One thing that the Toboni regime has clearly emphasized is that the players on the roster have another gear to reach. Toboni has said that both in his words and his actions. By tendering contracts to all 7 of the Nats arbitration eligible players, Toboni is betting on internal improvement. Here are three players that could be helped by his new development infrastructure.
I am going to stay away from the team’s star players, so no James Wood, CJ Abrams or even Daylen Lile. They have all shown they
can be highly productive. I believe the new player development will help, but this is more about true breakouts. There are three names that fit the bill for me.
The first one is a player who broke through in 2025, but has another level to reach. That is reliever Cole Henry. After finally overcoming a litany of injury setbacks, the 2020 second rounder finally made his MLB debut. Whenever he pitched in the Minors, the right hander was productive, but he was rarely healthy. That is why he was moved to the bullpen this year.
In his first season as a reliever, Henry was solid but not spectacular. He posted a 4.27 ERA in 57 appearances. For most of the season that number was under 4, but Henry wore down in September. That is understandable given his injury history. The reason he is here is not even his underlying numbers, as those were all higher than his ERA.
The reason to bet on Henry is his stuff. On a lot of these stuff models, Henry’s name comes up. His fastball was seen as comparable to Joe Ryan and Tatsuya Imai. Henry’s curveball is also seen as an elite pitch by models, with a 113 stuff+. With more innovative pitching minds helping him out, Henry could become an excellent reliever.
For Henry, it is all about improving his command. He walked over 13% of hitters and also hit 11 guys. If he can tighten up that command, he has the stuff to be a good bullpen piece. He is a tough look for hitters and has now proven to be healthy. At just 26, he could be an arm on the rise in 2026.
The next guy I want to talk about is also an arm with injury history in Cade Cavalli. After missing most of the last two seasons following Tommy John Surgery, Cavalli was finally on the mound again in 2025. Despite up and down results in the Minors and MLB, he still showed elite stuff.
Like Henry, Cavalli’s pitches grade out very well on models. While he does not have the control problems Henry does, Cavalli’s command still needs work. He throws strikes, but not quality strikes. That is why he struggled to put hitters away.
A pitcher with Cavalli’s arsenal should not be striking out under 20% of hitters. Hitters were also hitting almost .290 against him, which is insane because his stuff is fantastic. There was a great thread about how Cavalli can be a breakout candidate because of his stuff.
The main thing that needs to improve for him is sequencing and execution. He has a lot of great pitches, but it is all about using them correctly. Cavalli was hanging too many breaking balls in two strike counts last year. There could also be a new pitch that could help unlock Cavalli that Simon Mathews may teach him. Right now, he does not throw a true slider, so that could be something to watch for.
Cade Cavalli has the look of a frontline starter. He is a thick 6’4 223 pounds with a fastball that averages 97. His curveball just falls off the table and his changeup has tremendous fade. The new regime needs to find a way to connect all of those pieces and make him into the beast he has the potential to be.
The last guy on the list is the most famous player we will talk about. That is former number two overall pick Dylan Crews. Crews was one of the best college baseball players of the last decade at LSU, but things have not come as easy in the MLB.
In 116 career games, Crews is only hitting .211 with a .634 OPS. That is very disappointing for a player as highly touted as Crews. Dylan Crews was seen as a super safe prospect as well, so seeing him struggle has been alarming.
We have seen some flashes from Crews. When he is at his best, Crews can be an exciting blend of power, speed and defense. He also has a lot of leadership qualities, which will be needed in this young clubhouse. However, he has to produce to be a true leader.
Right now the biggest problem for Crews is his angles. He is hitting too many ground balls and not pulling the ball in the air enough to unlock his power. Crews has a GB% over 50%, which is much higher than you would like.
Last season Crews also ran into whiff problems, which were unusual for him. His whiff rate was over 30% last year, which was much higher than his minor league numbers or his numbers in the MLB in 2024. Crews was not crushing fastballs the way he was throughout his career before 2025.
From my untrained eye it looked like his timing was off and he was unsettled in the box. Crews looked very uncomfortable at the plate. However, the tools are still there. Crews hits the ball hard and has good bat speed. I think he is waiting to be unlocked by the right hitting coach. We know Darnell Coles was not that guy, but I trust the new regime to help him make some tweaks.
2026 will be a year where internal improvement is a massive theme. A lot of the Nats core players underwhelmed last year. Many fans blamed the coaching staff for that. Now that they are gone, we will see how much a new staff can really unlock these players.
