2024 a season of excitement, growing pains for young Nats

WASHINGTON -- The Nationals headed into the final weekend of the 2024 regular season with the opportunity to tie or surpass last year’s win total. Before the Nats won Game No. 70 with a 9-1 victory over the Phillies on Friday, general manager Mike Rizzo reflected on the team’s ‘24 performance.

“Last year wasn't the record I wanted [71-91], the year before wasn't the record I wanted [55-107], and this year isn't the record we wanted [70-90],” Rizzo said. “Our goal is to win the division. But with the youth on this team, I see that with the comparable record of last year, the way we did it this year, with the starting pitching coming along like we saw in the breakout of the young kids, and the Minor League prospects having a strong season … I think is progress.”

The Nationals’ season was headlined by a youth movement in which 10 players made their Major League debuts. Among those, rookie left-handers Mitchell Parker and DJ Herz joined a starting rotation that also includes 25-year-old MacKenzie Gore and 27-year-old Jake Irvin. In July and August, top prospect outfielders James Wood and Dylan Crews reached the big leagues.

“We’re throwing a lot of young guys out there, and you could tell the growing pains that they have,” Rizzo said. “From the start of the season, that first half, we played really well and you could see the influx of some of those good veteran players that were sprinkled into the lineup. At the Trade Deadline when those guys leave, you could see the youth factor takes over. We've got a lot to learn. We've got to mature as a baseball team and learn how to win those close games that need to happen to be a champion.

“But with that said, you had some breakout seasons from CJ [Abrams] at short and Luis [García Jr.] at second, and you saw the emergence of Jacob Young. Now we’ve got the two young corner outfielders in Wood and Crews and four good young starters that we're going to count on for the future.”

Abrams, 23, was optioned to Triple-A for a non-performance issue last Saturday toward the end of his first All-Star season. He has reported to the Nationals’ training complex in West Palm Beach, Fla., following a decision that Rizzo described as “family matters.”

“He's still our guy,” Rizzo said. “We love him, and he's going to be a great player for us. Optioning him out wasn't the end of the world. We have a standard here, and we have to keep people accountable. He still has a great upside and he's still going to be, in our minds, a great Major League shortstop.”

At the plate, the Nats rank last in home runs in the National League for the third season in a row. (Stone Garrett marked the series opener against the Phillies with a homer in his first game back from injury since last Aug. 23.) They are second to last in the NL in slugging percentage (.373) and runs scored (651) and third to last in OPS (.681) as of Friday. This week, they had a skid of 31 scoreless innings. However, the Nationals embraced their athleticism to lead all teams in stolen bases (220).

“We do have to be more consistent,” Rizzo said. “Knowing the restrictions we have at home run power … we have to be very efficient offensively. We utilized our asset, which was speed this year, I think to the betterment of the organization. But I think that to score runners with men in scoring position, less than two outs, and to move runners and to run the bases intelligently and not recklessly I think are all things that will be addressed in Spring Training and throughout the offseason.”

Looking ahead to next season, the Nationals will pursue roster enhancements through free agency, trades and their Minor League depth. Since 2021, they have been effective at signing veteran players to one-year deals and swapping those expiring contracts at the Trade Deadline for developing prospects.

“I'm not saying that's not going to continue, but we're certainly not going to be keyholed by one-year deals for free agents,” Rizzo said, adding, “I think it's time to spend at a point. We’re going to see who's available and what fits that we have out there. But I think that it's time for us to add to the roster, because we've got a good young core group of guys, and some veteran leadership I think is warranted.”