Part of a series of articles previewing the defensive performance of all 30 MLB teams by asking the question … are they good? We give an overview of team strengths, weaknesses, and other things to know, using Defensive Runs Saved and other stats as the basis for our evaluation. To see the full series, click here.
2025 Team Defensive Runs Saved Rank: 27th
Team Strengths
Jacob Young is the best defensive player on the Nationals and one of the best center fielders in baseball (just ask the Mets, whom he helped knock out of playoff contention). Young ranks fourth among center fielders in Runs Saved over the last two seasons and first in the range component of Runs Saved.
Most Defensive Runs Saved – Center Fielders – Last 2 Seasons
| Player | Runs Saved |
| Ceddanne Rafaela | 32 |
| Daulton Varsho | 26 |
| Pete Crow-Armstrong | 26 |
| Jacob Young | 25 |
Beyond Young there isn’t a lot. Nasim Nuñez, who was an excellent minor league shortstop and a good athlete, is listed on FanGraphs’ depth charts as being the starting second baseman, with Luis García moving to first base. We’ll see if that holds.
One other thing worth pointing out is that although James Wood doesn’t have the best range, he improved last season at limiting baserunner advancement. You can see the difference in this chart.
| Season | Extra Bases | Opps to Advance |
| 2024 | 34 | 80 |
| 2025 | 36 | 112 |
Wood went from -3 Outfield Arm Runs Saved in 2024 to 3 such Runs Saved in 2025.
Team Weaknesses
Shortstop C.J. Abrams’ Runs Saved breakdown was 7 Runs for range but -12 Runs Saved for finishing plays. The -12 didn’t just rank last among shortstops. It was double the next-closest player. In other words, he got to balls, but what happened after he did wasn’t necessarily good.
This was the second time in three seasons that Abrams’ had numbers that bad. It also happened in 2023. If Abrams could fix that part of his game, he’d be a Gold Glove contender. If he can’t, you wonder if the Nationals would do what the Marlins do and flip their second baseman (Nunez) and shortstop.
Rookie Daylen Lile showed promise at the plate but needs some work in the field. He had -14 Runs Saved as an outfielder last season, which is tough to do in the amount of playing time he had (a little more than 600 innings). He had a lot of trouble with baserunner advancement as a right fielder, with 30 of 45 baserunners taking an extra base against him (67% advance rate). The MLB average rate is about 50% for a right fielder
Keibert Ruiz has not been a good pitch framer (at least not statistically) in his time in the majors. He’s made up for it in other ways, but it’s definitely something he could stand to improve
Other Things To Know
García had -7, -5, and -15 Runs Saved as a second baseman the last three years and it looks like he’s going to change positions for the second time in his career. He’s projected to be Washington’s starting first baseman this season. He has 2 games of MLB experience at the position, so this is going to be a learn as he goes situation.
Dylan Crews will start the season in the minor leagues as he tries to figure out how to hit in the major leagues. It’s a relatively small sample (102 games) but he’s helped up well in right field for the most part, though there isn’t a spot for him in the outfield unless someone moves to DH.
Are the Nationals A Good Defensive Team?
No and if Lile doesn’t get better and Garcia struggles at first base, they could rank near the bottom of the sport in Runs Saved.
