(Photo by Greg Fiume/Getty Images)
Before the 2023 season started, the Washington Nationals were a prime candidate to be MLB’s worst team together with the Oakland Athletics, the Pittsburgh Pirates, and the Colorado Rockies.
Little did we know that Washington was going to take such a serious step forward.
As of Monday afternoon, the Nats are 66-84, last in the NL East.
However, they have looked very competitive at times, some of their prospects and unheralded guys took a step forward, and they are far from the league’s worst record.
For reference, the Nationals have been better than the Chicago White Sox, Kansas City Royals, the Athletics, and the Rockies, and are very, very close to the St. Louis Cardinals, the New York Mets, the Detroit Tigers, the Los Angeles Angels, the Pirates, and even the San Diego Padres.
2023 was not the Nats’ year pic.twitter.com/4PSkKrVFRE
— Talkin’ Baseball (@TalkinBaseball_) September 18, 2023
As Talkin’ Baseball says it; no, 2023 hasn’t been the Nationals’ year as they were just eliminated form playoff contention.
However, there are a lot of positive takeaways as the organization heads to the postseason.
CJ Abrams has looked like a future All-Star at times (18 home runs, 41 stolen bases), Lane Thomas has a .791 OPS with 25 dingers and 18 steals, Joey Meneses has 81 RBI, and young pitchers Josiah Gray and MacKenzie Gore are developing nicely.
Let’s not forget that the team added many more impact prospects in the Juan Soto trade and other recent transactions, and they also drafted potential generational prospect Dylan Crews.
Perhaps the Nationals aren’t set to compete in 2024, but they might shock the world in 2025 and beyond if things break right.
The post The Nationals Surprised Fans Even With October Elimination appeared first on The Cold Wire.
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