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May 8, 2025 / Nat Anacostia

‘The roller coaster that we sign up for’: Nats’ April in review

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For the fourth consecutive season, the Nationals started the season with low expectations after spending the off-season shopping in the bargain basement. The Fangraphs forecast before the season began showed the Nats winning 72 games, good for fourth place in the NL East, and only a 3% chance of making the playoffs. Still, with breakouts possible from several of the young players, there was hope that the team might exceed expectations and provide the platform for building a truly competitive team.

A couple of important news items appeared just before the season began. One was from television announcer Bob Carpenter saying that he planned to retire at the end of the season. 2025 is his 20th season as the Nats’ play-by-play announcer and his 42nd season in MLB. The other news item was more ominous—pitcher DJ Herz was going on the injured list with a UCL sprain in his elbow. As often follows from such news, we later learned that he underwent Tommy John surgery on April 18, leaving him out of baseball for the coming year.

The Nationals opened the season at home on March 27 against the Phillies. The first game went to extra innings but ended with a loss, as did the second game. But the Nats won the third game to avoid a sweep. In the third game, Brad Lord, a 25-year-old right-handed pitcher whom the Nats had drafted in the 18th round of the 2022 draft, made his major league debut in relief.

The team then had a short, one-city road trip to Toronto to face the Blue Jays. In the first game, Michael Soroka, making his Nationals debut, started the game but took the loss after leaving with a biceps strain that put him on the 15-day injured list. He didn’t pitch the rest of the month. In the second game, the Nats rallied to tie the game in the top of the seventh but gave up two runs in the bottom of the eighth for their second loss. They also lost the third game, getting swept by the Jays and leaving them with a 1–5 record.

Back in Washington, the Nats’ next series was against the Diamondbacks. Several members of the 2005 Nationals returned to Washington for the series, which honored the 20th anniversary of the return of MLB to the city. The Nationals lost the first game but won the next two for their first series win of the season. All three games were close ones, each decided by one or two runs.

Next, the Nats hosted the Dodgers, who many writers considered to be the best team in baseball. The Nats got some clutch hits and good pitching to win the first game. Brad Lord started the second game, moving from the bullpen to the rotation to take Soroka’s place. (Lord had mainly been a starter in the minor leagues.) James Wood homered twice to lead the Nats to victory in game two. The Nats fell to the Dodgers in game three but won the series, giving them a 4–2 record for the homestand.

Their next road trip opened in Miami against the Marlins. In the first game, the Nats rallied for a comeback win. But CJ Abrams suffered a right hip flexor strain, which put him on the 10-day IL. The Nats then lost the second and third games and the series. In the third game Cole Henry, a 25-year-old right-handed relief pitcher, made his major league debut. Henry was the Nats’ second-round draft pick in 2020. The path of the former top prospect to the majors was delayed by injuries, leading him to have surgery for thoracic outlet syndrome in August 2022. This spring he switched to a full-time relief role. 

The Nats then went to Pittsburgh for a four-game series against the Pirates. They lost the first game to the Pirates ace, Paul Skenes, but came back to shut out the Bucs in the second game. In the top of the sixth inning, Paul Dejong was hit in the face by a fastball. He was placed on the injured list and ultimately had surgery to repair a broken nose and damage to the sinuses and the orbital bone, leaving him sidelined until at least July. Game three will be remembered for Jorge Lopez‘s inability to locate his pitches on a chilly night, which culminated with a pitch thrown just above Andrew McCutchen’s head. The umpire didn’t appear likely to do anything until the Pirates manager came out to argue that Lopez’s pitch was intentional. McCutchen and Lopez then began exchanging words and the benches cleared. The umpire then ejected Lopez from the game. I don’t believe that it was intentional—Lopez had been wild all inning, and what pitcher intentionally tries to hit someone when it will fill the bases in a two-run game? At any rate, McCutchen walked and the next batter, Oneil Cruz, immediately hit a grand slam off Eduardo Salazar to turn a 2–0 score to 6–0. The Nats lost 6–1. In the fourth game, the Nats were shut out, losing a pitchers’ duel 1–0, and losing the series 3 games to 1.

The road trip concluded with a three-game series in Colorado. The first game scheduled for Friday night was postponed due to snow, to be made up in a Sunday doubleheader. On Saturday the Nats went into the bottom of the seventh leading 12–2 but ultimately barely held on to win the game 12–11. The games in the Sunday doubleheader were lower scoring, with the Nats winning the first one 3–2 but losing the second 3–1. They finished the road trip with a 4–6 record.

