DISAPPOINTING: What Went Wrong With The 2025 Washington Nationals?

DISAPPOINTING: What Went Wrong With The 2025 Washington Nationals?

The 2025 Washington Nationals were certainly a nat team to forget, but ultimately what went wrong? [Music] You are Locked on Nationals, your daily Washington Nationals podcast, part of the Locked On podcast network. your team every day. And thank you all for making Lockdown Nationals your first listen every single day as we are free and available wherever you get your podcast. And yes, I am your host Ryan Clary. I am your nationals insider here on the Locked On Nationals podcast. We are part of the Locked On podcast network where it’s your team every single day. in later on in today’s program. Typically, we’d be discussing all about what went wrong or what went right with the 2025 Nationals, but Bob Carpenter, the legendary voice, had his send off this weekend. We got to talk about him in honor of the legendary Bob Carpenter. So, we’ll do that in the third segment of today’s show. And in the second segment, I’ve got a little discussion about why change is needed and why the change is already happening. And I think that you will notice that change on opening day in 2026. So stay tuned for that in the second segment. But I tell you why the Nationals in 2025 was probably the biggest team to forget for your Washington Nationals fandom. I’ll tell you why. But today’s episode is brought to you by 5Hour Energy. And enough with boring flavorless caffeine. It’s time to give your caffeine a flavor upgrade with 5hour energy shots. Go to www.fourenery.com or Amazon today. Again, five hour energy.com. So, the Washington National season has wrapped up and quite frankly yesterday losing eight to nothing to the Chicago White Socks was a perfect bow on what was a very imperfect season for the Washington Nationals. I mean, this team had some expectations entering this year, and quite frankly, I think those expectations are really one of the main reasons as to what went wrong for the Nationals in 2025. I take it back to spring training of this season. I take it back to Mike Grizzo, the former president of baseball operations and manager, the former manager of MA the former manager for the Nationals, Dave Martinez. They made it very very well known that this team was not in a rebuild. This team was ready to win this team and they believed that this team could make a wildcard run. There is a difference in my opinion. When you are a bad team like let’s say the White Socks, the White Socks had zero hope. There was zero chance, zero literally that they would be a postseason team. The difference between the White Socks and the Nationals is this. The White Socks manager never came out and said, “We’re hunting for the playoffs. We’re going to try to go make it.” That does not mean that they are not going to try and win each and every single day. That is still their ultimate goal. But you knew and the people in that clubhouse knew that they would not be making a playoff run. The Nationals went out of their way early on this season and even prior to the season after making no big-time moves in saying, “We’re ready to make the playoffs.” It’s like, “Okay, no one asked you that, but what’s going to happen, Mike Rizzo? We’re going to make the playoffs. This team is ready. Dave Martinez, we’re going to get over that hump again. We’re going to get over the hump on the camel’s back and we’re ready to ride it into the wild card.” That should have never been the expectation. Mike Rizzo and Dave Martinez set up the Nationals in 2025 to fail in my opinion. When you give this team the expectations that they did themselves and then you start off with a horrendous, horrendous record for the first few months, that is when that you knew this was all falling off the train tracks. That is when I knew this season is going to be an epic disaster. And that’s kind of what it was. That is not to take away from stellar seasons from guys like James Wood, from your all-star with McKenzie Gore, from your breakout star with Dalon Lyle. There were some certainly very good performances by guys and especially those three guys there. But this team as a whole was an epic disaster. Once we got into the month of June, that’s when it all kind of started to come together saying, “Oh man, Dave Martinez and Mike Rizzo, their jobs are in trouble.” And really to kind of hone in on Mike Rizzo, this was probably the worst off season that he has had as a Washington Nationals manager. Mike Grizzo, in my opinion, this off season is why he is no longer the president of baseball ops in town. And we can go into the track record of drafting and guys that have not helped this team, but if you look at what they did this off season, that screams to me that they were never ready to compete. You trade for someone like Nathaniel and it’s like, okay, what did you give up? You gave up a left-handed reliever with Robert Garcia, who quite frankly was a fringe roster guy. He would have made the team, but he was never going to be that reliable eighth inning setup guy that he kind of was with the Texas Rangers. And at times, he was the closer for the Rangers. So, when you make that trade, it’s like, yeah, Nathaniel Lo is a former all-star. He’s won a Silver Slugger before, but he was always on the decline. and his past two seasons in Texas were pretty bad. He had no power. He was not getting on base at the streak that he once was early on in his career. And quite frankly, it was just a fine move overall, but it blew up in your face and he was DFA in August. You see what they did with the bullpen. You bring in Jorge Lopez, you bring in Colin Poche, and you bring in Lucas Sims. None