Several bats have gone cold in the spring -- should fans be worried?
It's been said before, and it will be said again: spring training games don't count. But at what point is Washington's cold hitting a legitimate cause for concern?
In a somewhat surprising development, the Nationals' pitching in the spring has been outstanding -- the bats, though, have been far from it. Several of Washington's best, or at least most important, hitters have been struggling, seemingly all slumping at the same time.
Slumps in baseball always have an element of randomness to them, and, for a few of Washington's faltering stars, bad luck seems to be the culprit.
The clearest example of this is James Wood, who has been hitting the ball extremely hard all spring training but has yet to see the type of statistical windfall his batted ball data would suggest. His .156/.270/.244 line certainly leaves a lot to be desired, but the eye test suggests that Wood is probably just around the corner from being a productive hitter again.
If his most recent results are any indication, Wood could already be arriving at that turnaround. On Monday he went 3-5 with a homer, and all five batted balls had exit velocities well over 100 miles per hour.
If Monday's performance is a sign of things to come, the James Wood that showed up for the first half of the 2025 season might be back. It's hard to be as optimistic about some of the other struggling players.
The hoped-for star turn for Dylan Crews has not arrived. In fact, he has looked downright awful so far throughout spring training, and it is possible the Nationals consider sending him to AAA to start the season.
Crews is slashing .107/.188/.107, good for a putrid OPS of .295. All of his hits, few as they may be, have been singles, and he has struck out 10 times in 28 at bats.
Outside of Crews, several players have been decent but largely unremarkable. CJ Abrams, Robert Hassell III and Luis Garcia Jr. have been uninspiring, all sitting below the .700 OPS mark.
It's not all bad, though. The clear bright spot has been 22-year-old third baseman Brady House, who has mashed his way to a 1.400 OPS and a team-leading three home runs. Trey Lipscomb and Keibert Ruiz have also been solid, offering some potential upside.
So, no, it's not unreasonable to be concerned about the Nationals offense. But, in some ways, that's not entirely surprising -- this team was supposed to be bad this year (if slightly less bad than last year), and they look to be just that.
There are signs of life in some players, and real red flags in others. In a few weeks time, with the regular season underway, it will become clear what the true state of the team's offense is, now and into the future.