Back home, the Nats opened the home stand with a three-game series against the Orioles. They won the first two games but lost the third. Their next series was four games against the division-leading Mets, who at the time had a .720 winning percentage, the best in baseball. The first three games were all hard fought, with the Nats winning ninth inning walk-off victories in the first and third games but losing the second game 2–0. The fourth game, however, was a blowout, with the Mets winning 19–5. For the home stand overall, the Nats had a 4–3 record against two good opponents.

The month concluded with the Nats in Philadelphia playing the first two games of a three-game series against the Phillies. They lost both games, ending the month with an overall record of 13–18, which left them in fourth place in the NL East, 8 games behind the division-leading Mets. 

For the month of April (including the games in late March), the Nats’ greatest strength was their starting pitching, which was roughly league average. Their starters’ ERA was 4.04 (ranking 18th among the 30 teams), while their park-adjusted ERA– was 99 (16th) and their fielding independent pitching or FIP– was 95 (14th). The Nats relievers, however, were a different story. Their ERA was a dismal 7.41, dead last among the 30 MLB teams. The story doesn’t change much if you look at their ERA– of 181 (30th) or FIP– of 126 (29th). The Nats’ offense was, overall, only a bit below average. Their weighted runs created plus (wRC+, a park-adjusted measure of overall batting effectiveness) was 95, ranking 18th among the 30 teams.

In addition to the major league debuts of Lord and Henry, the players that the Nats acquired during the off-season made their debuts with the team early in the season. Nathaniel Lowe became the regular first baseman, and Paul DeJong was the regular third baseman until his April 15 injury. Amed Rosario was the main utility infielder, appearing in 17 games and starting in 10 of them. And Josh Bell, who returned to the Nats after a two-and-a-half season gap, was the regular DH. Starting pitcher Michael Soroka started the season in the rotation but was injured in his first start. And relievers Jorge Lopez, Lucas Sims, and Colin Poche all pitched regularly, though not always successfully, from the bullpen.

Record:

13–18 (.419)

Pythagorean Record:

12–19 (4.23 R/G – 5.29 RA/G)

April MVP:

  • MacKenzie Gore (2–3, 3.51 RA/9, 7 GS, 41 IP, 13.0 K/9, .280 opp OBP, 1.0 RA9-WAR, 1.3 fWAR). For the “month” of March/April, he ranked first in MLB in strikeouts, second in K/9, and sixth in fWAR. I feel like this month marked his emergence as a potential ace pitcher. I’ll add a nod to Mitchell Parker, who also had an outstanding month with 1.1 RA9-WAR and 0.7 fWAR.

Position player of the month:

  • James Wood (.250/.360/.543, 9 HR, 19 R, 21 RBI, 3 SB, 2 CS, 136 PA, 151 wRC+, 1.0 fWAR). He was tied for second place in the NL for home runs and ranked 8th in slugging and 5th in isolated power.

Relief pitcher of the month:

  • Jackson Rutledge (0-0, 2.61 RA/9, 7 G, 10⅓ IP, 12.2 K/9, .333 opp OBP, 3.57 RE24, 2 shutdowns, 0 meltdown, 0.2 RA9-WAR).

Worst month:

  • Eduardo Salazar (0–1, 9.24 RA/9, 14 G, 12⅔ IP, 7.8 K/9, .446 opp OBP, 8 of 10 inherited runners scored, –13.48 RE24, 3 shutdowns, 3 meltdowns, –0.2 fWAR). I note there was stiff competition for this recognition, including Josh Bell (43 wRC+, –0.7 fWAR), Lucas Sims (–8.84 RE24, –0.4 fWAR), and Colin Poche (–7.04 RE24, –0.2 fWAR).

Best start:

  • MacKenzie Gore (opening day – March 27, 7–3 loss to the Phillies at home) pitched 6 scoreless innings giving up 1 hit and no walks while striking out 13 for a game score of 83. He outpitched Phillies ace, Zack Wheeler, and left with the Nats holding a 1–0 lead. Sadly, the bullpen was unable to hold it. A nod also to the runner-up, Mitchell Parker, who on April 22 pitched 8 scoreless innings with a game score of 82 en route to a 7–0 victory.

Worst start:

  • Mitchell Parker (April 27, 8–7 win over the Mets at home) gave up 7 runs on 7 hits and 5 walks in 5 innings with no strikeouts for a game score of 22. When he left the game, the Nats were trailing 7–1, but the team rallied to score 5 runs in the seventh and 2 more in the ninth to walk off the Mets.

Tough losses:

  • Mitchell Parker (April 16, 6–1 loss to the Pirates in Pittsburgh) pitched 6 innings and gave up 1 run on 4 hits and 1 walk while striking out 6 for a game score of 65.
  • Trevor Williams (April 17, 1–0 loss to the Pirates in Pittsburgh) pitched 5 innings and gave up 1 run on 3 hits and 3 walks while striking out 5 for a game score of 59.
  • MacKenzie Gore (April 24, 2–1 loss to the Orioles at home) pitched 6 innings and gave up 2 runs on 4 hits and 1 walk while striking out 8 for a game score of 63.