of those guys are on the roster come July. The off season was grossly mismanaged by this team. And if you set yourself up in a way that the Nationals did, then I think it’s okay to call this season a complete failure. You have finished 71 and 91 each of the past two seasons. You showed a lot of promise. I thought this past season was the easy season where you’re like, “Okay, now’s where we go. Here’s the season where you finally take that step up. You have to see a consistent CJ Abrams. We did not see that. You see James Wood breakout. We did see that. You see McKenzie Gore take another step up. You saw some of those things. But also, the Nationals did not do that in free agency. They did not go in and get their Jason Worth. you did not go in and get your next leader in this clubhouse because as this season went on, it became so clear to me this team has no leader. And the one leader that you do have in my opinion is Dylan Cruz. Dylan Cruz is a leader. He is a leader on the field. He’s a leader in the clubhouse. And quite frankly, he is your version of Mr. National right now. That is someone that you want to be the face of this organization. He shows up every single day. He has dirt on his jersey no matter where he is playing. He is going to slide for that. Try to make that catch. He is going to run that extra base and run that hard 90 and play with everything that he has got. That is what a leader looks like. And when you miss him for a good chunk of the summer, there is no mistake about it. The Nationals played their worst baseball by far when Dylan Cruz was not in that clubhouse every single day. This season was gross. 2025 stunk in the Nationals finishing 66 and 96, five less wins what they had last year. That was a pretty pathetic performance. And oh, by the way, only finishing the season with 32 wins at home compared to 34 in the road. Also pretty disgusting. Teams like the Braves won 39 games at home. The Marlins won 38 games at home. And then you get into the Mets, they won 49 games at home. And there’s the Phillies who won 55 games at home. The Nationals in 2025 were a complete utter disaster. Everyone got fired. You are expecting change. And I’ll tell you this much, change is certainly going to be coming because we have already seen it. You fire Dave Martinez and you fire Mike Grizzo. Both those guys who are the constructors of the 2019 World Series champions Washington Nationals. They are no longer here. And honestly, that is a good thing. The Washington Nationals this season became very clear. You need a new change in leadership. You need a change in culture. And honestly, this was the cold water that the Nationals needed splash on their face. And boy, did they get it. This was probably the worst season for me as a fan, as a media member, and honestly for you as well because I kind of bought into the Nationals being like, “Hey, they might win 85 games, everybody. They might go in and win 80 85 games. They certainly believe it. They’re going out of their way to tell you that yes, we are ready to win. No more of this rebuild stuff. We’re going to take that next step up now.” And they took a step back. That was the ultimate slap in the face for I think a lot of Nationals fans out there. And this was the most disappointing season in my opinion since the 2013 Washington Nationals coming off the best record in the National League in 2012. And you missed the playoffs the next season with Bryce Harper and Steven Strawber and all the stars that they had back in 2013. The 2025 Washington Nationals again were the biggest disappointment as far as nationals teams in the past decade and it’s not even that close. Thank you all for making Lockdown Nationals your first listen every single day as we are free and available wherever you get your podcast. Next, I’m going to tell you why change is needed. It’s all needed, but change is not only just needed, but it’s also going to be coming. So, I’ll tell you what changes will be coming with the Washington Astros after this. And caffeine just got a flavor upgrade. 5-hour energy shots deliver tasty caffeine in 17 bold flavors. Each 2O shots pack the caffeine of a premium 12 oz cup of coffee plus B vitamins and nutrients with zero sugar and zero crashes. What I love most is how portable they are. Big taste, tiny shot. You can take it anywhere and get the boost that you need. So, I always reach for my favorite flavor, the lime fiveh hour energy. 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So stick around because in the third segment of today’s show in just a couple of minutes, I’ve got to talk about the legendary Bob Carpenters. It was his final sendoff for the Washington Nationals this weekend and he will have a new voice for Nationals baseball over on TV. So, let’s get into that later on in the show today. But, we start off again, got to talk about why change is needed. And it became very clear prior to this season that this could make or break Mike Rizzo andor Dave Martinez. And boy, did it break them both. When the Nationals laid off Mike Rizzo and Dave Martinez, it made sense. Quite frankly, the timing of it with Mike Rizzo was way more stunning than Dave Martinez. Dave Martinez lacked fight in my opinion. And I think this comes from someone who back in 2019, all we saw from Davey was fight. All we saw was that fiery manager that would have no problem getting up in the ump’s face to complain about a call to make different kind of waves elsewhere. He had that fiery passion. I think sometime this season he lost that because quite frankly going into what we were saying the first segment I think Dave Martinez believed that this team was ready to win and I think at some