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Nationals Fire PBO Mike Rizzo, Manager Dave Martinez

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The Nationals have made an in-season shake-up of their organization, as ESPN’s Jeff Passan reports that president of baseball operations Mike Rizzo and manager Dave Martinez have both been fired.  The Nats have confirmed the news, and announced that assistant GM Mike DeBartolo will be the team’s interim general manager for the remainder of the season.  An interim manager to replace Martinez will be determined tomorrow.

“On behalf of our family and the Washington Nationals organization, I first and foremost want to thank Mike and Davey for their contributions to our franchise and our city.  Our family is eternally grateful for their years of dedication to the organization, including their roles in bringing a World Series trophy to Washington, D.C.” managing principal owner Mark Lerner said in an official statement from the team.  “While we are appreciative of their past successes, the on-field performance has not been where we or our fans expect it to be. This is a pivotal time for our Club, and we believe a fresh approach and new energy is the best course of action for our team moving forward.”

The news comes on the heels of Washington’s 6-4 loss to the Red Sox today, which dropped the Nats to a dismal 37-53 for the season.  Only the White Sox and Rockies have won fewer games than the Nationals, who are on pace for their sixth straight losing season since winning the 2019 World Series.  James Wood and MacKenzie Gore are enjoying breakout seasons and CJ Abrams is delivering big for the second straight year, but virtually the entire rest of the Nationals roster has underachieved in what was supposed more of a step-forward season in the club’s rebuild.

Given this backdrop, it isn’t surprising that Nationals ownership has chosen to make a fresh start, even if the specific timing is a little surprising.  Some contractual language was also likely at play, USA Today’s Bob Nightengale writes that the middle of July loomed as a deadline for the organization to decide whether or not to exercise club options on Rizzo and Martinez for the 2026 season.  It was known that Martinez’s last extension contained a club option for 2026, and while the specific terms of Rizzo’s last extension weren’t publicly revealed, it makes sense that his deal would line up timeline-wise with Martinez’s contract.

DeBartolo has been with the Nationals organization since starting as an intern with the team in 2012, and he worked his way up the management ladder to the AGM position prior to the 2019 season.  While most teams promote from within for interim positions, keeping some continuity in place is particularly important in this case given how the Nationals hold the first overall pick in next weekend’s MLB Draft, plus the club has plenty of important decisions to make on the selling front for the July 31 trade deadline.

Rizzo’s tenure with the Nationals ends just short of 19 years, as he was hired as an assistant GM in July 2006.  Rizzo himself was named to an interim GM role when Jim Bowden resigned as general manager just prior to the start of the 2009 season, and Rizzo was promoted to the full-time GM job that August.  Washington lost 103 games in 2009 in the low point of another rebuild, yet Rizzo overall a successful rebuild and franchise overhaul that turned the Nationals into consistent contenders for much of the next decade.

Bottoming out helped the Nationals land the first overall pick in both the 2009 (Stephen Strasburg) and 2010 (Bryce Harper) drafts, so there’s some irony in Rizzo being fired so close to Washington getting to make another top selection.  Taking Anthony Rendon sixth overall in 2011 added to this new core of talent, though Rizzo and the Nationals already announced their intention to compete a little earlier when Jayson Werth was signed to a seven-year, $126MM free agent deal during the 2010-11 offseason.

This bold move from a last-place team was one of many headline-grabbing transactions Rizzo swung over the years, as the Nationals made more big free agent investments in such players as Max Scherzer and Patrick Corbin.  Trea Turner was a major trade acquisition as a prospect who developed into a star infielder, and Juan Soto’s emergence from international prospect to immediate superstar added to the all-around roster creation that culminated in the 2019 World Series title.  That championship capped off a run of eight straight winning seasons for Washington from 2012-19, and four NL East crowns (though the Nats made it into the 2019 playoffs as a wild card team).

Martinez’s hiring was also a key element in finally getting the Nationals over the top.  The longtime former player and coach was a first-time skipper when he was hired following the 2017 season, and Martinez had big shoes to fill in taking over from Dusty Baker.  It took a while for things to fully click for Martinez, as the Nats were only 82-80 in 2018, and then got off to a 19-31 start in 2019 before turning things around in historic fashion.

Since the 2019 championship, of course, the Nationals have fallen into disrepair.  While the club was willing to let such notables as Harper and Rendon walk, the decision to re-sign Strasburg to a seven-year, $245MM contract proved disastrous, as arm injuries limited Strasburg to only 31 1/3 big league innings over the course of the deal, and forced the right-hander into premature retirement.  Strasburg’s issues proved symbolic for the Nationals’ struggles as a whole, and the club turned into another rebuild period.

Trading Scherzer and Turner to the Dodgers at the 2021 deadline brought Josiah Gray and Keibert Ruiz to Washington, but the 2022 deadline blockbuster deal that sent Soto to the Padres may well have built the foundation of the Nationals’ next era of winning baseball, even if Rizzo and Martinez won’t be present to see it.  The Soto deal brought Wood, Gore, Abrams, Robert Hassell III and Jarlin Susana, all in one fell swoop, which already stands as an incredible haul even with Hassell or Susana yet to show anything at the MLB level.

