 games between Double-A Harrisburg and Triple-A Rochester. He ranked in the top four in Washington’s system in extra-base hits (second, 40), triples (second), slugging percentage (third, .451), OPS (third, .793), RBIs (third), doubles (tied for third), home runs (fourth), average (fourth) and stolen bases (tied for fourth) prior to his big league call-up on Aug. 26.

A simple ground ball single up the middle may never have felt so good to Dylan Crews.

The Nationals rookie needed that eighth-inning base hit Sunday in Chicago to snap out of the worst slump of his brief big league career, perhaps the worst slump he’s experienced in a long time at any level of the sport.

Crews had been hitless in his previous 19 at-bats before that sharp grounder past Cubs shortstop Dansby Swanson, a slump that left him staring at a .196 batting average across 106 major league plate appearances. The single didn’t really mean much during his team’s 5-0 loss, but it did at least get that average back over the Mendoza Line.

Heading into the final week of the season, Crews is trying to rediscover his swing. It may be too late to salvage his rookie stat line, but it might do some wonders for his confidence heading into the offseason.

“He’s really fighting through some things,” manager Davey Martinez said. “I’m proud of him, because he’s going to give you everything he has. We’ve just got to get him to slow down a little bit, stay behind the baseball a little bit better.”

CHICAGO – A road trip that began with a sweep at the hands of a playoff contender, saw one cornerstone of the franchise’s rebuild get demoted for disciplinary reasons and saw another flirt with a no-hitter, came to an end this evening with another loss that was dragged out a couple extra hours for good measure.

The Nationals’ rain-delayed, 5-0 loss to the Cubs completed a dismal, 1-6 final road trip of the season that didn’t include many uplifting moments.

From a three-game sweep in New York to three losses in four days at Wrigley Field that included CJ Abrams’ surprise demotion and MacKenzie Gore’s lone bright spot on the mound Saturday, the Nats now limp home to finish out the 2024 season with six games against a pair of contenders with plenty still at stake: the Royals (American League wild card) and Phillies (National League home field advantage).

At 69-87, the Nationals need to win three of those final six games to surpass last year’s win total of 71. The way they hit the ball on this trip, that could be a tall order.

They scored a grand total of 14 runs in these seven games, and 11 of those came in two contests alone. They were held to zero or one run in the other five games.

CHICAGO – The Nationals’ primary focus during these final weeks of the season surely is on the bevy of young players they’ve added to the roster this summer, many of whom they believe will form the core of their next winning ballclub.

That doesn’t mean there aren’t still some opportunities for veterans to help their own causes here down the stretch. Which is why Trevor Williams was on the mound at Wrigley Field this afternoon.

Williams is not part of the Nats’ long-term plan. The 32-year-old right-hander spent the last 3 1/2 months on the injured list with a flexor strain in his elbow. He’s a pending free agent. But he worked his way back from the injury before season’s end, and the Nationals decided it was worth it to give him two big league starts, both to help him as he enters free agency and to give their other young pitchers some extra rest near the end of a long season.

Williams rewarded the Nats for giving him this opportunity, tossing five innings of one-run ball in his return to competition. They would end up losing to the Cubs, 3-1, but it certainly wasn’t their starter’s fault.

"It was awesome to see him pitch the way he did," manager Davey Martinez said. "He threw the ball really well. It almost looked like he didn't skip a beat, which was great."

NEW YORK – As much as the Nationals dominated the Marlins this season, they’ve been completely dominated by the Mets. A loss tonight would drop the Nats to 2-11 vs. New York, the exact opposite of their record vs. Miami. Yes, there have been some close games, including three extra-inning losses, but overall this has been an incredibly lopsided matchup in 2024.

They’ll try to at least end on a positive note and win tonight’s finale at Citi Field, but it’s a stiff challenge. The Nationals have scored two runs so far in the series, which isn’t exactly a formula for success. They have to do more at the plate, and that will be tough against veteran left-hander Jose Quintana, who hasn’t allowed a run to them in 14 innings this year.

Luis García Jr., who departed Tuesday’s game with a sore right wrist, is not in tonight’s lineup. Though he may not have been anyway against the lefty, so we can’t say for certain whether the injury is keeping him out. Dylan Crews, meanwhile, gets bumped back up to the No. 2 spot after notching his first career three-hit game while batting seventh.

DJ Herz makes his third start of the season against the Mets. He was great in one of them (zero runs, 10 strikeouts in 5 2/3 innings), not very good in the other one (four runs in four innings in his major league debut). The rookie will need to be on point tonight in what could be his second-to-last outing of the year.

WASHINGTON NATIONALS at NEW YORK METS
Where: Citi Field
Gametime: 7:10 p.m. EDT
TV: MASN, MLB.tv
Radio: 106.7 FM, 88.7 FM (Spanish), MLB.com
Weather: Chance of rain late, 72 degrees, wind 10 mph in from center field

A Nationals club that has owned the Marlins this season looked ready to keep that trend going tonight when it stormed out to a quick three-run lead against an unheralded opposing starter while watching its own starter cruise along for six innings barely breaking a sweat along the way.