point in May it hit him this team is not ready to win. It is pretty clear and pretty evident. It seemed pretty obvious to me that Davey was a dead man walking. It felt as if watching him manage games at times that he knew that it was going to be the final game each and every single day. It felt as if he was waiting for Mike Rizzo to hold up that red phone, call him up to the manager’s office and fire him. That’s just kind of what it felt like watching Dave Martinez manage. And that’s what happened. And then there comes Mike Rizzo. Mike Rizzo, the track record of success is huge. He is a legend in DC. He is the reason why the Nationals had such an incredible run throughout the 2010s because of his leadership. But then you get into the most recent track record, no draft and development skills, no hits on first round picks. guys like Dylan Cruz who were supposed to be generational prospects weren’t putting up generational numbers and then all of a sudden the guns start to point at Mike Rizzo and you’re like this is kind of on you man. The lack of development under Mike Rizzo is the reason why there will be change going forward. And the reason why there has to be change is because the Nationals have fallen so far behind in what they have done. When was the last time that this team has solely developed an elite talent? Juan Sodto. That’s it. That’s the last time. Juan Sodto made his debut in 2018. I like James Wood and I love Dalon Lion. I love James Wood, too. I’m not like I love them both. Those are two success stories you could say of Mike Grizzo. You could say that. But what was going on outside of that? Brady House didn’t really do too much this season. Didn’t prove too much. Luis Garcia Jr., It felt as if he was always knocking on the door of being a good second baseman, but never got to that point this season. And outside of that, you extend Kar Ruiz, the worst catcher in all of baseball, offensively and defensively. What was wrong and what went wrong? Management is what went wrong. Lack of analytics is what went wrong. This is why change is needed. It felt as if when the Nationals just hired Paul Tobani this past week, they finally entered the 2020s. They finally entered the 2020s of analytical-minded baseball. They finally realized that, hey, we’re not running this ship like as if it’s a big market. And DC is a big market. So, if you’re not going to run it like a big market, then you better get a small market executive in here. You better get an analytical-minded GM in here. And even then, even if you are a big market, you have to have that balance of analytics and a scouting background. And that is why you have Paul Tammani here coming to DC. He has the amateur background in scouting. He’s got the analytics background with the R&D department. And also, he is a former player that played in the Pack 12 back in the day and made a College World Series. By the way, Paul Tobani is the change that the Nationals needed and change will be coming. You are going to see a better product on the field. You are going to see prospects develop at a rate that has not happened over the past decade plus. You are going to see day-to-day things that will be different. Different lineup construction, different managers, different coaches, different philosophies. Different is what will be the key word this off season. You have to focus on what went wrong in 2025 and the Nationals have to get right what they have lost which is not going in on analytics. The Nationals plan this season made it very clear they needed change. And it feels as if that the Learner family realized that as well back in early July when you lay off Mike Rizzo and Dave Martinez. So Nationals fans, let me know what you thought about the 2025 Washington Nationals. I truly believe that this was the most disappointing season by far since 2013. You can talk about 2020, that was a costricken year. 2021, similar to the same story. The Nationals were two games out of a a playoff spot, two games out of the NL East Trophy at that point in July and then got hit with Trey Turner and Kyle Schwarber injuries and Juan Sodto got COVID and Max Sherzer blew up in San Diego. I felt as if that this team and the expectations that they had were just too they might win 80 games turned into a oh my gosh they will likely lose a 100 games this season. Luckily, they didn’t. But man, when you lo when you lose five more games than what you did in each of the past two seasons, that is bad. And right now, this team again felt like the biggest disappointment in quite some time. But let’s spend some time talking about Bob Carpenter. We all saw his final weekend here in DC. Bob Carpenter is an absolute legend of Nationals baseball. Let’s talk about him. Let’s honor him after this weekend. I thought the Nationals hit it out of the park. We’ll talk about that after this. And yes, you have probably seen a million ads for hair growth products and thought, “Sure, like that actually works.” There are so many products out there and it’s hard to know which ones are actually going to do anything. That’s why you should give Neutrifull a closer look. Neutrifull is the number one dermatologist recommended hair growth supplement brand trusted by over one and a half million people. And now Neutrfil is the official hair growth partner of Major League Baseball. 