RelieverJacob Barnes and starting pitcherPatrick Corbin became free agents after the2024 World Series.[4] They were soon joined in free agency by first basemanJoey Gallo, as the Nationals declined their end of a mutual option for the 2025 season,[5] as well as first basemanJoey Meneses, utilitymanIldemaro Vargas, and relieverMichael Rucker, whom the Nationals outrighted from the 40-man roster.[6] Additionally, the Nationals lost starting pitcherThaddeus Ward to theBaltimore Orioles on a waiver claim on November 4. Ward did not appear in a game for the Nationals in 2024, after spending the2023 season on Washington's roster as aRule 5 draft pick.[7] Facing decisions on whether to extend new contract offers for the 2025 season to players eligible for arbitration, Washington declined to tender contracts to two longtime Nationals relievers: closerKyle Finnegan and former closerTanner Rainey.[8] Starting pitcherTrevor Williams tested free agency after spending the last two seasons with the Nationals, but he signed another two-year deal on December 31, 2024, to stay in Washington.[9] Finnegan also returned to the Nationals, belatedly accepting the reported $6 million salary the Nationals had offered to avoid arbitration earlier in the offseason.[10][11]
On December 10, the Nationals won the draft lottery, giving them the first pick in the 2025 draft. Going into the lottery, Washington had the fourth best odds of winning the lottery.[15]
The Nationals signed their first major league free agent on December 19, 2024, inking right-handed pitcherMichael Soroka to a reported $9 million contract over one year.[16] Days later, they traded left-handed relieverRobert Garcia to theTexas Rangers for first basemanNathaniel Lowe.[17] On January 5, the Nationals announced they had reunited withJosh Bell, their primary first baseman in the2021 and2022 seasons, on a reported $6 million one-year deal.[18] Washington signed infielderAmed Rosario on January 8 to a one-year contract reportedly valued at $2 million,[19] then inked relieverJorge López to a $3 million one-year deal on January 11.[20] For the first time in franchise history, the Nationals signed a player posted fromNippon Professional Baseball to a major league contract: left-handed pitcherShinnosuke Ogasawara, who agreed to a two-year deal to pitch for Washington on January 24.[21] The Nationals added infielderPaul DeJong on a one-year, $1 million contract on February 16.[22] With spring training underway, Washington added to its bullpen mix with a one-year signing of relieverLucas Sims on February 19.[23]
December 31, 2024: The Nationals signed starting pitcherTrevor Williams to a two-year major league contract.
January 5, 2025: The Nationals signed first baseman/designated hitterJosh Bell to a one-year major league contract.
January 6, 2025: The Nationals signed outfielderFranchy Cordero to a minor league contract.
January 8, 2025: The Nationals signed infielderAmed Rosario to a one-year major league contract and designated right-handed pitcherJoan Adon for assignment; he was outrighted to the minor leagues.
January 11, 2025: The Nationals signed right-handed pitcherJorge López to a one-year major league contract and designated right-handed pitcherAmos Willingham for assignment; he was claimed off waivers by theAtlanta Braves.
January 17, 2025: The Nationals signed catcherAndrew Knizner to a minor league contract with an invitation to spring training.
January 24, 2025: The Nationals signed left-handed pitcherShinnosuke Ogasawara to a two-year major league contract and released left-handed pitcherJoe La Sorsa.
February 16, 2025: The Nationals signed infielderPaul DeJong to a one-year major league contract and left-handed pitcherColin Poche to a minor league contract with an invitation to spring training.
February 19, 2025: The Nationals signed right-handed pitcherLucas Sims to a one-year major league contract.
February 27, 2025: The Nationals signed right-handed pitcherKyle Finnegan to a one-year major league contract and designated outfielderStone Garrett for assignment; he was outrighted to the minor leagues.
OutfielderJames Wood was hampered early in camp by quadriceps tendinitis.[26] RelieverZach Brzykcy was also sidelined with a quadriceps injury,[27] as were fellow relieversJorge López with a hip injury[28] andDerek Law with arm soreness.[29] First basemanAndrés Chaparro suffered an oblique injury that ruled him out for Opening Day despite a strong spring performance.[30] Starting pitcherDJ Herz landed on the injured list at the end of spring training with a sprained leftulnar collateral ligament of the elbow, after demonstrating significantly lower velocity and control issues in games.[31][32] Both Brzykcy and Law were also assigned to the injured list, while López recovered in time to make the Opening Day roster.[33]
Toward the end of spring training, the Nationals returned relieverEvan Reifert to theTampa Bay Rays after he struggled with command throughout preseason play, opening a spot on their 40-man roster[34] that the Nationals filled by selecting Poche's contract.[35] Herz was transferred to the 60-day injured list after he was reportedly recommended to undergoTommy John surgery, with Washington selecting Lord to fill his roster spot.[33]
The season kicked off atNationals Park on March 27, 2025, against thePhiladelphia Phillies.MacKenzie Gore was selected as the #1Starting pitcher, and he answered the call by striking out 13 Phillies' batters over the course of six innings, only giving up one hit and zero walks, allowing zero runs during his time on the mound. His 13 strikeouts broke a team record for an Opening Day starting pitcher, last held byMax Scherzer, who pitched a 12 strikeout performance in2019's Opening Day. Unfortunately, the Nationals' offense had trouble taking advantage of Gore's hot start, with only two hits (both byKeibert Ruiz) and one walk (taken byJames Wood) throughout their first six innings, though one of Ruiz's hits was a home run, giving the team a 1-0 lead.
