Nationals move toward future after dismal season

It couldn’t have gone much worse for the Nationals in 2025.

They sacked the World Series-winning general manager and manager duo of Mike Rizzo and Dave Martinez en route to a sixth consecutive losing season that mercifully ended on Sunday.

Change is on the horizon.

Interim manager Miguel Cairo — a Martinez hire — didn’t rally his players to a late-season surge. Martinez recorded a .411 winning percentage in the first 90 games of the season, a showing poor enough to force a change. That number dropped to .403 under Cairo.

The Nationals will be one of six teams looking for a new skipper after the San Francisco Giants, Minnesota Twins and Texas Rangers fired their managers on Monday. The Baltimore Orioles and Colorado Rockies are also in the market after finishing the season with interim managers.

Washington’s on-field performances vacillated between promising and disastrous throughout the previous campaign.

Ace MacKenzie Gore started the year strong enough to make his first-ever All-Star Game. The Nationals refused to trade him at the July deadline after no suitors matched their steep asking price.

He finished the season with a middling 4.17 ERA, a stat that ballooned after Gore gave up 5.72 earned runs per nine innings over his final 15 starts.

The season was split into two relatively clean halves for the 26-year-old. His first 15 starts made him an All-Star. His final 15 appearances threw his future into question.

Gore was a strikeout merchant to start the year, recording 119 punch-outs in the first half of the campaign. 

Opposing offenses appeared to figure him out, as the former first-round pick recorded just 66 strikeouts in the second half.

The southpaw ultimately ended the year on the injured list with a right ankle injury.

Outfielder James Wood had a similar, if less extreme, arc. The second-year slugger started the year with a breakout power display to join Gore at the All-Star festivities in Atlanta. The Maryland native was named to the Home Run Derby after knocking 24 balls out of the park before the midseason break.

He recorded just seven home runs in his final 65 games. His batting average dipped from .278 in the first half of the season to .223 in the second half.

Even his base running fell off. Wood stole 12 bases in his first 95 games, but finished with just 15 on the season.

His strikeout rate was always a concern, but it hit extreme levels by the end of the year. Wood finished with 221 strikeouts on the season, two shy of tying the MLB single-season record set by Mark Reynolds in 2009.

The Nationals, despite failing to record a winning record since the 2019 championship season, have reasons for optimism. Gore’s struggles can be partially attributed to injuries. The lefty, with two more seasons of club control, could still be an attractive option for other teams in the winter trade market if nothing else.

Wood showed signs of improvement later in the year, including a two-homer game last week that pushed his season total over 30. Despite the struggles, he still led the Nationals in wins above replacement. Wood, with Washington shortstop C.J. Abrams, was among the 69 position players nominated for All-MLB honors on Sunday.

And the youth movement is still in its early stages. Dylan Crews, the No. 2 overall pick in the 2023 draft, missed nearly half of the season with an oblique strain. He showed flashes of the speed and power that made him a top pick.

Daylen Lile was the class of the young core during the final stretch. During his final 30 games, the rookie outfielder recorded a .376 average while maintaining a .697 slugging percentage. The Kentucky native posted six home runs and 20 RBIs in the stretch.

For his efforts, Lile was named both the NL Rookie of the Month and the Player of the Month on Tuesday.

September was the culmination of an impressive season for the 2021 second-round pick. He tied a Nationals record with 11 triples despite playing just 91 games.

“I like to hit triples. I see the names on that list, and that makes me want it even more,” he said last week after passing Bryce Harper and Trea Turner in the team’s record books.“Proud of myself. I’m very blessed to be in the position I am. … I can’t ask for anything better.”

The next step in the Nationals’ rebuild is scheduled for Wednesday morning. The franchise is expected to introduce Paul Toboni, a 35-year-old assistant general manager with the Boston Red Sox, as the new president of baseball operations.