May 12, 2025; Atlanta, Georgia, USA; Washington Nationals manager Dave Martinez (4) makes a pitching change against the Atlanta Braves in the seventh inning at Truist Park Brett Davis-Imagn Images

It May Be Time to Look Forward to the Trade Deadline for the Nationals

Originally posted on Washington Nationals on SI
By Dalton Rice | Last updated May 14, 2025 7:00 PM ET

As the calendar turned to May, the only thing separating the Washington Nationals and Atlanta Braves was two games in hand for Atlanta.

Washington finished out a series with the Philadelphia Phillies with a win and by May 3, the Nationals were back in third place in the tightly contested NL East. Since then, everything has come up Braves and Washington is now staring up at three division foes in the standings. A familiar friend at the bottom of the standings, the Miami Marlins, is the only team below the Nationals.

In last weekend's series against the St. Louis Cardinals, Washington mustered only three runs while ceding 20 to St. Louis. The Nats traveled to Atlanta for their first shot at the up-and-down Braves, who started the season with an 0-9 record. While the first two games have not fallen in the favor of the Nationals, Atlanta has not taken advantage of Washington's recent offensive stretch that has them near the bottom of the league in batting average (.225), OPS (.638), and runs (47) over the past 15 days.

Since the Hiring of Darnell Coles in 2021 the Nationals rank highest is ground ball % those years and bottom 3 in fly ball %.

The numbers don’t lie and the Nationals will continue to have ice cold stretches on offense for however long Darnell Coles runs this offense.#Natitude pic.twitter.com/EV73DfEKuD
— SleeperNationals (@SleeperNats) May 12, 2025

The biggest bright spot for Washington this season has been the arrival of James Wood. Drafted by the Padres in the 2nd round of the 2021 draft, Wood was sent to the Nationals in the blockbuster Juan Soto trade which also sent MacKenzie Gore and CJ Abrams to DC. Wood's .268/.368/.530 slash line combines for a .898 OPS, which leads qualified Nats hitters by almost .200 points.

What's Next For the Washington Nationals?

While the start of the season was inspiring for this young Nationals team, there was never a time they were expected to compete for a top-3 spot in the NL East, much less have a chance at a playoff spot. With plenty of young talent already on the roster and very little money, outside of Stephen Strasburg's contract, on the books for next season.

Veterans Josh Bell, Amed Rosario, Kyle Finnegan, and Mike Soroka are on expiring contracts and could make for interesting rental pieces for contenders. Nathaniel Lowe, Washington's highest paid active player this season, will have the most intrigue for playoff hopefuls the closer the end of July approaches.

This article first appeared on Washington Nationals on SI and was syndicated with permission.

More must-reads: