{"id":378775,"date":"2025-12-29T18:59:07","date_gmt":"2025-12-29T18:59:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/378775\/"},"modified":"2025-12-29T18:59:07","modified_gmt":"2025-12-29T18:59:07","slug":"could-this-underrated-nationals-infielder-be-a-breakout-star-in-2026","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/378775\/","title":{"rendered":"Could this underrated Nationals infielder be a breakout star in 2026?"},"content":{"rendered":"

There\u2019s a full-on youth movement happening in the nation\u2019s capital. Between the roster, coaching staff and front office, the Nationals are leaning into a new era. Big-name talents like James Wood<\/a>, Dylan Crews<\/a>, CJ Abrams<\/a> and MacKenzie Gore<\/a> get most of the spotlight. But one young player continues to be overlooked. That player is Nasim Nu\u00f1ez<\/a>, the most slept-on National heading into 2026.<\/p>\n

Nu\u00f1ez isn\u2019t a household name, and his stat line won\u2019t turn heads. But by the end of 2025, he was doing things that stood out in other ways. The Bronx native made the most of every opportunity, showing off elite defense, disruptive speed and a late-season power surge. If that version of Nu\u00f1ez shows up in spring training, he\u2019ll be tough to keep off the field<\/a>.<\/p>\n

What Nu\u00f1ez lacks in name recognition, he makes up for in speed. He ranked in the 98th percentile in sprint speed last season, stole nine bases with just one caught stealing and added +2 runs on the bases according to Statcast, all in limited playing time. That\u2019s nothing new for him: in the minors, he averaged nearly a stolen base every other game. That quickness also showed up on defense, where his range and first step helped him cover a ton of ground.<\/p>\n

Nu\u00f1ez\u2019s defense has always been a strength. In just 39 games in 2025, while playing shortstop, second base and even a few innings in center field, he posted four Outs Above Average. He\u2019s smooth and twitchy, with well above average arm strength even more notable for someone listed at 5-foot-8. Playing alongside Abrams, who still has some defensive inconsistencies, Nu\u00f1ez looked like the steadier glove. You could argue he\u2019s already the best defender in the Nationals\u2019 infield. Overall, Nu\u00f1ez provides substantial value with his baserunning and fielding.<\/p>\n

Offense presents more of a question with Nu\u00f1ez. A second-round pick by the Marlins in 2019 out of high school in Georgia, he chose to go pro rather than follow through on his commitment to Clemson. During his time in the Marlins system, he earned Marlins minor league MVP honors in 2022 and was named MVP of the Futures Game in 2023. <\/p>\n

Across both the minors and majors, he\u2019s never consistently hit for average, on-base or power. He connected on just nine home runs in over 1,800 minor league plate appearances and never slugged higher than .317 at any level before 2025. That lack of impact at the plate played a part in why Miami left him unprotected in the Rule 5 Draft in 2023, giving the Nationals a chance to take a low-risk shot on his glove and speed.<\/p>\n

Nu\u00f1ez spent all of 2024 on the Nationals\u2019 roster due to Rule 5 requirements, debuting mostly in a bench role. In 2025, he was shuttled up and down between Triple-A and the majors. At first, playing time was hard to come by, and his role remained uncertain. But then came September. <\/p>\n

In just 39 at-bats that month, all in the span of a few weeks, Nu\u00f1ez hit .282 and launched four home runs, the first four of his major league career. For a player many thought might never go deep at the MLB level, his performance was a genuine shock. The timeframe provided only a small sample, leaving open the possibility of a fluke, but Nu\u00f1ez\u2019s September offered an encouraging sign that he might have more in the bat than anyone expected. Even in limited action in 2025, he posted 0.8 fWAR, outpacing Luis Garc\u00eda Jr.<\/a>‘s total for the entire season.<\/p>\n

Encouraging indicators emerged from behind the numbers, suggesting his late-season surge wasn\u2019t a fluke. Nu\u00f1ez\u2019s average exit velocity jumped from 83.3 mph in 2024 to 88.6 mph in 2025, and his bat speed improved as well. While still not elite, it’s a meaningful step forward for a player long known more for putting the ball in play than hitting it hard.\u00a0<\/p>\n

A lot of this traces back to mechanical tweaks Nu\u00f1ez made in Triple-A after being sent down midseason. Frustrated with his lack of production, he reportedly considered giving up switch-hitting altogether. Instead, with help from coaches, he reworked his left-handed swing. The results followed quickly. In 19 games at Rochester, he hit .365 with a .425 OBP and drove in 18 runs. When rosters expanded in September, the Nationals gave him another look, and this time the bat looked different.<\/p>\n

Nu\u00f1ez\u2019s day-to-day energy separates him from the pack just as much as his tools do. He possesses real presence on the field and in the clubhouse, where teammates feed off his confidence and edge. He and Wood seem to have a natural bond, and Nu\u00f1ez has leaned into the vibe, once joking that he\u2019s been \u201caura farming\u201d all year. That spark showed up in the win column too: the Nationals went 14-10 in games he started and just 52-86 without him. He doesn\u2019t shy from the moment, but he stays focused on the team. Asked about his breakout, he just said, \u201cWe won. That\u2019s all that matters.\u201d<\/p>\n

Even without much offense, Nu\u00f1ez already impacts games with his speed, defense and energy. If the power he flashed in September sticks, he has a legit chance to grow into a dynamic everyday contributor.<\/p>\n

So where does that leave Nu\u00f1ez heading into 2026?<\/a> Hopefully, with a chance to play every day. The most likely path would be Nu\u00f1ez starting at shortstop with Abrams sliding over to second base. That decision will fall to manager Blake Butera and his staff, but Nu\u00f1ez placed himself firmly in the conversation.<\/p>\n

At the very least, Nu\u00f1ez has earned a long look in camp. He lacks the flashiest tools, but he brings value in ways that matter: standout defense, high-end speed, strong clubhouse presence and maybe even a little pop. If the bat holds, he could go from overlooked bench piece to everyday spark plug. As the most slept-on National heading into 2026, he\u2019s a player to keep a close eye on this spring.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"There\u2019s a full-on youth movement happening in the nation\u2019s capital. Between the roster, coaching staff and front office,…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":378776,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[558],"tags":[64,63,591,85],"class_list":{"0":"post-378775","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-mlb","8":"tag-au","9":"tag-australia","10":"tag-mlb","11":"tag-sports"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/378775","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=378775"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/378775\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/378776"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=378775"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=378775"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=378775"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}