Ranking 4-Most Disappointing Hitters for Washington Nationals This Season
The Washington Nationals continued their rebuild in 2024, as they won 71 games and finished in fourth place in the National League East.
There were certainly some ups and downs for the young Nationals as a lot of their young prospects got called up and some of their youthful players took a nice step forward.
Despite a lot of losing recently, the future does look bright in Washington with players like CJ Abrams, Luis Garcia Jr., James Wood and Dylan Crews leading the way for the lineup. While a lot of players had good seasons at the plate, some unfortunately did not, and that held the team back in 2024.
Here were the four most disappointing hitters for the Nationals in 2024.
Keibert Ruiz
Thought to be one of the building blocks for Washington, catcher Keibert Ruiz unfortunately did not have the type of offensive season that the team was hoping for. In 2024, Ruiz totaled a .229 batting average, 13 home runs, and 57 RBIs. His on-base percentage of just .260 was pretty poor, as it was a big drop-off in production from 2023.
One bright spot for Ruiz and the Nationals is that he was better in the second half of the season, as hopefully the bad first half will just be an anomaly in his career.
Nick Senzel
Another major disappointment for Washington this season was the play of third baseman, Nick Senzel. The third baseman was an offseason signing by the Nationals, and while he got a good amount of playing time to start the season, the production was never there, and he was ultimately released.
In 64 games with Washington, the slugger totaled a .207 batting average, seven home runs, and 18 RBIs.
Trey Lipscomb
After moving on from Senzel at about the midway point of the season, the Nationals used a lot of Trey Lipscomb at the positon. The 24-year-old was given a chance to prove what he could do in the Majors, but he unfortunately didn’t do much.
In 61 games, Lipscomb totaled a .200 batting average, one home run, and 10 RBIs. In a decent sample size, the 24-year-old didn’t do nearly enough to indicate that he is going to be a building block for the future in Washington.
Joey Gallo
One of the positions that the Nationals will certainly be looking to upgrade at this offseason is first base. Last season, Washington didn’t get anywhere near the production that they needed from the position, and Joey Gallo’s struggles were a big reason why.
In 2024, Gallo totaled a .161 batting average, 10 home runs, and 27 RBIs. The Nationals will almost certainly be buying out Gallo’s contract this offseason, which will make him a free agent.
