We have talked a lot about how the Nationals need pitching and first base help. However, one position we have not really talked about is DH. For most of last season, Josh Bell was the DH, while Nathaniel
Lowe played first base. With both of those guys gone, what will the Nats do at the position?
Well, it seems like the Nats are not going to bring in a full time DH like they did last year. Instead, the Nats are going to have a rotation at the position. This makes a lot of sense and it was what the team did after Nathaniel Lowe got let go in August.
Teams have figured out that unless you have an elite masher at DH like Kyle Schwarber or Shohei Ohtani, having a rotation is the smart thing to do. It allows you to give players a rest without taking them out of the lineup. Also, it helps you play the matchups as well.
Mark Zuckerman reported that the new regime led by Paul Toboni seems to prefer this rotation strategy. With the Nationals glut of outfielders, this makes a lot of sense. The Nats have a lot of bodies and rotating the DH position helps get these young guys more playing time.
With that in mind, who are some potential candidates for this DH rotation? Well, the first one is James Wood. He actually played 33 games at DH last year and should do something like that again. Wood is not a great defensive outfielder, but he is not bad enough to make a full time DH either. With his athleticism, he should be working to improve in the outfield, but playing DH once or twice a week would not be a bad thing either.
Daylen Lile is another outfielder who could spend time at DH. Like Wood, he is a good athlete, but not a good defender. Both Wood and Lile should get the occasional DH day to get a defensive specialist like Jacob Young in the lineup. Lile is a big part of the Nats future, so keeping him fresh is a positive. However, improving his defense should also be a big goal this year.
Whoever the Nats bring in to play first base will also get the occasional DH day most likely. Given first base is at the bottom of the defensive pyramid, that only makes sense. The Nats also have Luis Garcia Jr., who has been working on playing first base.
Speaking of Garcia, he is another candidate to DH. As of right now, he is the Nats starting second baseman. However, he is a poor defender and there has been talk of him playing more first base this season. Why not put him at DH as well?
There will probably be days where Blake Butera wants the defense of Nasim Nunez and just puts Garcia at DH. It will be interesting to see if they would ever experiment with playing Nunez at shortstop and CJ Abrams at second base on those days. Toboni and Butera have made it clear that they see Abrams as a shortstop, but giving him some defensive versatility could be interesting.
Whenever Nunez played second and Abrams played shortstop last year it made me chuckle a bit because Nunez is so much better as a defensive shortstop. Obviously, the organization was prioritizing Abrams, but it still made me chuckle.
Since the DH came to the National League, the Nats have had a full time DH. Whether it was Nelson Cruz, Joey Meneses, Jesse Winker or Josh Bell, the Nats usually had a guy who played DH every day. Like so many other things, that will change in the Paul Toboni era.
