Washington Nationals Top Heavy Pitching Staff Ranked Poorly Among Peers

The Washington Nationals did not have high expectations for the 2025 season. Their biggest goal was seeing their young core take another step in their development, better preparing them for future campaigns, and for the most part, that has happened.

While James Wood is developing into a superstar in the outfield, left-handed pitcher MacKenzie Gore has taken one step closer to being a legitimate ace. The lefty enters play on Friday with a 3.59 ERA across 52 2/3 innings in nine starts, with a Major League-leading 75 strikeouts.

While Gore is nearing ace status, the rest of the pitching staff has not been so great. The Nationals as a whole carry a 5.37 ERA, ranking 28th in baseball, with the rotation holding a 4.52 mark (25th), and the bullpen posting a 6.75 (29th). It has been such an area of struggle for the team, that Kerry Miller of Bleacher Report recently ranked the top-heavy staff 26th in MLB.

Washington Nationals Pitching Staff Ranks 26th In MLB

"On the one hand, the Nationals have been terribly unlucky to have an ERA nearly 1.1 runs greater than their FIP," writes Miller, "and they do have maybe the best strikeout artist in the game today in MacKenzie Gore. On the other hand, it takes an act of divine intervention for them to make it through the 7th and 8th innings without allowing any runs, saddled with a combined ERA of 8.46 in those middle reliever innings."

One pitcher does not a strong staff make, and while Gore has certainly been fantastic, no other pitcher has made a start for them this year and carries an ERA sub-4.00 (Jake Irvin has the lowest at 4.00).

The bullpen does play host to four pitchers with ERAs starting with a two, but only two of those men (Kyle Finnegan and Jackson Rutledge) have pitched 15 or more innings this year. After that, Cole Henry holds a 3.21 ERA, then no other pitcher who has made an appearance carries an ERA sub-5.50.

It has made it very clear what Washington needs to focus on next in order to improve their standing in the National League. As the rebuild draws to a close, the coming offseason may see the front office take the steps necessary to see that 26th-place ranking climb.