That single trade aside, however, papered over some of the flaws in the Nationals’ rebuild plan.  The amount of talent coming through the draft and international signing market slowed to a crawl, and Rizzo overhauled his scouting and player developments a few years ago in an attempt to address the problem.  Ruiz was signed to an eight-year, $50MM extension prior to the 2023, yet the catcher hasn’t become the building block the front office had hoped.  Injuries to Gray and Cade Cavalli also hampered the club’s ability to re-establish its rotation depth, as Gore stands as the only clear-cut success story on the pitching front.

It should be noted that this year’s Nationals entered June with a respectable 28-30 record, so it seemed like some hope was the horizon for a potential return to at least the .500 mark, if not wild card contention.  However, an 11-game losing streak led to a 7-19 record in June, and Martinez reportedly upset the clubhouse when he seemingly put the blame for the losing streak on the players rather than the coaching staff.  Martinez now moves on with a 500-622 record to show for his eight-year run as Washington’s skipper.

As noted in my recent Nationals-centric Trade Deadline Outlook piece (for MLBTR Front Office subscribers), it seemed like Washington was likely going to play it safe at this year’s deadline, with a focus just on moving impending veteran free agents.  Today’s news may keep that speculative plan in place, if DeBartolo doesn’t want to rock the boat too much, or if ownership perhaps wants to save any bigger-picture decisions for the next president of baseball ops — whether DeBaroto himself in a promotion, or perhaps a new voice from outside the organization.

Whomever takes over the Nationals’ front office will inherit some tremendous young talents, since some of the heavy lifting has already been done with Wood, Abrams, and Gore in place for at least the next two seasons (Gore is a free agent after the 2027 campaign).  It could be that the hiring of a new top executive may extend the rebuild a little further if a new PBO wants to again shuffle the front office staff around and bring in some fresh blood, which may not be what Washington fans want to hear after six years of losing baseball.  There is also the lingering question of when the Lerner family is willing to start increasing the Nats’ payroll, or perhaps if the Lerners may still be considering a sale of the team after spending almost two years exploring the market.

Nationals Recall Shinnosuke Ogasawara For MLB Debut

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The Nationals announced this morning that they’ve recalled left-hander Shinnosuke Ogasawara. Ryan Loutos was optioned to Triple-A to make room for Ogasawara, who is slated to make his MLB debut when he starts against the Red Sox later today, on the active roster. Ogasawara’s impending debut was first reported by the Japanese outlet Sponichi Annex.

Ogasawara, 27, signed a two-year deal worth $3.5MM during the offseason. He did not make the club’s starting rotation out of Spring Training and was optioned to the minor leagues, where he made just three starts before being sidelined by an oblique injury. Ogasawara spent two months on the shelf before beginning a rehab assignment in rookie ball last month. Since then, he’s advanced to the High-A level where he struck out five in four innings of work while surrendering two runs. Despite his most recent start coming in the lower minors, the Nationals clearly feel he’s ready to step into the club’s rotation to help fill in for the injured Trevor Williams, who was sidelined by an elbow sprain on Friday.

Prior to joining the Nationals, Ogasawara had spent nine seasons pitching for Nippon Professional Baseball’s Chunichi Dragons. His rookie season as an 18-year-old in 2016 was impressive as he posted a 3.36 ERA across 15 starts in Japan’s Central League, but he struggled at the highest level of NPB play over the next few seasons. He started to turn things back around in 2021, however, and from then on he posted ERAs of 3.64, 2.72, 3.59, and 3.12 across his final four years in NPB.

Impressive as that run prevention in recent years may be, there are some concerns. Ogasawara has struck out just 18.9% of batters faced during his time in NPB, and that’s dropped even lower in recent years as he posted a strikeout rate of just 13.6% for the Dragons last season. Among qualified starters this year in MLB, Ogasawara’s career figure in NPB would place him in the bottom 20 in terms of strikeout rate while his 2024 figure would place him second from the bottom ahead of only Padres righty Randy Vasquez. Vasquez has a 3.79 ERA this year in 18 starts despite shoddy peripherals, so it’s certainly not impossible to find success at the big league level with a low strikeout rate. With that said, it’s clearly an uphill battle to be a quality big league starter with that lack of strikeout stuff. The lefty’s 3.6% walk rate in 2024 should help matters, though, and it’s at least worth nothing that Ogasawara has actually struck out 24% of his opponents in the minor leagues this year.

Making room for Ogasawara on the active roster is Loutos, who was plucked off waivers from the Dodgers earlier this year but has surrendered ten runs (eight earned) in 7 1/3 innings of work for the Nationals across eight appearances where he’s walked (eight) more batters than he’s struck out (six). Loutos will return to Triple-A and continue serving as an optionable depth piece for the Nationals to call on when they need an extra arm for the bullpen.

Nationals Reinstate Mason Thompson From 60-Day IL

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The Nationals announced this afternoon that they’ve activated right-hander Mason Thompson from the 60-day injured list. Right-hander Zach Brzykcy was optioned to Triple-A to make room for Thompson on the active roster, while right-hander Derek Law was transferred to the 60-day IL to create a 40-man roster spot for Thompson.

