The Nats OF was not an issue last year. It wasn't necessarily "good" but it was a relative strength while being the centerpiece for the plans for the future. It featured a mix of players outside of Wood and later Crews who we talked about last time. Winker (good!), Eddie Rosario (very bad!), and Alex Call (very good but much fewer PA) all started a decent number of games in the OF but the guys with the most time were Lane Thomas and Jacob Young. Thomas hit well enough to keep himself a trade target and got sent away at the trade deadline. Young fielded like a beast and hit well enough to keep the job.
The question for 2025 is who joins Crews and Wood in the Nats OF of the future... of today
Presumed Plan :
Jacob Young will start in CF
Reasoning behind Presumed Plan :
We talked about it in the comments a while back but Jacob Young played like possibly the best CF in baseball last year. Wood needs defensive help and you don't want to rely on Crews, still learning the position at the major league level, to have to give it to him.
While Alex Call has some history at being a very good fielder and shone with the bat for a month last year, he also has a unreliable history at the plate and more importantly is five years older than Jacob Young. If you are going to bet on someone for the future, which it seems like the Nats would do, it would be Young.
They could also bring in a bat here but given the needs at 1B/DH and maybe 3B if they want to slow walk House or shake up the IF, letting the OF play out like this makes sense for a year. If Young doesn't come through then there's a target for improvement before 2026 which presumably will be the year they really try to make a playoff push.
My Take :
This seems simple. Young, at 25 next year, deserves a shot to see if he can hit around average. If he fields like he did last year, that basically sets the Nats OF for the next half-decade (unless they want to move Wood).
Also if Young doesn't hit he will at least give coverage to Wood, who has shown he may need it, while they find a solution in his place. Having your worst hitter be a slick fielding CF is not a bad thing.
As for the alternatives. Long time readers know I'm not a fan of Alex Call. While I can't deny he can field and was impressed with his stint last year, it just doesn't makesense to gamble on a guy who hit poorly when given a real chance in 2023 and is going to be an old 30 next season. Personally I'd try to use his 2024 push to get something back and wish him well elsewhere.
I'd use Stone Garrett who's been a fairly consistent solid OF in his limited chances, to be the 4th OF and possible replacement for Young if he struggles or Crews if he struggles hard.
The minors don't really have anyone else knocking at the door. Hassell is now in "trying to get back to form" mode having passed the "recovering from injury" time frame. Daylen Lile did fine in AA but nothing that suggests he'll be forcing anything in 2025. I guess since the rest of the media does it here is an obligatory Elijah Green reference bc he was drafted high and had that one good month.
It doesn't seem hard. Let it play out with the guys you ended the season with. Fix things elsewhere. Hope it works out.
