Good Morning Washington Nationals Fans,

Here are the latest headlines and analyses around the Washington Nationals and Major League Baseball for today, December 29, 2023.

Welcome to the Morning Briefing. I hope you all enjoyed the first half of these winter holidays and are prepped for the New Year.

Leading today’s Morning Briefing: Nats still in pursuit of a power bat

A few days ago, Talk Nats reported that the Nationals are in pursuit of a left-handed power bat to round out their lineup. That makes sense, as the Nationals are very right-handed heavy at the moment, with CJ Abrams, Keibert Ruiz (switch-hitter), and Luis García being the only players who take at-bats from the left side. Pursuing a power bat makes even more sense, as the Nationals only had six players put up above-average power numbers in 2023. Jeimer Candelario has already signed with the Reds, and I doubt the Nationals carry both Riley Adams and Drew Millas on their Opening Day roster, which just leaves Abrams, Lane Thomas, and Stone Garrett as their only everyday power bats.

The issue then becomes, where does this lefty bat play? Jessica Camerto of MLB.com suggests that the Nationals front office is focusing on a first baseman or designated hitter. The free agent left-handed hitters that fit that mold are Ji Man Choi, Brandon Belt, Joey Gallo, Mike Ford, Joc Pederson, Michael Brantley, David Peralta, Matt Carpenter, Joey Votto, Daniel Vogelbach, and Cody Bellinger, with Carlos Santana and Aaron Hicks qualifying as switch hitters.

While there are certainly some solid players on this list, almost all come with some sort of major question mark, and many aren’t a guaranteed improvement over Dominic Smith.

I know I am not the first person to say this, and I certainly will not be the last, but forcing yourself into a mold like this with the current state of affairs does not feel like the best idea. As I said above, the Nationals have three players who will be in the lineup close to every day who had an above-average isolated slugging (slugging percentage minus batting average). Shouldn’t the Nationals pursue a power bat of any kind?

Sure, putting Cody Bellinger in the middle of the Nationals lineup would make it a whole lot better, but if you don’t get him, is someone like Pederson, Brantley, or Santana a whole lot better than Jorge Soler?

And it’s not like the Nationals only have right-handed bats coming up through the minors. They have James Wood! The player with quite literally the best power tool in all of the minors!

But then again I am a giant optimist on Wood and Dylan Crews. I think the Nationals have a decent offense if they run out a lineup that in no particular order is CJ Abrams, Lane Thomas, Keibert Ruiz, Stone Garrett, Joey Meneses, James Wood, Dylan Crews, Luis García, Nick Senzel, and let Ildemaro Vargas and Jacob Young come in against lefties. If we are dead set on adding a bat, Carlos Santana, a fastball masher and 99th-percentile clubhouse guy, is probably the best fit.

No matter what, I am excited to see what the rest of the offseason and 2024 brings.

Click here for the latest off-season headlines, rumors, trades, and more.

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ICYMI: Latest articles on the Nats Report

Even though it is the offseason, we have been extremely busy producing a lot of great content here on the Nats Report. Here are just a couple of the articles that we have published recently that you might have missed:

• Podcast: In the Clubhouse (2024 Outlook)
• How does Dylan Floro’s signing with the Nationals impact the team’s 2024 outlook?
• Perspective: Juan Soto to Nats isn’t as Crazy as you Think.
• Perspective: When is Enough, Enough?
• Exploring the Impact of the Nationals Outfield on the Future

We are working on a lot of great Nationals-themed content all off-season so make sure that you are following us on all the major social media channels for the latest.

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