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That’s neutrfull.com promo code locked on MLB. And thank you all for making a lockdown nationals your first listen every single day as we are free and available wherever you get your podcast. And yes, you may hear my voice is shot and quite frankly I’m sick and I’m sick of the 2025 Washington Nationals. I’m sorry I was sitting on that one. Um I just had to say it and I’m not. I love baseball and I love the Nationals. though. That is where we stand here today. And I’m still fighting through this episode for the locked on Nationals listeners out there. And I’m also fighting through this episode because I had to say goodbye to my childhood voice of the Washington Nationals and that is Bob Carpenter. Bob Carpenter this weekend was awesome. I think back to RFK Stadium when Bob Carpenter was here with the Nationals in ‘ 06. when the Nationals plucked him away from ESPN duties and also alongside guys like Joe Buck with the St. Louis Cardinals where he was the TV voice for them. Bob Carpenter in his days with the Nationals, he was electric. That tandem of Bob Carpenter and FP Santangelo back in the 2010s, don’t we all miss them? That was the time that is when you saw Bryce Harper win an MVP in 2015. When you saw Max Scherzer win Sai Youngs in 2016 and 2017. When you saw Max Scherzer throw his no hitters. Jordan Zimmerman and Steven Soua making that catch to complete the Jordan Zimmerman no hitter. The first of Nationals history. The 20 strikeout Max Scherzer game. the Curt Suzuki walk-off in 2019 with an epic comeback in the ninth. Everything when the Nationals first clinched their 2012 NL East title, Bob Carpenter was on the call for it. Bob Carpenter has been with the Washington Nationals since Alonso Soraniano was with the Nationals. He has gone from Alfonso Soraniano all the way forward to Jacob Young and making stellar catches in New York and Jacob Young stealing all sorts of things out there in center field. Bob Carpenter is the voice track of Nationals baseball. And to see this final weekend, to see what he has brought to DC and really just the steady consistency of having a great playbyplay voice with Bob, that is something that I think a lot of baseball fans take for granted. When you have someone in your house, figuratively speaking, for 162 days out of the year, that means a lot. I feel as if I know Bob Carpenter like he’s one of my good friends. I have seen him miss games when he is sick. I know when he drinks his coffee. I know when he has a soda in the fifth inning or whatever it is because I have watched him each and every single day since the year of 2006. And so now to finally see him walk away from Nationals baseball, when I say I don’t know anything else, I literally mean that we do not know anything outside of what Bob Carpenter has provided. And oh by the way, his stellar home run call. See you later. To see the Nationals honor him yesterday with a lot of see you laterers. I mean we saw Kevin Francon delivered a see you later. Ryan Zimmerman and guys and figures of the organization and figures of MLB uh playbyplay people around the country. You saw Donillo from the San Diego Padres’s. You saw the Mets broadcast booth. the Braves. Everyone honored Bob Carpenter in a way that made him feel special. Kudos to the Nationals on that. They did an awesome job for see you later day on Saturday. Having that 30 minute kind of ceremony for him before the game. Unfortunately, it was rained out and the Nationals had to go inside to do that ceremony, but it was awesome. It was truly awesome to see Bob Carpenter honored the way that he deserves to be. And whoever goes into this role, whether it be from outside the organization or inside, they have a tall task to manage here. Bob Carpenter is a legend of Nationals baseball. And when you’re in your next rain delay, if it’s with Massen or if it’s with Monumental or heck, even if it’s with MLB.com, when you see those Nationals rain delays, you’re going to hear Bob Carpenters’s voice. I can tell you that much because they will be playing those Madison Classics. They will be playing that random game when the Nationals played the Marlins in 2009 and Bob Carpenter will be on the call for it. So this weekend, while it sucked, you got to say goodbye to baseball in 2025, but you also got to say hello to New Beginnings with a big off seasonason ahead of us. We also had to say goodbye to the voice track of Washington Nationals baseball. And luckily enough, we still have Charlie Slows and Dave Jaggler, who in my opinion are a top broadcast booth in the game. and alongside Bob Carpenter who has been here since the beginning of 2006 or I guess a year after the beginning but 20 years here in DC and Bob Carpenter did not waste a second of it. He is a legend of Nationals baseball and to see him get the send off that he deserves this weekend made me happy. So kudos to the Washington Nationals and kudos to all the listeners out there who continue to support locked on nationals for a third consecutive full season. Awesome year to talk about this team. We covered the ups and we certainly covered the downs as well. But now we get to be optimistic again. We are in the off season and the Nationals have a big one coming. So stay tuned right here to Locked on Nationals and I will catch you guys on tomorrow’s show as we are officially in the offseason. So Nationals fans, see you later.

Disappointing is a light way to put how the 2025 Nats performed. Ryan gets into when he knew this team was in trouble, and what exactly went wrong with the Nats. As 2025 went on for the team, the team made a lot of changes that quite frankly needed to happen. Ryan discusses the changes with Davey Martinez & Mike Rizzo both being fired in July, and also gets into some more changes he wants to see… But I also have to see. This was the final weekend of Bob Carpenter on the call for the Washington Nationals, so Ryan pays his respect to the voice of Nats baseball since 2006.

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