Interesting Statistic Shows How Good the Washington Nationals Outfield Has Been

One statistical category shows how elite the Washington Nationals have been in the outfield.

Aug 18, 2024; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA; Washington Nationals outfielder Jacob Young (30) before game against the Philadelphia Phillies at Citizens Bank Park / Eric Hartline-Imagn Images

While this is season is going to result in another missed playoffs for the Washington Nationals, there has been a lot of positive momentum surrounding the organization with some of their top prospects getting called up the Majors.

James Wood looks like he could be a real star at some point in his career, potentially turning into the face of this franchise.

Once Wood was promoted and graduated from prospect status, 2023 second overall pick Dylan Crews took over that designation before he also played his way into The Show.

While the 22-year-old is currently experiencing some growing pains like all youngsters do at this level, he's also flashed some huge potential with two home runs, four extra-base hits and three RBI in his nine games.

Those two, along with Gold Glove candidate Jacob Young, are expected to be the outfield of the future for the Nationals barring a blockbuster reunion with their past megastar Juan Soto.

And when taking a look at the best statistic surrounding Washington this season, it's actually something their outfield group accomplished that caught the eye of Stephen J. Nesbitt at The Athletic.

"The Nats' outfield had an absurd April, turning six double plays — hosing two guys at the plate on fly balls and throwing behind four stragglers at first base. Things have cooled since then, but the Nats still lead the rest of the majors by two in this category," he writes.

While that is absolutely incredible, things also need to be put into perspective.

Lane Thomas, who the Nationals traded at the deadline, accounted for three of them. Another player they shipped out of town, Jesse Winker, turned one of them, and Eddie Rosario, who they designated for assignment, also started one of these double plays.

All of that is to say their young trio of future stars haven't had the same level of defense that their predecessors had, but becasue this is such a niche stat, that's not necessarily a cause for concern.

Washington is still a few years away from contending unless their ownership group gives the front office a green light to aggressively spend this offseason.

What they're looking for right now is that their emerging players get experience during the final stretch of the year so they can make some assessments on what areas they want to target this winter.