The
Washington Nationals:
Annual History *

2023: The Nationals continue to rebuild, and rebuild...

After the Washington Nationals traded away Juan Soto and Josh Bell at the beginning of August 2022 -- much like what had happened one year earlier -- it was clear that the team rebuilding effort would take a very long time. Doubts about the Lerner family's commitment to the franchise were reflected in the modest off-season roster moves. (They are still exploring options, including a possible sale of the franchise.) Nevertheless, there were some bright spots from the latter part of the 2022 season, most notably the 30-year-old rookie Joey Meneses, who hit 13 home runs and batted .324 in August and September last year. His clutch slugging played a decisive role in getting the Mexican national team to the semi-finals in this year's World Baseball Classic, and together with Lane Thomas provided solid offensive firepower. Catcher Keibert Ruiz was signed to an 8-year, $50 million contract in March. Of of the few bright spots during the first month of play was the pitching rotation: In 22 of their first 27 games, the starting pitcher lasted at least five innings. Josiah Gray and Mackenzie Gore (a former Padre) look especially promising, while Patrick Corbin showed some improvement after a terrible year in 2022. The others include Trevor Williams (a former Met) and Jake Irvin, who replaced Chad Kuhl, who replaced Cade Cavalli after the latter underwent Tommy John surgery. The Nats' bullpen is mixed, and Kyle Finnegan returned serving as the regular closing pitcher after his replacement Hunter Harvey went on the Injured List in mid-season. After up-and-down cycles in the first three months, the Nats began to improve in July (when third-baseman Jeimer Candelario was traded to the Cubs) and started winning consistently in August, during which they racked up a 17-11 record. It was then revealed that perennially ailing pitcher Stephen Strasburg plans to retire with three years remaining on his 7-year $245 million contract, thus ending a chapter in team history mixed with glory and tragedy.

Starting positions, 2023

CF: Alex Call .237 Victor Robles .224

LF: Stone Garrett .276 Cory Dickerson

RF: Lane Thomas .241

SS: C.J. Abrams .246

2B: Luis Garcia .275 Jake Alu, Michael Chavis

3B: Jeimer Candelario* $ .217 Ildemaro Vargas

PITCHING ROTATION Patrick Corbin (6.31) Josiah Gray (5.02) Mackenzie Gore (4.50) Trevor Williams * (3.21) Jake Irvin * (---) Kyle Finnegan (3.51) : closer

1B: Dominic Smith * .194 Joey Meneses

C: Keibert Ruiz .251 Riley Adams

DH: Joey Meneses .324

2022 batting average for position players, ERA for pitchers. * (asterisk) = new player (since end of 2022) $ = traded away in late July; DNP = did not play in 2021. Underlines indicate that the photo is of the second-string player = No photo yet available. $ = traded away on Aug. 2

Manager: Dave Martinez

Nationals' head-to-head matchups, 2023

Opponent	Wins	Losses
ARI	1	5
ATL	4	8
BAL	0	4
BOS	2	1
CHC	4	3
CHW	2	1
CIN	3	4
CLE	1	2
COL	4	3
DET	2	1
HOU	1	2
KC	2	1
LAA	1	2
LAD	2	4
MIA	2	11
MIL	3	3
MIN	2	1
NYM	6	7
NYY	2	1
OAK	3	0
PHI	6	7
PIT	2	5
SD	3	3
SEA	2	1
SF	5	1
STL	2	4
TB	0	3
TEX	2	1
TOR	1	2
Totals	71	91

New contracts of note

• Ildemaro Vargas (3B) -- 1 year, $975,000 (Nov.) AE
• Tanner Rainey (P) -- 1 year, $1.5 million (Dec.)
• Trevor Williams (P) -- 2 years, $13 million (Dec.)
• Jeimer Candelario (3B) -- 1 year, $5 million (Dec.)
• Corey Dickerson (OF) -- 1 year, $2.3 million (Jan.)
• Dominic Smith (1B) -- 1 year, $2 million (Jan.)
• Lane Thomas (OF) -- 1 year, $2.2 million (Jan.) AE
• Kyle Finnegan (P) -- 1 year, $2.4 million (Jan.) AE
• Carl Edwards Jr. (P) -- 1 year, $2.3 million (Jan.) AE
• Victor Arano (P) -- 1 year, $925,000 (Jan.) AE
• Hunter Harvey (P) -- 1 year, undisclosed (Jan.) AE
• Victor Robles (CF) -- 1 year +, $2.3 million (Feb.) AE
• Keibert Ruiz (C) -- 8 years, $50 million (Mar.)

