Brady House’s 2025 season was really two seasons in one. There is the Minor League portion of his season, where House re-established himself as a top 100 prospect and dominated Triple-A. Then there is the MLB
portion of the season, where House mostly looked overmatched at the plate. This makes his season tough to grade, but that is exactly what we will try to do here.
Let’s start with the Minor League portion of the season because it is important to remember how good it was. House was coming off a rough introduction to AAA, where he posted a .655 OPS and struggled to get on base. This worrisome run caused many outlets to drop House out of their top 100 lists.
However, House rebounded in a big way to start this season. He put up big numbers in Rochester, hitting .304 and hammering 13 homers in 65 games. House also had an impressive .872 OPS. His 7.1% walk rate was not anything special, but it was much better than the 3% BB rate he posted last year in Rochester.
It was also very nice to see House showcase his power in the Minors. He has always had big time raw power, but it did not always show up consistently in games. In Rochester, he was tapping into that power. He hit some mammoth shots, including this 458 foot tank.
As the Nats season began to fall apart in June, fans were clamoring for House. He did not have much more to prove in the Minors and the Nats had a big hole at third base. Eventually, in the middle of the team’s 11 game losing streak, House got the call.
He got called up only a day or two after Davey Martinez’s rant, so the move very much felt like damage control. Rizzo and Martinez knew they needed to do something to calm down the fanbase, and they threw the fans a bone by calling up House. That is not to say he did not deserve it, but the whole thing felt very panicked.
Maybe their original instinct to keep House in the minors was the right one, because his run in the MLB was tough. Honestly, it was very similar to his introduction to AAA last year, only worse. Everything we worried about with House’s lack of plate discipline came to light.
House walked at an absurdly low 2.9% clip while striking out 28.5% of the time. That is actually very comparable to the rates he posted in Rochester in 2024, where he walked 3% of the time and struck out 28.8% of his AB’s. Looking at that gives me hope that House can turn it around, which is needed because it was not easy to watch him hit.
In 73 games, House hit .234 with a .574 OPS. His on base percentage was shockingly low at just .252. However, the lack of walks was not unexpected if you had followed House’s career. It has just never been his game.
What did surprise me was his total lack of power. House only hit four homers in 261 at bats. Only 15 of his 61 hits went for extra bases. We wrote about how House needs to tap into his power if he is to have a chance as a hitter. When you don’t walk much and also strike out quite a bit, you need homers. House ran into a few hanging breaking balls, but that was it.
In fact, all four of his homers came on breaking balls. House did not do much damage on fastballs this season and struggled with high velocity. This will be something he needs to work on this offseason. Simply put, the offensive game has a long way to go before it is even passable. Luckily, he is only 22 and has shown offensive talent in the Minors.
Things were much more positive on the defensive side of the ball. House looks like a real natural at the hot corner. On a bad infield defense, House really stood out as a quality defender. He can make all the plays, has good range and a big arm.
The numbers back up the eye test too. House posted 2 outs above average at third base. The defense was really his saving grace and will give him a chance to work on his bat. If House can tap into his power and refine his approach just a little bit, there is a valuable player here.
House’s Minor League numbers this year led many to believe he was MLB ready with the bat. However, he got exposed and taught a lesson. The good thing about House is that he can take those lessons and learn from them. He did that last year after his rough stint in AAA.
House will have to do that again this offseason. He should be the guy at third base, at least to start the season. However, you can only put up a 56 wRC+ for so long and keep a big league role. House has the base line of a good power hitter who can run high batting averages on balls in play due to how hard he hits it. However, he is still very raw at the plate.
We need to see big strides at the plate from House in 2026. If we do not, his spot in this core could be in jeopardy. While House was a top 100 prospect, he was not as highly regarded as James Wood or Dylan Crews. That means his leash will be shorter.
2026 is a big year for House. To be blunt, he cannot look like he did at the plate next year. We need to see signs of life on the offensive side of the ball. However, if he can show that, he can be the Nats third baseman for years to come. Brady House has a lot of work to do though.
Season Grade: A in the Minors/D- in the MLB
