Something magical happened this past Thursday at 3:05 pm EST: we got baseball back in our lives. That’s right folks, after a long offseason, February 20th started the first day of spring training for the 2025 MLB season. I started my 2025 baseball watching season with a game between the Cubs and the Dodgers. It was a game that not only featured new faces, but the premiere of the Automatic Ball-Strike System (ABS).

Around the league we had a litany of other surprises:

• The new and improved Vladdy Jr, slimmed down and digging it out of the dirt at first.
• Clay Holmes made his first start as pitcher since his rookie year in 2018.
• Alex Bregman introduced himself to the Fenway (South) Faithful with a mammoth 2-run home run.
• 2 home run games from Elly De La Cruz and…Matt Gorski? Nice!

And…ugh, ok, I have to talk about it, Soto got a home run in his first at bat as a New York M–hang on, just a bit of indigestion, let’s try again, a New York…Met. This is going to take a while to get used to. I’m sorry… it still feels gross.

But what about the team you really came here to read about? Oh, I have some thoughts on our Washington Nationals:

New Faces…And Some Familiar Ones

The Washington Nationals introduced some of their new members to the fanbase this weekend. Making his Nationals debut we saw third baseman Paul DeJong. DeJong will likely be manning the hot corner with Tena in the upcoming season. Most notable Nathaniel (maybe he’ll let us call him Nate soon, but we don’t want to assume) Lowe made his Nationals showcase on first base. One word that comes to mind to describe his appearance is “consistency.” We watched him get two walks after being behind in both counts. Additionally, Lowe rolled a hit to the wall for a double in his third plate appearance.

Now, the familiar faces. We have the old fan-favorite, the prodigal son of D.C. Josh Bell. From the sound of the crowd, the D.C. love has remained entirely intact for Bell (as I believe it should). The projected DH left us to contribute to 3 contenders…and the Marlins (take that as you will) to finally return back home donning the Curly W. It feels good to see him back. Another familiar face was Stone Garrett, who we saw put on the red white and blue at the end of last season. Garrett is manning the outfield once again and, boy, what a beautiful sight to see. His numbers started to trend in a positive direction before his unfortunate injury kept him from having more than 6 ABs in the 2024 season (but in those he had one single, a double and a home run). We missed the kid and it’s good to see him back.

The Young Guys Show Their Stuff

Rookie to the Nats nation, Dylan Crews started both games and got a hit in half of his at-bats. Jacob Young was back in centerfield looking…and I’m not the only one who noticed… absolutely jacked. Trevor Williams jokingly said of his transformation “He can do at least 10 or 11 push ups.” And remember Robert Hassell III? One of our young outfielders? The guy we got for Soto and Bell? Well, he batted in 3 in the 9th on Saturday to break the tie. Giving our beloved Nats a 6-3 winning score.

Hassell has been down in the farm waiting for his shot (and coming back from injuries) and now we might see him make his way to the show. Yohandy Morales is another player honing his skills in the minors to make his presence known in the District. In my opinion, Morales is in a league of his own for the sheer fact that he can play every position in the infield and consistently puts up great offensive numbers. I also will note that they saw fit to fit him with a big leaguer number. Morales now wears the number 28 on his uniform, previously worn by Lane Thomas. I look forward to finally seeing him cut his teeth in the league.

Hurlers Make Their Pitch

Lastly, we need to talk about our pitchers. The training season was kicked off with a very solid 2 inning performance from rotation stalwart Jake Irvin. Irvin showcased the work he’s put into his slider during the offseason, with a hope of improving on his 10-win season last year (which included 14 losses, but shhhhhh). Jake Irvin, while not an ace by any stretch, is a great young arm in the rotation that continues to show improvement and versatility. Which brings me to a guy that could be the next surprise out of the minors, Brad Lord. Lord, who in 2022 signed with the Nationals straight out of college, has made a steady rise through the farm system. Lord now sits at AAA. I think we should keep a close eye on Lord, should any pitcher hit the IL during the season.

Sunday premiered an impressive outing by Nationals newcomer, Shinnosuke Ogasawara (I spent a lot of time trying to figure out how to spell that, so let me flex). The southpaw newcomer isn’t a strike out pitcher, but the movement of his off-speed pitches spells trouble for power hitters in the league. Fellow lefty, Mitchell Parker, got his first strikeout of spring training, reminding us of the Parker we witnessed at the beginning of last year. A player that continues to struggle is our favorite giant, Jackson Rutledge. It feels like we’ve been waiting to see him take a spot in the rotation for years. I will continue to root Rutledge on…rooting for a miracle.

There’s nothing like seeing baseball back in action. It’s great to see the improvements that both players and the MLB have made during the offseason (or The Dark Times, as I like to call them).

I host weekly watch parties for Saturday spring training games over on @districtdiamondreport on Instagram. Feel free to stop by, say hello, and share your thoughts as we break down all the action!