BIGGEST FEAR: If The Washington Nationals Offense REGRESSES, They Won't Be Able To Improve

But my biggest what if for 2027, kind of coming off a hot 2026 year, is what if this offense regresses? And I'll tell you this much, if the offense does regress, this team will not take the jump up that I think a lot of us expect them to make.

And if you look at what the Nationals did this year, they were the surprise team in the National League East.

Yes, they didn't have a winning record.

Yes, they weren't really in postseason contention in the second half, but for a bulk of the season, they were in the thick of it.

And there was a time in July where the Nationals actually were in the wild card hunt, and they were a legitimate threat in the National League, and it was because of what they did offensively.

And if you look at the numbers, forget the National League rankings, let's talk about the Major League baseball rankings.

So with all 30 teams in there, the Nationals hit the sixth most home runs with 210 home runs behind the Astros, Yankees, Cubs, Reds, and White Sox.

Pretty dang good if you ask me.

Their on-base percentage amongst all of baseball, they ranked eighth.

Their slugging in all across all of baseball, they ranked third.

And then finally, their OPS, they were tied for third for the highest OPS in baseball with the Cubs, Dodgers, and tied with the Brewers there.

Was this just, like, an outlier? Are you confident that the Nationals can actually repeat what they did? There's a couple of different things, and there's a couple of what ifs as to what could happen for the Nats.

My biggest what if is what if they trade CJ Abrams? You can't just supplement and substitute in a top prospect like Seaver King and say, "Yeah, that's gonna be a 30 home run bat." We're not expecting that from Seaver King.

In fact, you're probably expecting over 162 at least to start out.

Maybe 15, maybe 20 home runs, and that might be a stretch even, going up against Major League pitching.

But if you do move off of CJ Abrams this deadline or this off season, which if you ask people around baseball, I think a lot of people expect the Nationals to at least kick the tires on that.

And I think a lot of executives may even say they likely will trade CJ Abrams.

If you lose your second most productive offensive piece, you are not going to take that step up.

You are going to have to try to supplement that somehow.

Now, here's the good news.

Glass half full.

They can actually supplement that, and here's what it looks like.

Number one, it does look like Seaver King producing.

It's not the 30 home run potential, but it is Seaver King producing in a major, major way for this team, which I think he can do offensively.

I'm not expecting, like, some massive 900 OPS Rookie of the Year campaign from Seaver King, but I am expecting an impactful Major League player.

But my biggest what if for 2027, kind of coming off a hot 2026 year, is what if this offense regresses? And I'll tell you this much, if the offense does regress, this team will not take the jump up that I think a lot of us expect them to make.

And if you look at what the Nationals did this year, they were the surprise team in the National League East.

Yes, they didn't have a winning record.

Yes, they weren't really in postseason contention in the second half, but for a bulk of the season, they were in the thick of it.

And there was a time in July where the Nationals actually were in the wild card hunt, and they were a legitimate threat in the National League, and it was because of what they did offensively.

And if you look at the numbers, forget the National League rankings, let's talk about the Major League baseball rankings.

So with all 30 teams in there, the Nationals hit the sixth most home runs with 210 home runs behind the Astros, Yankees, Cubs, Reds, and White Sox.

Pretty dang good if you ask me.

Their on-base percentage amongst all of baseball, they ranked eighth.

Their slugging in all across all of baseball, they ranked third.

And then finally, their OPS, they were tied for third for the highest OPS in baseball with the Cubs, Dodgers, and tied with the Brewers there.

Was this just, like, an outlier? Are you confident that the Nationals can actually repeat what they did? There's a couple of different things, and there's a couple of what ifs as to what could happen for the Nats.

My biggest what if is what if they trade CJ Abrams? You can't just supplement and substitute in a top prospect like Seaver King and say, "Yeah, that's gonna be a 30 home run bat." We're not expecting that from Seaver King.

In fact, you're probably expecting over 162 at least to start out.

Maybe 15, maybe 20 home runs, and that might be a stretch even, going up against Major League pitching.

But if you do move off of CJ Abrams this deadline or this off season, which if you ask people around baseball, I think a lot of people expect the Nationals to at least kick the tires on that.

And I think a lot of executives may even say they likely will trade CJ Abrams.

If you lose your second most productive offensive piece, you are not going to take that step up.

You are going to have to try to supplement that somehow.

Now, here's the good news.

Glass half full.

They can actually supplement that, and here's what it looks like.

Number one, it does look like Seaver King producing.

It's not the 30 home run potential, but it is Seaver King producing in a major, major way for this team, which I think he can do offensively.

I'm not expecting, like, some massive 900 OPS Rookie of the Year campaign from Seaver King, but I am expecting an impactful Major League player.