Opening Day has finally arrived in Major League Baseball, and the Washington Nationals are in a spot that has been rare during their rebuild; they have hope. Not hope where they can win another World Series title, but hope that there is light at the end of the tunnel when it comes to their potential to get back to competing in the division and on the national stage once again. A lot of that stems from their young players. MacKenzie Gore will get things started on Opening Day with his sights set on taking a step forward in his career.
Superstar prospects James Wood and Dylan Crews will be with the team from Game 1 this time around. CJ Abrams and Luis Garcia Jr. will try to cement their status as cornerstone infielders. Those four will drive the majority of feelings that will come from this season. If they all succeed, then the 2025 campaign will be a win no matter how many victories the Nationals have at the end of the year. If they falter, then alarm bells could be going off throughout the building.
The Nationals, who are coming off consecutive years with 71-91 records, are still working to get back to their former glory. After winning the 2019 World Series, the team has yet to put forth a winning season. While still in its rebuild, the team is showing signs it is on pace to become a competitive club once again, with a roster reinvigorated with young talent. Throughout the offseason, the 7News Sports Team kept up with Nationals' experts and beat reporters who had their finger on the organization's pulse.
James Wood and Dylan Crews, MLB drafts #7 and #17, debuted for the Nationals last summer and are expected to make an immediate impact. Crews is listed as the second-favorite to win the NL Rookie of the Year Award coming into the season, and if he is able to contend for that honor, then that is a huge win for the franchise. The play of the No. 2 overall pick in the 2023 draft is the thing that will determine a "successful" year for the Nationals.
Manager Davey Martinez stressed that the young stars are going to grow together. Following up with a hard single, Cruz drove in the walk-off winning run after Wood's solo homer tied their spring training game against the Minnesota Twins 8-8 in the bottom of the ninth on March 21, 2025. The youthful energy is further bolstered by CJ Abrams, who is poised to solidify his position as an essential component of the team’s infield. Abrams put together a first half strong enough to propel him to his first All-Star Game, but he went on to finish the year in Triple-A after violating curfew by pulling an all-nighter at a Chicago-area casino.
“He was one of the first ones to arrive [at spring training], well before position players were required to report. I think that was a message he was trying to send the team, and they were glad to see it,” said MASN's Mark Zuckerman. “He’s owned up to his mistakes, he says that he’s ready to move on from it. He’s said all the right things so far; now it’s a matter of him going out there and doing it on the field.”
Gore enters his fourth season in the Bigs after leading the Nationals in ERA (3.90) and setting career bests in starts (32) and innings pitched (166 1/3). The left-handed pitcher will make his Opening Day debut with Washington, and there are high hopes for him to put it all together this year. “Being an Opening Day starter is a big deal. That means you're the best pitcher on your team and you're the ace,” said Andrew Golden with the Washington Post.
“I think there are a lot of high hopes for him to put it all together this year.” The Nationals have made some solid offseason moves to fill in their offensive gaps. Notable offseason acquisitions include Nathanial Lowe (1B) from the Rangers, the Royals’ Paul deJong (3B), the Reds’ Amed Rosario (OF), and the Diamondbacks’ Josh Bell (DH). Lowe has a Gold Glove, deJong is a former All-Star, Rosario is a run-generator, and Bell is a former National.
“I think spring training is always a time for pitchers to get themselves ready, but I think the hitters are typically like 'alright, let's go,'” Golden added. “I think some of them are off to pretty good starts, so I think they'd like to start the season now.”
The Nationals rounded out the 2024 season 71-91, 24 games behind the NL East-leading Philadelphia Phillies. Despite a rough stretch in the summer, MacKenzie Gore pulled off a 1.26 ERA in 28.2 September innings for a 3.90 season ERA—not too shabby. Some bright lights are the arms in the bullpen, like lefty Derek Law, who has 38 saves over 75 appearances.
In related news, the Nationals released new City Connect jerseys on March 23, 2025. The jerseys, named “District Blueprint,” feature an interlocking D and C underlaid by a deep blue grid of the city streets. The past jerseys prominently featured DC’s iconic cherry blossoms against a gray background.
The Nationals begin their season today, March 28, 2025, at 4:05 PM against the Philadelphia Phillies at Nationals Park in Washington, D.C. This season, the Nationals' youngest stars will garner most of the spotlight. “I think there is an expectation that they are going to be immediate superstars. We don't know that,” Golden said. “If you look at James and his exit velocities and how he performed last year at the plate, there's a lot of belief that he could replicate that.”
“They need to spend,” Washington Post's Chelsea Janes said. “I think they're opening things up a little bit this year but it’s not much. A $5 million guy there, $10 million guy here, you're kind of picking at scraps.” Still, there is no denying the level of competition within the NL East. The Mets, Phillies, and Braves are all poised to be playoff teams again this season, and the question becomes how well Washington can keep pace.
“It's brutal. It's almost laughable that you think you can compete there, but what they do have going for them is this really young core, and they have a lot of young pitching, which they haven't had in years past,” Janes added. “I do think the Nationals have the potential if everything goes the way they want it to, and every player performs to the best of their ability. They could maybe push for a wild card spot.”
As the Nationals take the field today, all eyes will be on their young talent as they strive to turn hope into reality.