"+" = optional extension (mutual or otherwise). "D" = part of salary is deferred. "AE" = arbitration eligible. Dollar figures are rounded, and are estimates in some cases.

2023 memorable moments

• Apr. 4 -- Rays score 5 runs in top of 9th inning, finish series sweep next day; Kyle Finnegan blown save & loss; TB 10, WSH 6
• Apr. 22 -- Joey Meneses' 4 hits (6 AB) sparks Nats batters in frigid Minnesota temps; WSH 10, MIN 4 @
• Apr. 25 -- Josiah Gray (6 IP, 9 K) & Mason Thompson (3 IP, 4 K) get Nats' 1st shutout of the year; WSH 5, NYM 0 @
• Apr. 27 -- C.J. Abrams' 8th-inning grand slam put Nats ahead, but Mets scored two, avoiding being swept. NYM 9, WSH 8 @
• May 4 -- Alex Call 9th-inning leadoff 1st-pitch walk-off home run; WSH 4, CHC 3
• May 6 -- After Nats scored 5 in the top of the 9th inning (2 HR), Kyle Finnegan blew a 7-6 lead & took the loss. ARI 8, WSH 7 @
• May 7 -- Joey Meneses hit 3-run homer in the top of the 9th inning, Hunter Harvey got the save. WSH 9, ARI 8 @
• May 16 -- After Nats scored 3 in 8th inning, Hunter Harvey blew a 4-2 lead in 9th inning & took the loss. MIA 5, WSH 4 @
• May 28 -- After McKenzie Gore struck out 11 over 7 innings, Chad Kuhl blew the lead & (9th inn.) took the loss. KC 3, WSH 2 @
• May 31 -- Nationals hit FIVE home runs, incl. 2 by Keibert Ruiz, avoiding being swept. WSH 10, LAD 6 @
• June 28 -- Jordan Weems escapes bases-loaded jam in bottom of 10th, Lane Thomas hits 2-run double in 11th. WSH 7, SEA 4 @
• July 2 -- Stone Garrett hits his 2nd grand slam of the year; WSH 5, PHI 4 @
• July 9 -- Joey Meneses hits his 4th homer in 3 games, helping clinch series win vs. Rangers; WSH 7, TEX 2
• July 23 -- Nationals complete surprising 3-game sweep of the Giants at home; WSH 6, SF 1
• Aug. 6 -- Nationals homer on first two pitches, complete surprising 3-game sweep of the Reds in Cincinnati; WSH 6, CIN 3 @
• Aug. 9 -- Nationals suffered their first-ever no-hit loss; Michael Lorenzen threw 124 pitches and walked 4. PHI 7, WSH 0 @
• Aug. 12 -- Keibert Ruiz 9th-inning leadoff 1st-pitch walk-off home run; WSH 3, OAK 2
• Aug. 13 -- Nats score 6 in bottom of the 9th-inning to complete series sweep; WSH 8, OAK 7
• Aug. 18 -- Both teams score 6 runs in 4th-inning; WSH 8, PHI 7
• Aug. 26 -- Jake Alu's 2-out single in top of 9th ties the game, and the winning run scores on a passed ball; WSH 3, MIA 2 @
• Sep. 6 -- Jacob Young RBI single in 9th inning ends 6-game losing streak; WSH 3, NYM 2
• Sep. 20 -- Lane Thomas hit a grand slam and Dominic Smith and Joey Meneses also homered; WSH 13, CHW 3
• Sep. 29 -- Nationals hit FIVE home runs in upset road victory; WSH 10, ATL 6 @
• Oct. 1 -- Nationals prevail in a crazy back-and-forth game, win upset road series victory to end the season; WSH 10, ATL 9 @

"@" = away game

Nationals, 2023: month-by-month summary

Month	Wins	Losses	NL East place (at end)	Number of home games	Total attendance	Average attendance
* April 2023	10	17	5th	14	290,607	20,758
May 2023	14	15	5th	14	285,309	20,379
June 2023	9	16	5th	12	285,969	23,831
July 2023	12	14	5th	14	309,640	22,117
Aug. 2023	17	11	4th	# 12	# 268,654	# 22,388
* Sept. 2023	9	18	5th	15	425,453	28,364
TOTAL 2023	71	91	5th	81	1,865,632	23,032
SOURCE: My unofficial daily tabulations from MLB Gameday stats, Washington Post, and other newspapers. * -- The April data include a game in March, and September data include a game in October. # -- The August data include one "home" game in Williamsport, Pennsylvania (8/20); attendance 2,473.