It has been a long time coming, but it finally feels like the Washington Nationals have an identity as a team. They are a young and hungry group that can mash and play the game hard. This is also one of those teams that is never out of a game, no matter the deficit.
In the past week, the Nats have erased two 5-0 deficits and have come back to win both games. That never say die attitude has become a staple for this team. Sure, the pitching can be rough at times and they can make some frustrating mistakes
in the field, but they can always make up for it with the bat. They are also a hard charging and aggressive team on the bases.
If an opponent is not on their A game, the Nats can make team’s lives miserable. We saw that last night against the Mets. The Nats aggression and tenacity caused the Mets to make multiple mistakes in the field. Nats base runners and hitters were putting pressure on the Mets defense, and eventually they cracked. On another night, the Nats aggression could have bit them and been seen as reckless, but that is just who they are as a team.
After the stench of last season, it is fun to have an identity again. There were times in 2023 and 2024 where it felt like the Nats were beginning to build an identity, but it never stuck. I have faith that this identity can stick. The Nats have a whole new staff and braintrust now. Also, those other teams were never leading baseball in runs scored.
It is wild that we are sitting here on May 20th and the Washington Nationals are leading baseball in runs, and it is not even close. The Nats have scored 271 runs, and the next closest team only has 258. These Nats are scoring over 5.5 runs per game, which is absolutely bonkers.
I remember worrying about the Nats offense when they hit .194 in Spring Training. Little did I know that there was absolutely nothing to worry about with this offense. The duo of James Wood and CJ Abrams has been one of the best in the league and the two youngsters have been the engines of this elite offense.
Speaking of Wood, he had a monster night at the plate. Of course, his signature moment was when he hit an inside the park grand slam in the second inning. That was the moment where the game turned. The game went from a comfortable 5-0 lead for the Mets to a 5-4 ball game. It felt like the Mets clenched up after the Nats immediately erased their big lead. This was Wood’s first grand slam, and he made it an exciting one.
Wood tends to be a pretty even keeled guy, but he was all smiles after that. You could tell when talking to him at his locker that he was in a great mood. He was smiling ear to ear talking about his inside the park grand slam. Wood does not show emotion too much, so it is very exciting when he does come out of his shell like he did last night.
While Wood is not the most emotional guy, part of the Nats identity is based on emotion. You saw it when Richard Lovelady closed out the game. Another time you saw it was when Daylen Lile hit a go ahead homer in Cincinnati last week. This team is young, hungry and having a great time right now. Last season, especially in the second half, this was not a team having a lot of fun. They were beat down after a long season, but they have been rejuvenated by this new staff.
Another part of the Nats offensive identity is their power hitting. They are in the top 10 in home runs after ranking towards the bottom of the league the last few years. Obviously, Wood and Abrams are leading the way there, but it is not just them. Jacob Young is showing power we have not seen from him before. Curtis Mead and Keibert Ruiz are also showing increased pop. Jose Tena is another guy who has been hitting lasers, and we saw that tonight when he went deep.
Despite having that home run power, this is not a home run reliant offense either. This team has mastered the art of the double this season. They have 98 doubles this season, which is the most in all of baseball. Under new hitting coach Matt Borgschulte, Nats hitters have loved shooting gaps and driving guys in via the double.
Obviously, they lost due to a 12th inning implosion the other night, but that was a great example of the Nats double heavy offense. They were able to score plenty of runs without homering. This was able to happen because the Nats hit six doubles, all from different players. James Wood, CJ Abrams, Daylen Lile and Keibert Ruiz all have at least 10 doubles on the season.
For a young, fast team, it is fitting that doubles are a part of their identity. The Nats play such an exciting brand of baseball. Obviously it is not a perfect brand of baseball, and as this team matures, they need to clean some things up. However, as a Nats fan, all I could ask for this year is a team that is fun to watch. That is what we have been given in Blake Butera’s first year as manager. They are not a great, or even good team yet, but the Washington Nationals are an exciting team to watch and have a clear identity.
