After a very fun road trip to open the season, the Nats got a serious reality check on their first home stand. The boys went 1-5, which was a serious gut punch to the fanbase. Any hopes of being surprisingly competitive feel gone, but what can the Nats do to be a fun team? It is early, but fans are already celebrating off days.
It is too much to ask this group to be a good team, but I still think they
can be a fun and scrappy bad team. However, they need to do a few things to make that possible. That is what we are going to break down here.
First off, they are going to have to fix the pitching. It is not going to be a good pitching staff or even an average one, but can Paul Toboni make some roster tweaks to make sure this is not the worst pitching staff in baseball? An easy way to make a season not fun is to have the worst pitching staff in baseball.
As things stand right now, the Nats have the worst pitching staff in all of baseball. With that in mind, they have plenty of spots up for grabs. Paul Toboni should take advantage of that and try out as many arms as he can. Those could be waiver claims or calling guys up from Rochester. They are going to have to cobble together a pitching staff, so that will mean a lot of turnover.
One guy I would really like to see sometime soon is Riley Cornelio. That could be as a starter or in the bullpen. The 25 year old looks like he has leveled up again after an impressive 2025 season. His stuff looks sharper and he has been getting a lot of whiff in AAA. In his two starts, Cornelio has 13 strikeouts in 9.1 innings. He is on the 40 man roster, and could be an upgrade either in the rotation or bullpen.
I want to see any arm that looks promising in AAA get a shot in the big leagues. Cornelio and Andrew Alvarez are obvious candidates to get called up because they are on the 40 man roster. We know Miles Mikolas is over the hill, why not give some of these younger arms a shot.
There was some optimism for the Nats pitching staff coming out of Spring Training, but that is gone. For the pitching staff to not be absolutely miserable, we are going to need to see a lot of turnover. I want to see as many guys get chances as possible. If they are not producing, it is on to the next guy.
The pitching staff is not going to be the reason for this team being fun though. That would be the offense. So far this season, the offense has looked really good, other than yesterday. The at bats look better than last year and there is a real plan at the plate.
For this team to be fun, these improvements need to have at least some staying power. A breakout that would really excite me is Brady House. Ever since Spring Training, the 22 year old has looked way better at the plate. He has always been able to hit the ball hard, but now he has a plan at the plate and is doing a better job elevating the ball.
The Nats have not had a legitimate answer at the third base position since Anthony Rendon left. Even if the Nats lose a bunch of games, a lot of that will be worth it if House proves he is the long term answer at third base. House is a fun player to watch when he is on his game. He is aggressive, but is learning how to control that swing happy approach. House also makes consistent loud contact, which we love to see.
Another guy who absolutely hammers the ball is James Wood. He is another key player if the Nats want to be fun. When he is on his game, he is an absolute joy to watch. Wood consistently hits balls over 110 MPH. That kind of laser show is very fan friendly. His opposite field homers are also awe inspiring. He can hit a ball 430 feet and it does not even look like a full swing.
When Wood is struggling though, he is not a very fun player to watch. Strikeouts, especially strikeouts looking are frustrating to watch. We know Wood strikes out a lot when he is struggling. However, when he is on his game, he keeps the strikeouts in check. Wood only has two strikeouts in his last 15 at bats, which we love to see.
The offense will be the unit that makes the Nats fun, and Wood is their most talented offensive player. That means he will bear a big responsibility in making this team watchable. However, there are plenty of solid bats in this Nats lineup. CJ Abrams, Daylen Lile, Luis Garcia Jr., and even Joey Wiemer have shown they can be very fun when they are on heaters.
One player who is not with the team now that can make the Nats more exciting is Dylan Crews. After a rough spring, Crews was surprisingly demoted to AAA. However, we will see him at some point this year. When Crews is hitting, he can be a fun player to watch. He is a very energetic player and can provide a spark. If he shows life at the plate, it would provide optimism to a fanbase that is tired of losing.
While there was some hope after that first road trip, it seems like that was a false dawn. The Nats are going to lose a lot of games this year. However, that does not mean this team is destined to be unwatchable. If the offense keeps clicking and the Nats front office finds at least a couple answers on the pitching staff, this could be a fun bad team rather than a totally depressing one.