Cheap wins:

  • Trevor Williams (April 6, 5–4 win over the Diamondbacks at home), pitched 5 innings and gave up 3 runs on 5 hits and 2 walks while striking out 6 for a game score of 49.

Biggest shutdown:

  • Jose A. Ferrer (April 20, 3–2 win over the Rockies in the first game of a doubleheader in Denver). When Ferrer was brought in in the bottom of the seventh, there was one out and a runner on first, and the Nats held a 3–2 lead. The first batter he faced grounded into a double play. He returned in the eighth for an additional scoreless inning, allowing one hit and striking out two. (Win probability added/WPA +.280).

Worst meltdown:

  • Kyle Finnegan (April 29, 7–6 loss to the Phillies in Philadelphia). The Nats had rallied to score 4 runs in the top of the ninth and take a 6–5 lead, stunning the crowd in Citizens Bank Park. In the bottom of the inning Finnegan was called on to get three outs. The first batter he faced, Alec Bohm, singled to right field. That was followed with a walk to Bryson Stott. Bohm was able to advance to third on a flyball to deep center field for the first out. Stott then stole second. Another flyball to right field scored Bohm, tying the game, and allowed Stott to advance to third. Then a wild pitch to Trea Turner allowed Stott to score for the Phillies’ walk off win. (WPA –.800). 

Walk offs:

  • James Wood (April 25, 5–4 win over the Mets at home). The Nats entered the bottom of the ninth trailing the Mets 4–3. Dylan Crews led off with a triple to the right field wall that Juan Soto wasn’t able to handle and was driven home by a single from Jose Tena. The next two batters grounded into force plays at second base, leaving CJ Abrams at first with two outs, when Wood stepped to the plate. On a 3–2 count, Wood hit a groundball past the second baseman into center field for a single. The Mets were playing a deep no-doubles defense, so by the time the center fielder got the ball home, Abrams was sliding in to score the walk-off run. (WPA +.437)
  • Luis Garcia Jr. (April 27, 8–7 win over the Mets at home). The Nats had been behind 7–1 going into the bottom of the seventh but scored 5 runs to narrow their deficit to a single run. In the bottom of the ninth, Alex Call led off with a double. Jacob Young took his place as a pinch runner, and after advancing to third on a groundout, came home to tie the game on CJ Abrams‘s single. James Wood then drew a walk, advancing Abrams to second and bringing Garcia to the plate. Garcia grounded to first baseman Pete Alonso, but Alonso threw the ball over the head of the pitcher who was covering first, allowing Abrams to rush home and score the walk-off run on the error. (WPA +.294)

Clutch hit:

  • Nathaniel Lowe (April 29, 7–6 loss to the Phillies in Philadelphia). When Lowe came to bat in the top of the ninth, the Nats were down to their final out, trailing 5–3 but with runners on second and third. With a 1–2 count, Lowe reached down to hit a sweeper below the zone and smacked it into the right-field stands, putting the Nats ahead 6–5 (WPA +.694). Unfortunately, you can see the section on “Worst meltdown” to read about how the game ended.
  • The best clutch hit in a game the Nats actually won was also by Nathaniel Lowe (April 11, 7–4 win over the Marlins in Miami). Lowe was feeling under the weather and had been scratched from the starting lineup, but he told Davey Martinez that he was available as a pinch hitter if needed. In the top of the eighth, the Nats were trailing 4–2 but had the bases loaded with one out, and Martinez decided to take up Lowe on his offer. After a 10-pitch battle, Lowe lined one into the left field corner for a double, clearing the bases and giving the Nats a 5–4 lead. (WPA+.442)

Choke:

  • James Wood (April 9, 6–5 loss to the Dodgers at home). Trailing the Dodgers 6 to 5 in the bottom of the ninth, the Nats were down to their final out but had runners at second and third. Wood grounded out to second to end the game. (WPA –.240).

Memorable fielding plays:

Triple play:

  • Triple plays are rare, and on April 25, playing the Mets at home, the Nats turned one in the top of the fourth inning (their third in club history and their first at home). It certainly wasn’t a web gem. It appeared that the ball actually skipped into Nathaniel Lowe‘s glove and shouldn’t even have been called a catch. But the play wasn’t reviewable, so that was that. The Mets had runners on first and second with no outs. Jesse Winker hit a low line drive to Lowe, which (according to the umpire) he caught. Lowe then fired the ball to CJ Abrams, who touched second base as well as the runner who had advanced from first to complete a 3–6–6 triple play.

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Filed under Month in review