Evaluating Nationals' Nasim Nuñez's Up-and-Down 2026 Season

Washington Nationals' infielder Nasim Nuñez had as interesting a 2026 MLB season as any player in the league. The MLB’s stolen-base leader finished the season with just a .209 batting average in 431 plate appearances, which marks the lowest documented average for a stolen-base leader in MLB history. 

In 1887, Hugh Nicol led the MLB with 138 stolen bases while playing for the Cincinnati Red Stockings and had the previous lowest average of .215. 

Entering the 2026 season, Nuñez had just 90 MLB appearances across 2024 and 2025. He finished 2024 with a .246 average in 51 appearances and finished 2025 with a .232 average and four home runs in 39 appearances.

After the Nationals moved Luis Garcia Jr. to first base from second, Nuñez had a chance to start at second on Opening Day. 

Nuñez would stay in the starting lineup throughout the entire 2026 season, making the third-most appearances for the Nationals. In his 147 appearances, he finished with splits of .209/.291/.244. He hit just 10 total extra-base hits in 431 at-bats, including just one home run. 

He had a batting average below .200 in every month but March, June and July. June was his best month of the season when he hit .333 in 72 at-bats and had 23 of his stolen bases. The Nationals were 13-11 in games that Nuñez appeared in during June. 

After batting .275 in July, he entered August with a .240 batting average. He would have a disastrous close to the season, combining to go just 15-for-121 in his last two months of the season.  

Nuñez started to take starts at shortstop in August as the Nationals moved star infielder CJ Abrams to second base. The move is planned to be permanent.

Though he didn’t meet the threshold of a qualified batter, he finished the season with one of the lowest OPS totals in MLB. Despite that, Nuñez finished with a positive 1.2 WAR.  

Why is that? He led MLB with 49 stolen bases and was a superstar-level defender. He was in the 97th percentile of Baserunning Run Value and in the 86th percentile of Fielding Run Value on Baseball Savant, meaning that when he wasn’t in the batter's box, he was providing value.

Still, he was in the first percentile of Batting Run Value, meaning he was one of the least efficient batters in the league. 

Looking forward, the 26-year-old infielder will likely see more opportunities with the Nationals due to his great defense and base running, but he will need to show more production from the plate.

Going into the 2027 season, the shortstop position will be up in the air for the Nationals. Nuñez currently rests at number one in the depth chart, but the Nationals may have to consider calling up shortstop prospect Seaver King, who finished with an .858 OPS in 77 Triple-A appearances in 2026.