Nationals’ No. 1 Pick Leaves Big Decisions in Washington

Luck. It’s what gave the Washington Nationals the #1 pick in the 2025 MLB Draft this past December. Now, a few weeks from the draft, D.C.’s home team will look to get lucky again and turn that lottery ball into a golden ticket.

“I think they have to take the best player available. Right now, the Nats are lacking a lot of different things,” Nationals media member Ryan Clary said. “But with the way the owners are operating, they won’t be signing any superstars anytime soon. I expect them to take a big swing in this draft.”

Nationals Have Options with No. 1 Draft Pick

The past six seasons have been a swing and a miss for Washington, ever since winning a championship in 2019. The turn of the decade has been deemed a “rebuilding period,” but the progress has yet to be seen, with the team coming off three straight seasons of 90 losses or more.

But with seven of the Nationals’ top ten prospects projected to be ready for the show within the next two seasons, and a chance at another top talent coming soon, it leaves the question: when will the rebuild finally take structure?

“This might be the most pressure (General Manager) Mike Rizzo has on him. The big knock on Rizzo has been that he can’t draft the right guys in the first round.” Clary said. “The Nats have had a development issue for nearly a decade. The pressure is on this front office to hit this first-round pick, and hit it out of the park.”

Most mock drafts have Washington taking SS/3B Ethan Holliday, a high schooler from Oklahoma and son of MLB All-Star Matt Holliday. Holliday ranks as the top prospect in this draft class by MLB, Baseball America, Perfect Game, and many more. 

On the flip side of the coin: a plethora of talented college arms fill up this year’s draft pool. Five of the projected top ten picks are pitchers, including big names like Tennessee’s Liam Doyle and LSU’s Kade Anderson, who are currently taking over this year’s College World Series.