Washington Nationals 2025 Season

THE LEAD

Would the real Jose please stand up? And put one of those fingers on each hand up? I am referring to Jose A. Ferrer, who after a strong closing kick to the 2024 season and a lights-out spring training has looked pretty bad, and currently sports a 7.36 ERA and 1.77 WHIP. Egad. Remember, this was a one-run game against a division opponent on the road, so Ferrer entering in the eighth was a high-leverage situation. And for the fourth time in his last six appearances, he crapped the bed. I will maintain that Ferrer has the best pure stuff of any reliever on the team - he can touch triple digits from the left side and has a gnarly changeup, the rare southpaw who can generate both whiffs and ground balls. But something is off for him, and he needs to figure it out quickly, because with Colin Poche currently being just about the worst relief pitcher in MLB the Nats will rely heavily on Ferrer to actually be the best lefty in the pen, and not just the least bad one.

The other item of concern is that for the fourth season in a row, Davey Martinez is wearing out Keibert Ruiz behind the plate early on. We all remember how Ruiz got sick last year and lost 15 pounds, then spent all of two days on a rehab assignment before going right back to catching every day and looking horrible doing it, right? Well, this year Ruiz is finally not off to one of his notorious slow starts, hitting .303/.355/.404 this April. But he has caught 26 of 30 games, a 140-game pace, and that is simply too many games. Catching is really, really hard, and there’s a reason precious few guys last long doing it regularly. When Ruiz is fatigued he slips back into his old habits of swinging at everything within three feet of the plate on offense and failing to complete plays on defense, both of which were prominently on display last night. Let’s not wear him down into a nub, shall we?

 Washington Nationals 2025 Season

Game Recap

There are going to be epic comeback wins, and there are going to be ugly blown losses, and last night was one of the latter. The Phillies took an otherwise strong MacKenzie Gore deep for an early 3-0 lead, and although the Nats clawed back a couple in the sixth and seventh innings, the Phillies responded with two runs off of Jose A. Ferrer - who has caught a case of pyromania from his bullpen mates. The Nats were down to their final strike in the ninth when Nathaniel Lowe got his bat head to an extremely well-located sweeper down and in from Orion Kerkering and launched a mortar shot down the right field line to give the Nats a 6-5 lead. Josh Bell grounded out one pitch later, cutting short Kyle FInnegan’s warm-up time. Finnegan’s penchant for making things more interesting burned him for the second outing in a row, as he put the first two Phillies on via a hit and a walk. Alec Bohm, the first of those, tied the game by scoring on a Johan Rojas sacrifice fly to Dylan Crews, who fired an absolute strike that had Bohm dead to rights by several feet - only for Ruiz to do his best Wilson Ramos impression and whiff on catching the actual throw. Three pitches later (all balls) Finnegan yeeted a splitter into the left-handed batter’s box that bounced off of the diving Ruiz’s arm and allowed Bryson Stott to score the winning run. Oof.

 STORY TYPE

Did Samson Get His Strength Back?

Mired in a hideous 3-for-27 skid from the last homestand, Lowe shaved his mustache a couple days ago, and has homered in back-to-back days. Coincidence? Hey, every baseball player is at least a little stitious, if not outright superstitious.

In other news, Cade Cavalli exited his rehab start last night after going out to warm up for his third inning of work, a massive red flag for a guy who has been unable to come back from Tommy John surgery that he underwent over two years ago. The official explanation was that Cavalli was fatigued after two long innings and they will know more today, but for the moment at least this is not good.

AD

Wake up with Peet’s Coffee and the Morning Briefing

Peet’s Coffee is crafted for those who crave delicious coffee without the brewing; this versatile blend holds its own in any creation. Silky-smooth and delicious, hot or cold, it takes just one tablespoon and a couple of moments to whip up whatever cup you're craving. Order yours today to take advantage of their limited-time intro price.

 WHAT WE THINK THE NATIONALS FRONT OFFICE IS READING

Speed Reads

📌 Baseball Player Dogs (Fangraphs)

📌 Varsho Makes Amazing Catch In Season Debut (Yahoo!)

📌 Draft Scouting Notes From Law (The Athletic)