WASHINGTON (7News) — The Washington Nationals hit this baseball offseason with a different mindset than they have in previous years.
Last season, it was the beginning of the new era under Paul Toboni and Blake Butera. This season builds upon the surprising season by the Nats.
No longer cellar-dwellers of the National League East, the Nationals teetered around the .500 mark up until August, and finished 4th place in the division (77-85).
Mark Zuckerman of NatsJournal.com says this season might not be a bust some consider 2026 to be, “Consider going into the year with a whole new front office, new coaching staff. An organization that seemed like it was, you know, almost starting over again after cleaning house. Now, if I told you back then that they were going to win 77 games and have multiple All-Stars and breakout players, and sign a key young player to a long term extension, like, who wouldn’t have taken that?”
NatsJournal.com’s Mark Zuckerman recaps 2026 Nationals season. (7News)
Baseball in 2027 looks cloudy at best with the collective bargaining agreement set to expire December 1st. Regardless, Nationals fans should be excited for this team, after their performance this past season.
Several players continued to show flashes of brilliance, while others showed growth. James Wood, C.J. Abrams, Cade Cavalli, Andrew Alvarez all had seasons either maintaining their play or teasing with some breakout moments.
“James Wood was having a phenomenal year. And then unfortunately, he pulled his oblique. He missed a month, and then he just wasn’t the same player when he came back in September. But, he was already on pace at that point for about a 40-homer season, he was an all-star, all those good things. So, every reason to believe that this is who he’s going to be, he’s a superstar player in the making,” said Zuckerman.
Abrams was selected to his second All-Star game appearance after a great start to the season. He was the NL Player of the Month in July, he was 7th in the league in home runs (33), 5th in extra base hits (67), 4th in RBI (106), 4th in stolen bases (34), 4th in the NL in offensive WAR (5.3). Abrams became the second player in team history to make the ‘30-30’ club (30+ home runs, 30+ stolen bases).
Daylen Lile, after finishing 5th in the NL Rookie of the Year conversation, followed up in 2026 with 22 home runs, more than double his rookie campaign. Lile also was a finalist for the NL Gold Glove for his defensive prowess in the outfield, ranking 2nd in putouts in left field (242), and 5th in assists (4).
Among other players with improved numbers; Keibert Ruiz, who had his highest OPS in his five season in D.C. (.759) He also hit for his highest batting average with the Nationals (.280), increasing his batting average .30-points from the previous season. “(Ruiz) Had a big bounce back year after all the concussions and underperformance in recent years,” Zuckerman added.
Overall the Nats, ranked 3rd in MLB in runs scored (821) and RBIs (777), 4th in doubles (281), and top-10 in home runs (210).
Part of the improvements could be drawn from the change in philosophy at the top by President of Baseball Ops. Paul Toboni and first-year manager Blake Butera.
“There was this ability to adapt. Got along with the players well, he had them out there working as hard as I’ve seen in a long time in pregame work. This is a huge part of his background is player development in Tampa Bay. Again, he got buy in from them,” Zuckerman said about Butera.
Then you look at the pitching staff, Cade Cavalli was top 10 in several different categories; 10th in wins (13), 8th in ERA (3.01), 5th in strikeout per nine innings (10.609), 4th in strikeouts (200).
“Take Cade Cavalli, he established himself as a true ace, signed an extension, he’s going to be here for a while, he’s the number one guy, that’s a huge important thing for them,” Zuckerman.
Although the win-loss record was not indicative of the improvement Andrew Alvarez made on the mound for Washington. The 2021 12th round pick logged 136 innings, and had 134 strikeouts, with a 3.24 ERA.
Zuckerman says there’s another arm that will definitely help moving forward that the Nationals acquired this season, Connor Early. “I know we didn’t get to see him except at the very end, but Conley early, who they got from the Red Sox in the Curtis Meade trade, Now, he was hurt, he dealt with an elbow injury. He only got to make one start right there at the very end, but this is a guy who already has a track record of success in Boston. Started a do-or-die playoff game for them a year ago at Yankee Stadium. He’s under team control for five more years. He’s probably their number two starter.”
While the starting pitching seemed to be on the right track, the relief pitching let them down in the most dramatic fashion. The bullpen setting an MLB record with 42 blown saves over the course of the season.
However, Zuckerman seems to think there is some promise heading into the offseason. “They went through so many different people along the way. What I will say is this, by the end of the year, it was getting better.”
“They actually were using young in-house guys who were called up through the system or acquired through trades, young guys who throw hard. You had guys throwing 98 to 100, which they just did not have in the past. Eric Tollman, Giovanni Cruz, Eddie Jean, we saw at one point all these guys at least have the potential to become late inning options for them. Now they know this is the number one need for them. It will be their number one target this winter.” Zuckerman added.