However, once both teams turned to their bullpen, the offense increased.Bryce Harper andKyle Schwarber immediately smacked solo home runs against relief pitchersLucas Sims andJosé A. Ferrer, respectively, giving the Phillies a 2-1 lead in the 7th inning. They added a run to their lead in the 8th on awild pitch by Ferrer, going up 3-1. The Nats managed to put 2 runs across the plate in the 8th inning to tie up the game at 3-3, eventually sending the game into extra innings. However, despite holding strong at the Top of the 10th,Colin Poche was unable to get the 3rd out as the Phillies jumped back in the lead 5-3, and a dropped fly ball byDylan Crews in right field led to a 7-3 score beforeEduardo Salazar slammed the door shut. The Nats went down in order in the bottom of the inning, losing the opener by a 7-3 score despite a strong performance by Gore that earned him 0 ERA to start the season. Sims was credited with ablown save, and Poche with the official loss.
(Top) Josh Bell, Nathaniel Lowe and CJ Abrams score in St.Louis.
The Nationals started off their season poorly, only notching one win in their first 7 games, a 5–1 win against the Phillies on March 30. Brad Lord made his MLB pitching debut in relief that game, but exited with an infinite ERA, having gotten no batters out but 2 walks and a hit that resulted in the Phillies' only run that game. Mitchell Parker notched his first win, and Kyle Finnegan his first save, of the Nats' 2025 season. Dylan Crews started off in a dramatic slump, not even recording his first hit of the season until an April 4th game against the Diamondbacks. In fact, after going 0-3 with a walk and a run scored in the season opener, Crews didn't even get on base until then, and flirted with matching an MLB record for most consecutive strikeouts (by a non-pitcher) over multiple games, ending it with 8 after hitting a groundout on his first at-bat against the Blue Jays on March 31. On the pitching side, the new acquisitions were even worse:Michael Soroka turned in a poor performance in his first 2025 start against the Blue Jays before immediately going on the IL. Meanwhile, Poche and Sims each accrued a double-digit ERA, struggling to get opposing batters out in multiple games. The team arguably reached their nadir on April 28, in a home game against the Mets. Despite putting up solid performances the previous three games, the Nats were decimated 19-5. The team's pitching was so awful that utility infielderAmed Rosario was tabbed to finish the game as a relief pitcher.
However, the Nationals also had some positive signs, rolling into a 4 game win streak split between series against the Diamondbacks and Dodgers between April 5-8. Lord, who had to make a spot start in Soroka's absence, pitched a solid 3 innings and allowed 0 runs while notching 4 strikeouts, 2 of them against the Dodgers' star playerShohei Ohtani. The Nats would win that game 8-2. Closer Kyle Finnegan went a perfect 9/9 in Save opportunities between March 30–April 23. Ruiz re-emerged as a solid hitter, maintaining a .300 or higher Batting Average throughout the month of April, and Wood emerged as a potential home run leader, having hit 9 from the start of the season through April. Following his strong performance on Opening Day, Gore tallied up several strikeouts over his next several starts, and led all MLB pitchers with 59 Ks by the end of April.
After a 37–53 start to the 2025 season, Mike Rizzo and Dave Martinez were fired on July 6, 2025. Mike Rizzo had 19 seasons with the organization. Dave Martinez had eight seasons with the team. At the time of the firings, the Nationals had not achieved a winning season since their World Series run in 2019. They promoted assistant general manager Mike DeBartolo to interim general manager.[36] Mike DeBartolo was with the Nationals since 2012. He started out as an intern, then worked his way up to become the assistant general manager over the past few years. DeBartolo has a background in analytics.[37]
On July 7, 2025, Cairo was named interim manager of the Nationals.[38] He won his first game as the Nationals manager in an 8-2 win against theSt. Louis Cardinals on July 9, 2025.[39]
May 1, 2025: The Nationals signed left-handed pitcherAndrew Chafin to a major league contract and designated left-handed pitcherColin Poche for assignment;[40] he elected free agency.
June 16, 2025: The Nationals selected the contract of third basemanBrady House and designated first basemanJuan Yepez for assignment.[47]
July 6, 2025: The Nationals fired managerDave Martinez and general manager/presidentMike Rizzo and promoted assistant general managerMike DeBartolo to interim general manager.[3]
July 7, 2025: The Nationals promoted bench coachMiguel Cairo to interim manager.[48]
July 8, 2025: The Nationals signed right-handed pitcherLuis García to a major league contract.[49]
July 22, 2025: The Nationals selected the contract of left-handed pitcherKonnor Pilkington.[50]
The Nationals traded right-handed pitcherMichael Soroka to theChicago Cubs for minor league shortstop Ronny Cruz and minor league outfielder Christian Franklin.[53]
July 31, 2025
The Nationals traded right-handed pitcherKyle Finnegan to theDetroit Tigers for minor league right-handed pitchers Josh Randall and RJ Sales.[54]
The Nationals traded outfielderAlex Call to theLos Angeles Dodgers for minor league right-handed pitchers Sean Paul Liñan and Eriq Swan.[52]
August 29, 2025: The Nationals selected the contract of catcherC. J. Stubbs.[58]
September 1, 2025: The Nationals selected the contract of left-handed pitcherAndrew Alvarez.[59]
September 2, 2025: The Nationals signed catcherJorge Alfaro to a major league contract.[60]
September 3, 2025: The Nationals claimed right-handed pitcherSauryn Lao off waivers from theSeattle Mariners and designated infielder/outfielderDarren Baker for assignment.[61]
Note: W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; G = Games pitched; GS = Games started; SV = Saves; IP = Innings pitched; H = Hits allowed; R = Runs allowed; ER = Earned runs allowed; BB = Walks allowed; SO = Strikeouts