Thompson, 27, last pitched in the majors back in 2023. A third-round pick by the Padres back in 2016, he made his big league debut in San Diego during the 2021 season but made just four appearances with the team before being traded to the Nationals in exchange for veteran righty Daniel Hudson at the 2021 trade deadline. Since then, he’s pitched parts of three seasons in a Nationals uniform. He’s generally been a league average reliever during his time with Washington, posting a 4.57 ERA (91 ERA+) with a 4.43 FIP in his 100 1/3 innings of work for the club.

The righty was at his best in 2022, when he posted a sterling 2.92 ERA in 24 2/3 innings of work. With that being said, that dominant performance came across a sample of just 24 2/3 innings of work and saw him post a strikeout rate of just 14.9%. 2023 saw his strikeout rate creep back up to 18.3%, but his ground ball rate dropped from 53.3% to 50.6% as his ERA ballooned up to 5.50. He figured to once again be part of the Nationals bullpen mix last year despite those lackluster numbers, but he underwent Tommy John surgery last March and has been sidelined ever since. He began rehabbing in mid-June and was promoted to Triple-A earlier this week, where he made two scoreless appearances before rejoining the Nats.

Kyle Finnegan is locked in as the club’s closer, but the team has few other solid bullpen options and a strong performance from Thompson could allow him to work his way into the club’s late-inning mix going forward. Departing the roster to make room for Thompson is Brzykcy, who made his MLB debut last year and has a 7.40 ERA in 20 2/3 innings of work this year. He’ll remain as optionable depth at Triple-A for the Nats going forward. As for Law, the right-hander has been sidelined all season due to forearm inflammation. Things may have taken a turn for the worse recently, however, as MASN’s Mark Zuckerman writes that Law has been dogged by frequent setbacks throughout his rehab and is headed for an MRI exam to make sure the injury hasn’t worsened since he was initially placed on the shelf. Even if the MRI doesn’t reveal structural damage, Zuckerman writes that Law could still be sidelined for quite some time due to the issue.

Nationals Place Trevor Williams On Injured List With Elbow Sprain

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The Nationals announced a series of roster moves this morning, headlined by their placement of right-hander Trevor Williams on the 15-day injured list due to a right elbow sprain. Right-hander Ryan Loutos was recalled to the MLB roster to replace Williams. In an additional move, Washington has activated catcher Keibert Ruiz from the 7-day concussion-related injured list and optioned catcher Drew Millas to Triple-A.

Williams, 33, has been part of the Nationals’ rotation all year but struggled badly with his results. The righty is sporting a 6.21 ERA across 17 starts and 82 2/3 innings this year. That’s the third-worst figure in baseball among pitchers with at least 80 innings of work this year. Brutal as the results have been, it’s perhaps worth noting that Williams has gotten quite unlucky according to the underlying metrics. His .347 BABIP allowed is nearly fifty points higher than his career mark, and a 61.6% strand rate suggests he’s been the victim of poor sequencing as well. Williams’s 4.08 FIP and 4.45 FIP paint him as a roughly average fifth starter based on his performance this year, despite the rough run prevention numbers.

In terms of strikeout and walk rate, Williams hasn’t been all that different than 2024. Last year saw him pitch to a dazzling 2.03 ERA in 66 2/3 innings, but his results then were much better than the metrics suggested they should have been. Taken together, Williams’s strong but abbreviated 2024 and his brutal first half this year paint a picture of a mid-to-back of the rotation arm: 30 starts, a 4.34 ERA, a 3.51 FIP, and a 4.23 SIERA. Perhaps there would’ve been a pitching-needy club or two who would have viewed Williams as a decent innings-eating arm to bet on for a low-cost flier this summer, but today’s injury news will throw a wrench into that possibility.

The exact details surrounding Williams’s injury are not yet known, but any injury involving a pitcher’s elbow is concerning and will typically be treated with an abundance of caution to avoid further damage. Williams figures to be out for several weeks at the very least and could miss much longer than that. A clearer timeline for his return to action figures to be available with time, but Mark Zuckerman of MASN reports that Williams himself suggested that the injury is “comparable” to the flexor strain that cost him more than three months last year. A similar timeline for his recovery this time around would likely put an end to his 2025 campaign.

For the time being, Williams will be replaced on the roster by Loutos. The righty was plucked off waivers from the Dodgers earlier this year but has surrendered eight runs (six earned) in just 4 1/3 innings during his time in a Nationals uniform. He’ll help eat innings for now, but the club will need to replace Williams in the rotation eventually. Cade Cavalli and Shinnosuke Ogasawara are both on the 40-man roster and could be called upon, though Cavalli has struggled at Triple-A this year while Ogasawara is currently pitching at High-A as he works his way back from an injury.

As for Ruiz, the catcher was placed on the 10-day IL after being struck by a foul ball while in the dugout on June 24, but was later moved to the concussion-related IL after experiencing headaches. He figures to resume getting the lion’s share of playing time behind the plate going forward, with Riley Adams serving as his backup. The eight-year, $50MM extension the Nats signed Ruiz to prior to the 2023 season hasn’t worked out so far, and he’s hitting just .247/.278/.320 in 66 games this year. Even so, the former top prospect is still just 26 years old and it’s not outside the realm of possibility that his numbers could improve given how common it is for catchers to be relatively late bloomers at the big league level.

