The Nationals’ offensive struggles in June have been nicely documented, however it hasn’t simply been a month-long and even season-long wrestle for them to attain; it’s a problem that stems again a number of years now. 2021 was the final time the Nats ranked within the high half of the league in offense, with them being on their option to their 4th straight backside 10 end this season, as their 94 wRC+ ranks twenty second in baseball.
Regardless of quite a few offseason additions meant to strengthen the lineup in 2025, similar to Nathaniel Lowe and Josh Bell, they’ve solely improved the workforce’s wRC+ by 2 factors from 2024. So, what’s the subject? In a phrase, teaching.
The uncooked expertise is current on the roster, evident by their 89.7 common exit velocity (twelfth in MLB) and 105.4 ninetieth percentile exit velocity (ninth in MLB), however isn’t being totally utilized as they’re being taught all of the fallacious issues. Listed below are 3 particular examples of issues the Nats’ bats are doing which might be minimizing their success.
Too Many Groundballs
Nobody beats the ball into the group as a collective in baseball greater than the Nationals, as their common launch angle of 8.4 levels is 2.6 levels decrease than the 2nd lowest in baseball. Their 1.5 GB/FB ratio is definitely the very best in baseball this yr, with the one different workforce shut up to now 4 years being the 2024 Marlins (who completed 2024 twenty seventh in MLB with an 86 wRC+).
The most effective offenses in baseball perceive that the important thing to scoring runs is to place the ball within the air, however the Nats have refused to adapt this philosophy and proceed to rank at or close to the underside in launch angle yr after yr.
It shouldn’t come as a shock that 3 of the Nats’ 4 hitters with the bottom GB%, CJ Abrams, Alex Name, and Luis Garcia Jr., are additionally 3 of the higher hitters on the workforce by wRC+ in 2025. Alternatively, lots of these with the very best GB%, similar to Jacob Younger and Josh Bell, have been a number of the worst hitters on the roster in 2025.
Swinging At All the pieces
Followers have voiced their dismay over the inconsistent and wacky plate approaches of gamers similar to Keibert Ruiz and Luis Garcia Jr. lots, however the reality is it’s an organization-wide subject. The Nats’ 7.7% BB% is twenty fifth in baseball, monitoring to be their 4th straight season within the backside 10. It ought to come as no shock that the final time the Nats’ offense was above league common, it was once they have been taking their walks, as they ranked eighth in baseball with a 9.4% BB% in 2021.
It’s been over 20 years because the Moneyball Athletics found out a stroll is pretty much as good as successful, but right here we’re in 2025 watching a workforce whose plate method is to swing out of their sneakers. One cause the Nationals’ offense is so streaky is that when issues go dangerous for lineups which might be affected person, they not less than have their plate approaches to fall again on and get some baserunners. For the free-swinging Nats, chilly streaks on the plate imply virtually no baserunners for them.
Their workforce BABIP of .280, which ranks twenty sixth in baseball, might look like simply dangerous luck at first look till you account for the truth that their method results in numerous gentle contact and floor balls. This isn’t only a main league degree subject both, as no different group walks as little because the Nationals do throughout all minor league ranges.
Not Pulling Fly Balls
There are many statistics on the market that again up the truth that one of the simplest ways to hit for extra energy is to drag fly balls. Until you’re James Wooden and may simply deposit a ball into the seats anyplace within the park, hitters ought to be seeking to do their injury to their pull aspect. As you may most likely guess, the Nats do that as little as anybody, with their lifeless final FB% and their Pull% of 38.5% rating twenty fifth in baseball. It’s so laborious to persistently hit for energy with an method as dangerous as theirs, and it’s a part of the rationale the lineup will get so chilly at occasions.
CJ Abrams is the most effective on the Nats roster at each persistently pulling the ball and persistently placing it within the air, so it ought to come as no shock that he’s the second-best hitter within the Nats lineup by a large margin, trailing solely the otherworldly expertise James Wooden. Some hitters do one factor nicely however not the opposite, similar to Keibert Ruiz having the 2nd-best Pull% on the roster however the Third-worst FB%, limiting their offensive output.
The Answer
So, how do they go about fixing issues? Effectively, for starters, it’s nicely previous time to chop ties with hitting coach Darnell Coles, who has but to supply a non-bottom 10 offense in DC in his 4-year tenure. Subsequent, they’d be clever to poach workers from a company who understands the significance of plate self-discipline and pulling the ball within the air, such because the Yankees (1st in BB%, seventh in FB%, tenth in Pull%) or the Dodgers (2nd in BB%, eighth in FB%, eighth in Pull%).
After that, they should work with the gamers each on the main league and minor league ranges and assist them unlearn the dangerous habits which have been ingrained in them by the outdated regime, a course of that may take time. The longer they wait, the extra injury they might find yourself doing to their present gamers and prospects, similar to those that shall be becoming a member of the group in July from the MLB Draft.
