2025 Washington Nationals season
Nationals miss playoffs for sixth straight year; Rizzo and Martinez dismissed.
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The 2025 Washington Nationals season was the Nationals' 21st season as the Major League Baseball franchise in the District of Columbia, the 18th at Nationals Park, and the 57th since the original team was started in Montreal. The Nationals were led by Dave Martinez for the first half of the season; he and President of Baseball Operations Mike Rizzo were dismissed on July 6. The team was officially eliminated from playoff contention for the sixth consecutive season on September 13.
Offseason
Reliever Jacob Barnes and starting pitcher Patrick Corbin became free agents after the 2024 World Series. First baseman Joey Gallo joined them when the Nationals declined their end of a mutual option for 2025. First baseman Joey Meneses, utilityman Ildemaro Vargas, and reliever Michael Rucker were outrighted from the 40-man roster.
Starting pitcher Thaddeus Ward was lost to the Baltimore Orioles on a waiver claim on November 4; Ward had not appeared for the Nationals in 2024. Washington declined to tender contracts to relievers Kyle Finnegan and Tanner Rainey. Starting pitcher Trevor Williams tested free agency but signed another two-year deal on December 31, 2024, to stay in Washington. Finnegan later returned, accepting the reported $6 million salary the Nationals had offered to avoid arbitration.
The Nationals added prospects Andry Lara and Robert Hassell III to the 40-man roster on November 19 to protect them from the Rule 5 draft; Hassell had helped the Salt River Rafters win the Arizona Fall League championship two days earlier. For the third straight year, Washington made a Rule 5 draft selection, acquiring Tampa Bay Rays minor league reliever Evan Reifert. On December 10, the Nationals won the draft lottery, giving them the first pick in the 2025 draft.
Regular season
The season opened at Nationals Park on March 27, 2025, against the Philadelphia Phillies. MacKenzie Gore was selected as the number one starting pitcher and struck out 13 Phillies batters over six innings, allowing one hit and no walks while giving up zero runs. His 13 strikeouts broke the team record for an Opening Day starting pitcher, previously held by Max Scherzer's 12-strikeout performance in 2019.
The Nationals' offense managed only two hits (both by Keibert Ruiz) and one walk (by James Wood) through the first six innings, though Ruiz hit a home run for a 1-0 lead. After both teams turned to their bullpens, Bryce Harper and Kyle Schwarber hit solo home runs off Lucas Sims and José A. Ferrer, giving the Phillies a 2-1 lead in the seventh. Philadelphia added a run in the eighth on a wild pitch by Ferrer, going up 3-1. The Nationals tied the game 3-3 in the eighth, sending it to extra innings.
In the top of the tenth, Colin Poche could not get the third out as the Phillies took a 5-3 lead; a dropped fly ball by Dylan Crews in right field made the score 7-3 before Eduardo Salazar ended the inning. The Nationals went down in order in the bottom of the tenth, losing 7-3. Sims was credited with a blown save, and Poche with the loss.
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Sources
Compiled from Wikipedia and the sources listed below. Text from Wikipedia is available under CC BY-SA 4.0; this entry is adapted from it.
- Wikipedia: 2025 Washington Nationals season (CC BY-SA 4.0).
- Word definitions: the Codexery glossary, each quoted from its Wikipedia article.
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