Washington Nationals New-Look Infield Shaping Up to be Much Improved
With spring training games underway, the new additions for the Washington Nationals have started to make their debuts.
This offseason, the Nationals might not have made the significant splashes that some were hoping for, but they had a plan in place.
With the team still being young and somewhat unproven in a lot of areas, rather than just spending to spend, Washington added veterans that will help in 2025, but also give them financial flexibility.
Two main areas that needed to be addressed this winter were in the corners of the infield for the Nationals. Fortunately, they were able to make solid additions to both positions and the infield is looking like a really strong unit now.
Last year, the emergence of CJ Abrams and Luis Garcia Jr. in the middle of the infield created a lot of optimism for the future up the middle. Both had breakout seasons, with Abrams being named to the All-Star team.
Now, they will have some more talented help on the diamond. At first base, Washington traded for Nathaniel Lowe from the Texas Rangers. The 29-year-old has won both a gold glove and a silver slugger with the Rangers in the past and will be a big upgrade at first base both in the field and at the plate.
In 2024, he slashed .265/.361/.401 with 16 home runs and 69 RBI. Overall, Lowe is a solid player who should help the young infielders gain some more confidence defensively with his ability to play the position.
At third base, the Nationals signed veteran Paul DeJong to a one-year deal to help man the hot corner. While he might split time with Jose Tena, the former All-Star made a successful transition from shortstop to third base last year and has some pop in his bat.
Slugging has been a big issue for Washington in recent years and DeJong can help in that area. In 2024, he slashed .227/.276/.427 with 24 home runs and 56 RBI. Even though the batting average and on-base percentage weren’t great last year, the slugger can hit the ball out of the ballpark.
Overall, these two additions coupled with adding veterans like Amed Rosario and Josh Bell will help make this a much-improved infield.
Even though they didn’t make a major splash, there is still one notable talent coming up at third base in Brady House. By adding a player like DeJong to play alongside Tena, they improved but also didn’t block one of their top prospects from playing when he is ready to be called up.
