Is it Time for Nationals Fans to Get Excited?

Thanks to a young, exciting core and the man fans call Jimmy Lumber, the Washington Nationals are starting to turn some heads.

It has never been easy to be a Washington Nationals fan.

Much like what baseball fans in Oakland are going through, the Nationals (or Nats as fans call the team) was born from the ashes of another storied franchise, the Montreal Expos. The decision in 2004 to move the Expos to Washington, D.C, was one filled with lots of controversy and it left a ton of hard feelings, to the point where you can usually still see a smattering of old Expos caps at any Nationals home game.

Then there is ownership, which like a certain team from Pittsburgh has a reputation for being cheap. But while principle owner Mark Lerner isn't quite as bad as Pirates owner Bub Nutting, over the years the Nationals have become better known for the players they let walk in free agency and that left in trades than the ones they kept. Trea Turner, Max Scherzer, Juan Soto and Bryce Harper are all players that made their mark in Washington only to leave for greener, better paying pastures elsewhere.

Of course, they also let Anthony Rendon leave, and considering what a joke his career has become, maybe there's something to the way they do business after all.

There is also Nationals Park, which many people feel is an inferior ballpark compared to the other stadiums that were built around the same time. And while it doesn't measure up to the standards of a PNC Park or Citizens Bank Park, as someone who has seen a game there it's way better than people give it credit for.

What I think bothers people is that Nationals Park, more than other MLB parks, gets overrun by the fans of opposing teams on a fairly regular basis. For years when the Phillies would play there the place would effectively become a home game for Philadelphia. The same would happen whenever the Mets would arrive in town or the Orioles. It got so bad that the Nationals had to try to address it, which they did in 2012 with their "Take Back the Park" initiative which had some limited success.

The simple fact is that the Nationals, despite experiencing a string of success in the 2010s and winning a World Series in 2019, have always been seen as underachievers. It's an image that hasn't gone away and has only become more profound as this latest rebuild has dragged on after the dismantling of the team that won a championship.

But now, finally, after years of waiting, things may finally be starting to look up for the Nats Fanatics who cheer on the team.

In 2023 both CJ Abrams and Josiah Gray helped the Nationals show some signs of life and that maybe, just maybe the worst days were behind the franchise. Then late last year Dylan Crews, the No. 2 overall pick in the MLB Draft, made his highly anticipated debut and joined the player who many think will be the one to lead the Nationals to an eventual return to glory.

James Wood, who came to the Nationals thanks to the Juan Soto trade, made his debut on July 1 and got his first hit on the same day, a single against the New York Mets. He would go on to finish the 2024 season with a .264 average as well as nine home runs, 41 RBIs, and 14 stolen bases.

In 2025 the man they call “Jimmy Lumber” has picked up right where he left off, already smashing eight home runs and driving in 19 RBIs with a batting average of .257. Combine that with a starting rotation that includes the likes of MacKenzie Gore and Jake Irvin, who have been pitching lights out since that start of the season, and you have a team that currently has a record of 13-15, sits in third place in the NL East and has all the markings of a franchise that could shock everyone and make a run into the postseason.

Of course, none of this matters unless ownership is willing to pay the money and make some needed additions at the trade deadline. The Nationals bullpen is still a wreck and not to be trusted while the lineup could use one or two more big bats to add to Wood and Crews. If this team wants to try and make a serious push into the playoffs, the Nationals will almost certainly have to be buyers at the deadline instead of taking on the seller role they are more accustomed to.

That said, however the 2025 season ends for the team the bottom line is that for the first time in quite a while, Nats fans have something to cheer for. As I mentioned earlier, being a Nationals fan is not easy so when the good times do arrive you have to embrace them with gusto. With Wood, Crews and the rest of the roster finally helping fans to forget about Harper and Soto and starting to shape a new legacy, once that will hopefully include a second World Series title, those good times may finally be here at last.