The Washington Nationals are trying to claw back to the .500 mark after a bit of a slow start to the season.
So far this year, there have been some ups and downs as expected for the Nationals. Even though the team added some veterans this winter, the roster is still largely a young group.
However, with a lot of inexperienced players, the team is hoping to take a step forward and improve on their win total, which in the last two years has been at 71 games.
For Washington, there have been some good spurts of baseball this campaign, and some individuals are having good seasons early on.
On offense, there has been a ton of attention going to James Wood, who is off to a magnificent start to the season. The 22-year-old outfielder is looking like a star in the making, but he isn’t the only one performing well.
As the Nationals hope to take a step forward in 2025, there was a lot of concern about what the starting rotation would look like.
Most of the young talent on the team was considered to be in the lineup this year, but there have been some strong starts to the year for multiple pitchers.
First, has been the early breakout from Mitchell Parker. The 25-year-old has totaled a 3-1 record, 1.39 ERA, and a 3.40 FIP in 32.1 innings pitched. It has been a nice improvement for Parker since his rookie season and the FIP number being where it is indicates his strong performances should continue.
In addition to Parker, MacKenzie Gore has also got off to a great beginning to the campaign. The former third overall pick has totaled a 2-2 record, 3.48 ERA, and 45 strikeouts in 29 innings pitched.
However, while the numbers for the southpaw are good, there is reason to believe that he might improve with a FIP of 2.20 so far.
Furthermore, perhaps the early X-factor of the staff appears to be Jake Irvin. The 28-year-old has pitched well so far with a 3.68 ERA, and has answered the call of being one of the young pitchers that has needed to step up.
With the starting rotation improving immensely from last season, it could be a clear indication that the time to burst out of this rebuild is coming soon. While Irvin will still have a lot to prove, both Parker and Gore look like front-end rotation starters.
Even though it has been a long time coming, the starting rotation might become a strength of the team going forward.