Trade Deadline Outlook: Washington Nationals

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MLBTR's new team-by-team deadline preview series (available to Front Office subscribers) continues with a look at the Nationals, who are on pace for their sixth consecutive losing season.  The Nats were hanging in there with a 28-30 record at May's end, but an 11-game losing streak led to a brutal 7-19 record in June, all but officially ending Washington's hopes of an end to its lengthy rebuild process.  While the team's few cornerstone players are breaking out, pretty much the rest of the roster has underachieved, leaving president of baseball operations Mike Rizzo selling once more heading into the July 31 deadline.

Record: 35-50 (0.1% playoff probability, per FanGraphs)

Sell Mode

Impending free agents: Kyle Finnegan, Michael Soroka, Josh Bell, Amed Rosario, Andrew Chafin, Paul DeJong, Derek Law

Finnegan was an All-Star in 2024 and drew attention at last year's trade deadline, though he somewhat surprisingly ended up staying put.  It could be that the Nationals had too high an asking price, or teams had doubts about Finnegan's shaky advanced metrics, or perhaps a combination of both factors ended up keeping Finnegan in the District for the remainder of 2024.  As it happened, Finnegan's performance went south in the second half, and the Nats cut him last winter by non-tendering the reliever instead of a projected $8.6MM arbitration salary.  However, the club shaved some cash off that number by then re-signing Finnegan to a one-year, $6MM deal (with $4MM in deferrals).

Now in his sixth season in D.C., Finnegan has again been pretty solid at the back of the Nats' pen, securing 18 of 23 save opportunities and posting a 2.61 ERA over 31 innings.  Finnegan doesn't fit the typical closer model with his below-average strikeout rates, and while his 96.1mph fastball velocity this season is still impressive, it is also notably slower than his 97.2mph average velo from 2024.  On the plus side, Finnegan's hard-hit ball rate is a strong 37.1% --- a massive turn-around considering few pitchers in the entire sport allowed more hard contact than he did over the 2022-24 seasons.

Washington will surely get more calls about Finnegan this July, and the Nationals may feel more compelled to swing a deal with him just a few months removed from free agency.  It isn't a reach to view Finnegan as a fit on almost any roster, given his low remaining salary, how many contenders need bullpen help, and his experience in high-leverage situations.  The Cubs reportedly had interest in Finnegan this past winter and the Yankees, Phillies, and Dodgers were all linked to Finnegan's market prior to last season's trade deadline, so these teams in particular stand out as potential candidates.

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Nationals Promote Andry Lara For MLB Debut

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The Nationals announced today that right-hander Andry Lara has been recalled to serve as the 27th man for today’s doubleheader. He will be making his major league debut as soon as he gets into a game.

Though the 22-year-old is still looking for his major league debut, it’s not his first time in the majors. The Nats also recalled him to serve as the 27th man for a doubleheader on April 20th, but he didn’t get into either contest that day and was sent right back down to the minors.

It seems more likely that he will be needed this time. In the first contest today, starter Trevor Williams allowed six runs in the first inning, requiring 54 pitches to get through the frame. With still most of that game to go and another contest after that, it seems like Lara will be needed at some point.

Lara was an international signing out of Venezuela. He had a breakout season in 2024, tossing 134 2/3 innings over 25 starts, mostly at the Double-A level. He had a 3.34 earned run average on the year, as well as a 24.3% strikeout rate and 8.1% walk rate.

The Nats didn’t want to lose him in the most recent Rule 5 draft, so they added him to the 40-man in November. That’s why he has been called upon twice for these doubleheaders. Apart from that, he has mostly been hurt. He has only tossed 16 1/3 minor league innings on the year with a 7.71 ERA.

In the long run, Lara could be rotation depth or eventually moved to the bullpen. For today, he should be able to make his debut in a long relief role. He has mostly been throwing three to four innings in his outings this year, putting him in position to soak up some frames for the Nats today.

Photo courtesy of Sam Navarro, Imagn Images

Poll: NL Cy Young Check-In

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While days off and postponements leave clubs around the league without a uniform number of games played, one of the games in this week’s slate will represent the halfway point in the season for every team across MLB. Earlier this week, we checked in on the MVP race in both the American League and the National League as players around the game gear up for the second half. Those races are dominated by position players, so today we’ll turn our attention more firmly towards the pitchers. Who are the frontrunners for the Cy Young Award in both leagues? Yesterday’s poll covered the AL, where 45.5% of voters expect southpaw Tarik Skubal to repeat as the Cy Young Award winner. Today, our focus is on the NL. A look at some of the top candidates:

Paul Skenes

After a dominant debut season where he won the NL Rookie of the Year award and finished third in Cy Young voting, it shouldn’t register as much of a surprise that Skenes is one of the favorites for the award in his sophomore season as a big leaguer. The right-hander has an NL-best 2.12 ERA in 106 innings of work through 17 starts with strong peripherals to match. He’s striking out 26.9% of his opponents, walking 7.1%, and is doing extremely well in terms of contact management with a 48.9% ground ball rate and a barrel rate of just 4.9%. It’s a strong collection of numbers for any player, much less a 23-year-old in just his second MLB season.

