Watch: Washington Nationals’ Five Hardest Hit Baseballs of Last Season
The Washington Nationals have one of the youngest rosters in baseball. So it’s not much surprise that some of the team’s hardest-hit baseball last season were hit by some of those bright young stars.
Statcast recently compiled the five hardest-hit baseballs of last season and put together a short video as part of MLB.com’s year-in-review package.
Tied for No. 5 on the list was outfielder James Wood, who hit a pitch with an exit velocity of 111 mph in a game on Aug. 5. It turned out to be a single. On June 8, former Nationals star Lane Thomas slugged a single that also went 111 mph. Thomas was traded by Washington at the deadline.
On Aug. 9, Wood made the list again with a groundout that was measured with a 111.3 mph exit velocity.
In September at Wrigley Field in Chicago, Wood hit an opposite-field double that left the infield with an exit velocity of 111.4 mph.
Juan Yepez cleared 112 mpg with a hit on July 20 that left the infield for a single. The official speed was 112.2 mph.
But, the mark that Joey Meneses set on March 30 outlasted everyone else. He hit a double that had an exit velocity of 114.2 mph.
The Nationals won 71 games in 2024, marking the second straight season they finished with 71 victories. It also marked Washington's fifth straight losing season since it won the 2019 World Series, which was the first championship in franchise history.
Since that victory, the Nationals have built from within while attempting to shed large pitching contracts with Max Scherzer (trade), Stephen Strasburg (retired) and Patrick Corbin (now a free agent).
Washington now has one of the best young rosters in baseball, one it hopes gets the team over .500 in 2025.
Several of the players that the Nationals received in the Juan Soto trade in 2022 are in the Majors, including Wood. Washington's 2023 first-round pick, Dylan Crews, is expected to be the opening-day right fielder after making his debut last year.
The Nationals also have budding young stars in outfielder Jacob Young, shortstop C.J. Abrams and second baseman Luis Garcia Jr., along with catcher Keibert Ruiz. The expected starting rotation is led by young pitchers like MacKenzie Gore and D.J. Herz.
Washington’s most notable move this offseason so far was trading reliever Robert Garcia to the Texas Rangers to acquire first baseman Nathaniel Lowe, a move that addressed one of the team's main concerns in free agency — signing a power-hitting corner infielder.
The Nationals also signed pitcher Michael Soroka to a one-year deal, hoping that the former All-MLB starter in in 2019 can reclaim his former form after a lost season with the Chicago White Sox, preceded by missing two seasons due to an Achilles injury.