It’s not quite that simple to win ballgames in the major leagues, of course, no matter the quality of opponent. You still need to pitch well for nine innings, hit for more than one inning and play clean defense all night.

And the Nats did none of those things during what wound up a disheartening 6-3 loss to Miami.

Despite an at-times dominant start from Mitchell Parker and the aforementioned early three-run lead, the Nationals fell flat the rest of the way. They didn’t score again after the bottom of the first. They committed three errors, two of them directly leading to three unearned runs. And they didn’t get the outs they needed from Derek Law during a decisive top of the eighth that flipped the score in the Marlins’ favor.

All of which added up to only their second loss in 10 head-to-head games this season against the last-place Marlins, this one played before a sparse crowd of 13,299 on Thursday night in September.

PITTSBURGH – The Nationals got the job done in Game 1 of today’s doubleheader against the Pirates. DJ Herz tossed five no-hit innings before departing with his pitch count at 87. Dylan Crews homered, doubled and drove in two runs. The bullpen hung on, with Kyle Finnegan barely surviving another harrowing ninth inning to close out a 5-3 victory.

Now it’s onto the nightcap, with the Nats hoping for a rare doubleheader sweep behind another rookie left-hander on the mound. Mitchell Parker makes his 26th big league start, and his 25th was perhaps his strangest yet. He struck out eight and walked only one but gave up four runs over six innings, done in by some terrible defense that included an errant pickoff throw of his own. There’s only so much Parker can control, but if he can simply make the few plays he has to make in the field, he’ll help his cause a lot.

Davey Martinez has a couple of lineup changes from the opener. Jacob Young gets a rare night off, out of the lineup for the first time since July 31. That opens up center field to Dylan Crews for the first time in his brief major league career. Drew Millas will catch Parker, but Keibert Ruiz is still in there, serving as designated hitter against Pirates right-hander Mitch Keller.

WASHINGTON NATIONALS at PITTSBURGH PIRATES
Where: PNC Park
Gametime: 6:40 p.m. EDT
TV: MASN2, MLB.tv
Radio: 106.7 FM, 88.7 FM (Spanish), MLB.com
Weather: Partly cloudy, 65 degrees, wind 13 mph out to center field

NATIONALS
SS CJ Abrams
LF James Wood
1B Andrés Chaparro
2B Luis García Jr.
DH Keibert Ruiz
3B José Tena
CF Dylan Crews
RF Joey Gallo
C Drew Millas

PITTSBURGH – There may come a day when DJ Herz is given the opportunity to make history. That day will come once the 23-year-old left-hander has some more experience, has proven he can pitch a bit more efficiently and gives the Nationals sufficient reason to take the reins off him.

That day wasn’t today, not in Herz’s 16th big league start, not with his pitch count too high after five innings to convince Davey Martinez to let his starter go for broke.

So it was that Herz was pulled after five no-hit innings against the Pirates. The Nats bullpen would give up the no-hitter (and the shutout) in the seventh but still finish off a 5-3 victory in the opener of a day-night doubleheader at PNC Park, with Kyle Finnegan averting disaster during another shaky ninth.

Whatever disappointment Herz may have felt in the moment, he’s come to understand why Martinez has been so careful with him in his first major league season. The Nationals’ goal isn’t to make history, it’s to get young starters through the end of September in one piece, setting them up to pitch even more in 2025 and beyond and perhaps someday have the opportunity to make history.

"That day will come," Herz said. "There's no need to rush it."

PITTSBURGH – Tonight's game between the Nationals and Pirates has been postponed due to a line of storms expected to arrive about an hour after scheduled first pitch and linger throughout the night.

The two teams will now play a split doubleheader Saturday, with the makeup game at 1:35 p.m. followed by the originally scheduled game at 6:40 p.m.

After a brief period of rain this afternoon, the skies over PNC Park actually cleared up and looked to remain that way until approximately 7:30 p.m. In theory, this game could have started on time at 6:40 p.m., with officials hoping to get as many innings as possible in before the rain arrived.

But with the storms expected to be strong and last throughout the night, the Pirates decided not to take any chances and announced the postponement about 30 minutes before first pitch.

DJ Herz, who was supposed to pitch tonight, will now start Saturday's 1:35 p.m. game. Mitchell Parker will start the 6:40 p.m. nightcap as planned.

MIAMI – While watching a Nationals game, whether in person or on TV, odds are you will see their top prospect sitting on a perch along the railing of the dugout during the game.

You’ll have to wait an inning, however, because Dylan Crews doesn’t have much time to watch the game from there while batting leadoff for manager Davey Martinez’s club.

Crews has only played in seven major league games entering tonight’s finale against the Marlins. But Wednesday's game will be the sixth time in eight appearances the rookie outfielder will hit in the leadoff spot.

That spot has typically been where CJ Abrams hits, including Crews’ major league debut when the young outfielder hit second. But the Nats’ young shortstop has been bumped down the order to try to take some pressure off him as he looks for more success at the plate.

In the meantime, Martinez thinks Crews’ approach suits him well as a leadoff hitter.