Even so, Skenes is hardly a slam dunk for the award. His strikeout rate, walk rate, and ground ball rate are all actually worse than they were in his rookie campaign. His 3.28 SIERA is just eighth in the NL, suggesting that there are other contenders for the award who are better set up to excel in the second half of the season than he is. Aside from that, some more traditional voters could look at Skenes’s 4-7 record on a Pirates team that could flirt with a 100-loss campaign this year and hold it against the young star relative to other hurlers in the race who pitch for contenders.

Logan Webb

When looking at the game’s aces, it can be argued that none is more underappreciated than right-hander Logan Webb. He’s doing what he can to change that perception of him with a phenomenal season in his age-28 campaign, however. Webb’s 2.52 ERA lags behind that of Skenes, but he makes up for it in virtually every other category. His 107 1/3 innings of work across 17 starts leads the NL, and his 2.24 FIP is also good for the best in the senior circuit. While his 53.3% ground ball rate would be the lowest he’s posted in a full season if maintained through the end of the year, it’s still a well above average figure.

He’s made up for that decline in grounders by striking out more batters than ever before with a 27.7% clip that surpasses even Skenes, and he’s done it while maintaining a tidy 5.3% walk rate. There are very few red flags in Webb’s profile this year, and perhaps the biggest question is if a player who entered the year with a career 22.0% strikeout rate who has made only token improvements to his low-90s fastball in terms of velocity this year can sustain such a large spike in strikeouts. After finishing as the runner-up for the Cy Young Award in 2023 and sixth last season, could 2025 be Webb’s year to shine?

Zack Wheeler

No list of potential Cy Young candidates in the NL has been complete without Wheeler since he arrived in Philadelphia, and this year is no exception. The 35-year-old may have recently indicated that he’ll retire following the expiration of his current contract in 2027, but he’s shown no signs whatsoever of slowing down on the mound. Across 99 innings of work and 16 starts this year, Wheeler’s numbers look like they have a chance to be better than they’ve ever been come the end of the year.

His 2.55 ERA would be the best of his career by a slim margin after he posted a 2.57 figure last season, and his eye-popping 32.9% strikeout rate is not only nearly eight points better than his career mark, but the highest in all of baseball among qualified starters this year. His 2.70 SIERA is also the best in the NL, edging out Webb by just eight points, and he has a strong chance to eclipse 200 innings pitched for the third time in his career. Wheeler has finished second for the Cy Young twice before, in both 2021 and 2024. This year could be his best opportunity to secure the award before his planned retirement two seasons from now.

MacKenzie Gore

Easily the most surprising entrant into the list of top candidates for the Cy Young, Gore was once the sport’s consensus top pitching prospect but entered the 2025 season with a fairly pedestrian 4.20 ERA across parts of three seasons in the majors. He’s broken out in a big way as the Nationals’ ace this year, however, with a 3.09 ERA and 2.91 FIP in 99 innings of work across 17 starts. His 31.8% strikeout rate is second only to Wheeler in the NL, and that overpowering stuff is enough to leave him with a strong 2.99 SIERA that largely supports his performance to this point in the season.

Impressive as he’s been, however, the 26-year-old also has much clearer flaws than the other contenders on this list. Like Skenes, Gore’s 3-8 record on a club with little hope of contending in 2025 could be a hard sell for the sport’s most traditional voters. There are also fair questions about how certain Gore is to keep up his performance in the second half. He’s mostly a fly ball pitcher, and that profile along with his 9.0% barrel rate allowed leave him susceptible to the long ball. His 7.4% walk rate is the highest among the top contenders for the Cy Young this year, as well. Perhaps most concerning of all is his performance down the stretch in 2024. After carrying a 3.47 ERA and 3.00 FIP through July 1 last year, Gore wore down in the second half and posted a 4.40 ERA with a 4.17 FIP across his final 15 starts. Will he be able to sustain his performance this year?

Other Options

While the four hurlers mentioned above are the top candidates, they certainly aren’t the only arms worthy of consideration. Chris Sale is the reigning Cy Young winner in the NL and would be firmly in contention for the award once again if not for a recent rib cage injury that figures to sideline him indefinitely. Jesus Luzardo has elite peripheral numbers but recently surrendered 20 runs in 5 2/3 innings across two appearances that could knock him out of contention for the award by themselves. Cristopher Sanchez and former Cy Young award winner Robbie Ray are both in the midst of excellent seasons, but are overshadowed within their own rotations by Wheeler and Webb respectively. Yoshinobu Yamamoto’s 2.61 ERA is very impressive, but his less-than-elite peripherals and lack of volume leave him a step behind the other contenders.

Sale’s injury sets this race apart from the AL Cy Young and both of the MVP races by significantly diminishing the chances of a repeat. With what appears to be a fairly wide-open field, who do MLBTR readers expect to come out on top? Have your say in the poll below:

Poll: NL MVP Race Check-In

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While days off and postponements leave clubs around the league without a uniform number of games played, one of the games in this week’s slate will represent the halfway point in the season for every team across MLB. Who are the frontrunners to claim the MVP Award this offseason? MLBTR’s look at the American League saw Aaron Judge come away with 55% of the vote, and today we’ll be checking out the National League:

Shohei Ohtani

The reigning NL MVP hasn’t slowed down much after his 50-50 2024 campaign. Ohtani is slashing an incredible .289/.388/.627 (174 wRC+) through 78 games this year, with 27 home runs and 11 steals during that time. His status as a DH holds him back somewhat in terms of WAR, but he’s still second in the NL among hitters according to Fangraphs. He leads the league in homers and slugging percentage and clocks in within the top five in terms of on-base percentage. Ohtani’s expected numbers are quite good as well, as his .435 xwOBA is actually better than his wOBA and trails only Juan Soto among NL hitters. Of course, the real ace in the hole for Ohtani is the fact that he’s returning to pitching this year. He’s only thrown two innings so far, but his stuff has looked good in those abbreviated outings and he figures to only ramp up the volume as the season progresses.

Ohtani’s unicorn status as the only true two-way player in the sport will likely make him a frontrunner for the MVP Award every season until he either starts facing significant decline or retires from pitching. That said, he does not currently hold sole possession of the NL lead for fWAR even when combining his pitching and hitting numbers this year. His offensive numbers have not been quite as robust as they were last year, and he notably is not stealing bases anywhere near as frequently as he did when he was the second most valuable baserunner in the NL last season. For a player who’s won an MVP award in three of the last four seasons, voter fatigue can be a consideration as well; just ask Ohtani’s former teammate Mike Trout about the 2015 season. Will those potential weak spots be enough to let another player overcome him?

Pete Crow-Armstrong

The dynamic 23-year-old’s breakout has been one of the biggest stories in the entire sport this year. Despite entering the 2025 season as a career 82 wRC+ hitter across parts of two seasons in the majors, Crow-Armstrong has slashed .273/.310/.563 (140 wRC+) across 78 games. That’s a very low on-base percentage for an MVP candidate, but Crow-Armstrong makes up for that flaw by being elite in every other regard. He’s fifth in the NL with 21 home runs, his 24 stolen bases are second only to Oneil Cruz, and he’s one of the most valuable defenders in the entire sport with +10 Outs Above Average. Taken together, it’s enough to give Crow-Armstrong a 4.0 fWAR figure that leads the league among hitters, and is tied with Ohtani when the latter’s work on the mound is factored in.

For those less statistically inclined, the fact that his breakout has been key to the Cubs’ ascent from mediocrity to become one of the league’s heavyweights could hold value with voters who differentiate between the “most valuable” player in the league and the “best” player in the league. Even with all of that going for him, it’s hard to consider Crow-Armstrong the favorite. Ohtani’s star power and uniqueness as a two-way player is difficult to match, and if he’s able to pitch effectively throughout the second half, it will be very difficult for Crow-Armstrong to not fall behind on the WAR leaderboard. What’s more, advanced metrics are somewhat skeptical of his offensive performance this year, as his .356 xwOBA is 16 points lower than his actual wOBA of .372. Crow-Armstrong’s plate discipline issues go beyond his anemic walk rate; he swings more often than any qualified hitter in baseball but has a below-average contact rate both overall and more specifically on pitches within the strike zone.

James Wood

He’s lagging behind both Ohtani and Crow-Armstrong at this point, but Wood has been every bit the phenom the Nationals hoped he would be when acquiring him as part of the Juan Soto trade back in 2022. He’s hitting .281/.377/.561 (158 wRC+) in 80 games to go along with nine steals and solid defense in left field. His underlying offensive metrics are also immaculate, with top of the scale expected numbers, elite bat speed, and a 99th percentile barrel rate. It’s an exciting offensive performance, particularly from a player who’s just 22 years old. Some MVP voters could also hold the fact that Wood and his Nationals are not contenders against the budding young star.

Fernando Tatis Jr.

Tatis is a familiar face in the NL MVP race, as he finished fourth for the award in 2020 before coming in third the following year. Injuries, a PED suspension, and a move from shortstop to right field have all changed the way Tatis is viewed around the league in the years since. That hasn’t stopped him from remaining a force within the Padres lineup, and this year he’s been one of the better all-around players in the NL. He’s slashing .264/.352/.459 (129 wRC+) with 15 homers and 15 steals, and his defensive value is second only to Crow-Armstrong among NL outfielders. Tatis also benefits from strong underlying numbers; his .390 xwOBA is 37 points higher than his .353 wOBA, and if he can play closer to those expected numbers in the second half, he could push his way up to the top of some ballots.

Other Options

While Ohtani and Crow-Armstrong appear to be the clear frontrunners at this point, Wood and Tatis aren’t the only potential challengers. Corbin Carroll is in the midst of a sensational season and was right there in the mix with the top two until news a wrist fracture yesterday left it uncertain when he’ll take the field next. Trea Turner and Kyle Tucker have both been excellent and could find themselves more firmly in this conversation if things break right in the second half. Will Smith is one of the league’s top hitters this year with a 170 wRC+ made all the more impressive by his status as a regular catcher, but he’s only played in 63 games so far.

Juan Soto’s first half has been somewhat disappointing by his standards (147 wRC+), but he’s on an absolute tear right now and his .458 xwOBA is right in line with last year’s monster performance. Elly De La Cruz is flirting with pace for a 40-40 season but hasn’t been nearly as rangy at shortstop this season in the eyes of defensive metrics, which has weighed him down a bit. He could still easily emerge as a candidate with a big second half. Paul Skenes, Logan Webb, and Zack Wheeler are all in the midst of dominant seasons on the mound, but it’s somewhat rare for a pitcher to win the MVP award.

Who do you think will ultimately come out on top in NL MVP voting? Will Ohtani reign supreme once again, or could another challenger like Crow-Armstrong step up to claim the trophy? Have your say in the poll below:

Nationals Outright Juan Yepez

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The Nationals announced that first baseman Juan Yepez has cleared outright waivers and been assigned to Triple-A Rochester. He was removed from the 40-man roster earlier this week when the Nats designated him for assignment.

Yepez has less than three years of major league service time and this is his first career outright. That means he does not have the right to elect free agency. He will therefore play for the Red Wings and look to earn his way back to the big leagues.

He has some decent big league work on his track record, including a stint with the Nats last year. He signed a minor league deal with Washington going into 2024 and got called up in July. He eventually hit .283/.335/.429 for a 113 wRC+ in 249 plate appearances. When combined with his previous work with the Cardinals, he has a .258/.307/.423 line and 103 wRC+ in 588 plate appearances.

But this year has been a challenge. The Nats acquired Nathaniel Lowe and signed Josh Bell in the offseason, pushing Yepez down to Triple-A, where has hit .199/.273/.301 for a wRC+ of 56. That performance got him bumped off the roster and through the waiver wire.

Both Bell and Lowe will be trade candidates in the coming weeks, with the Nats lined up as clear sellers. Bell is an impending free agent. Lowe can be retained for 2026 via arbitration but is trending towards a non-tender at this point. He’s already making $10.3MM and is having a subpar season at the plate. Perhaps those two will be moved and more playing time will be opened up at first base and as the designated hitter, though Yepez would have to perform better in order to take advantage of that.

Photo courtesy of Daniel Kucin Jr., Imagn Images

Nats GM On Martinez, Losing Streak, Ruiz, Cavalli

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Nationals general manager Mike Rizzo made his weekly appearance on the Sports Junkies show on 106.7 FM The Fan this morning and discussed a wide range of topics, beginning (and focusing most heavily) on recent comments from his manager Davey Martinez and the team’s 10-game losing streak (audio link to full show, with Rizzo’s interview commencing around the 2 hour, 24 minute mark). He also touched on key differences between the 2019 Nats’ early struggles and the current team’s struggles, things he’d like to see from catcher Keibert Ruiz, and on former top prospect Cade Cavalli’s progress in the minors. It’s a broad-reaching interview full of lengthy and candid answers that Nats fans, in particular, will want to check out in full.

Martinez found himself at the center of some controversy in recent days, in large part due to contradictory statements on back-to-back days over the weekend. Speaking with the Nationals beat on Saturday, Martinez adamantly defended his coaching staff before suggesting that the onus for turning around amid such a lengthy losing streak falls to the players. The next day, Martinez suggested he was merely voicing support for his coaching staff and claimed, confoundingly, that he’d never mentioned his players. Per Andrew Golden of the Washington Post, Martinez’s lack of accountability for his comments left some players “pissed [off].”

Via the Post’s Spencer Nusbaum, Martinez stated the following on Saturday:

“Sometimes they got to go out there and they got to play the game. It’s always been about the players. Always. I played this game a long time. Never once have I blamed a coach for anything. [As players], we worked our asses off to get better. They gave us information, and we used it. These guys understand what the game is. … Sometimes you got to put the onus on the players. They got to go out there, and they got to play the game — and play the game the right way. We can’t hit for them. We can’t catch the balls for them. We can’t pitch for them. We can’t throw strikes for them. They got to do that.”

A day later, when asked about his comments and pressed further who he was referencing if not his players, he replied:

“Was never about them, right? I never mentioned anything about players, right? I appreciate those players. I played. I understand how hard this game is. They know that. So it’s a difficult game. These guys are out there trying hard. We got to do the little things. As I talked about, we start doing little things, we’ll start winning some of these games.”

Certainly, Martinez is in an unenviable spot. His team is mired in its worst losing streak since dropping a dozen straight games back in 2008, under a different manager, coaching staff and front office. Balancing the desire to voice support for his coaching staff while rallying his players and holding everyone accountable for the team’s struggles — all while facing mounting speculation about your own job security — is a tough task.

At the same time, it’s understandable if some players were irked — not necessarily even by being called out but by Martinez’s apparent unwillingness to take ownership of those comments just 24 hours later. The longtime Nats skipper, who won a World Series there in 2019, made clear Sunday that he’d “talked to a lot of [his players]” already and suggested there were no issues. Golden’s subsequent reporting, which cited “multiple” anonymous sources familiar with the situation, suggests otherwise. It’s possible — if not likely — that the set of comments hit different players differently. Some likely had an easier time shrugging things off than others.

There’s been plenty of speculation about Martinez, who’s reportedly in the final guaranteed year of his contract (although the Nats hold a 2026 option over him as well). Rizzo noted that if given the chance to do it again, Martinez “would have gotten his point across — which was ’support the coaches’ — in a smoother or better way that didn’t ruffle the feathers of the fan base.”

However, the GM opined that the story took on more life among fans and the media than in the clubhouse itself. Rizzo stated that he doesn’t “see any unrest or unhappiness” among his players and added that Martinez talked things over with the players following his comments. More broadly, he gave Martinez a rather resounding vote of confidence.

“Dave Martinez is as player-friendly a manager as I’ve ever had. He and Dusty Baker, to me, run the clubhouse like no one else I’ve ever had in my career. … This guy does 500, 600 interviews a year; he does two a day — pre-game, post-game, every time. He got caught in a frustrating, angry moment and kind of lashed out. I think it was out of frustration. Here’s my take on that situation. There’s onus on the players. There’s onus on the coaches. There’s onus on the manager, and there’s a great onus on the general manager to do a better job.

“…To me, Davey is the same manager in the clubhouse when there’s no cameras and there’s no media in the room. He’s the same guy he was in that Marlins series [this weekend] as he was on Oct. 30, 2019. Same guy.”

It’s clear based on Rizzo’s comments today that the Nationals’ 2019 World Series victory carries plenty of weight in his regard for Martinez — understandably so. The GM noted that at the time of Washington’s 19-31 start in 2019, there were also calls for Martinez’s job. While acknowledging and empathizing with the frustration the fan base feels, he stressed that it’s his job to take a “big picture” look and keep in mind the “entirety of a season” that still has more than three months remaining.

“My job as the leader of the organization is that when things are at their craziest and most stressful, I have to be at my calmest and my best,” said Rizzo. “When things are at their worst, I have to be at my best. That’s my message that I gave to our coaching staff the other day.”

Rizzo repeatedly dismissed the notion that there was pressure from ownership to make personnel changes in the front office or dugout. He spoke at length about the differences between the 2019 Nats — a veteran-laden team that engineered one of the most remarkable turnarounds in recent MLB history — and the 2025 Nats, a young team where the average level of major league service time per player isn’t even three years. Through it all, he maintained confidence in his skipper and continued to place blame back on himself.

“[Martinez] has proven through trials and tribulations that he can handle a roster. He can handle a veteran-laden team, and now he’s developing at the big league level. My track record is, I have fired managers midseason, I’ve fired managers after the season, I’ve fired coaches midseason, I’ve fired coaches after the season. We’re all being evaluated. We’ve all got to look ourselves in the mirror. We’re at a point right now where we’re moving forward the development of these young kids. I think Davey still has the pulse of the clubhouse. He’s a great clubhouse presence. He’s a calming clubhouse presence.

I’m responsible with everything that goes on, the good and the bad, the 10-game losing streak — that’s my team that I put out there. I take responsibility for the successes and the failures of this franchise, and I think that’s what leaders do.”

Turning to more specific issues with the roster, Rizzo was asked about catcher Keibert Ruiz’s declining defensive grades since signing his eight-year, $50MM contract extension. The GM made no secret that he feels his catcher “needs to get back to where he was,” plainly opining that Ruiz “was a better catcher, thrower and blocker” earlier in his career. Rizzo called catcher a “beatdown position” that takes a physical toll on any player and suggested that Ruiz is feeling some of those effects.

Defensive metrics bear that out. Ruiz, 27 next month, drew strong defensive marks from scouts as a prospect and posted quality numbers early on in the majors. In 2022, his first full season in the majors, the former top prospect posted a 28.2% caught-stealing rate that checked in four percentage points better than average and drew positive blocking grades from Statcast. His framing drew below-average but not egregiously poor marks. For a then-23-year-old catcher who’d slashed .255/.315/.373 (94 wRC+) in his career — all at a time when most young catchers are still in the minors — it was a nice start.

Things have subsequently deteriorated, with Ruiz hitting .241/.286/.374 since. He showed more power in 2023-24, but in 2025 Ruiz has just two homers, a .252/.286/.322 batting line (71 wRC+) and dramatically worse defensive grades. Dating back to Opening Day 2023, Ruiz has -18 Defensive Runs Saved and a -36 Fielding Run Value from Statcast. He led the league in stolen bases allowed in 2023 and is doing so again in 2025 — although he also leads the NL in total runners thrown out this year (in part because teams seem so willing to run on him). Rizzo expressed optimism that an offensive turnaround was nigh, pointing to the fact that Ruiz has typically been a much better performer in the season’s second half.

Again, data bears that out, but it’ll be interesting to see how the organization’s valuation of Ruiz changes if his struggles at the plate continue — particularly with his defensive regression. He’s still signed through 2030, but not at such a significant annual rate that they can’t make a change if they feel such a move is warranted.

On young righty Cade Cavalli, who’s pitching in Triple-A and has completed his rehab from 2023 Tommy John surgery, Rizzo suggested the goal is to get the former top prospect to the point where he can consistently contribute five or six innings at a time in the majors. The 26-year-old boasts a 2.30 ERA and 28.3% strikeout rate over his past six starts but has thrown just 27 1/3 innings in that time (less than 4 2/3 innings per outing). Presumably, Cavalli will get a look back in the majors later this summer, but after he pitched just 8 1/3 innings total in 2023-24, the Nats seem to be treading lightly. Cavalli tossed 79 pitches in his most recent start, and that represents his most in any game this year.

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