It’s finally here: real baseball. With the MLB regular season getting underway, we’ve finally made it through spring training and back into meaningful games.

Before the first pitch is thrown, though, it’s time to take a look at what happened over the last few weeks and take stock of what we have learned about this year’s Nationals team.

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It’s a different team from 2025, but that doesn’t mean it’s better

Washington has made plenty of changes since the 2025 season ended, ranging from the offseason blockbuster trade of Mackenzie Gore to more recent deals for pieces like Jorbit Vivas from the Yankees. One thing is for certain: this won’t be the same team as last year.

It still probably won’t be a good one, though.

While there were some exciting developments throughout the spring, including the emergence of Brady House and some exciting options for the starting rotation, many of the team’s most important pieces struggled. James Wood hit to a .472 OPS, CJ Abrams .661 and Keibert Ruiz .600.

Dylan Crews slumped his way to an atrocious OPS of .309, a performance that has him starting the season in AAA instead of the majors. It was a dramatic move, but it seemed necessary given Crews’ inability to generate quality at-bats.

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On the pitching side, there were some bright spots as Cade Cavalli emerged as a potential ace and other arms such as Brad Lord put together quality outings. But there were also valleys to go with the peaks, such as struggles from Zack Littell and Miles Mikolas.

This year’s team could be a step forward, but don’t expect a truly competitive squad just yet.

James Wood is something of a question mark

On paper, James Wood had a terrible spring. He struck out 19 times in 48 at-bats, and had a sub-.500 OPS.

At the same time, though, Wood had several games where he hit the ball hard, including a late-spring training outing with five batted balls with exit velocities well north of 100 miles per hour.

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The talent is undeniable with Wood. He has all the tools to be successful, is just 23, and had a stellar first half of the 2025 season.

The bad tendencies, namely the high strikeout rates, also rear their heads frequently, though. Only time will tell which version of Wood will show up for the season.

Dylan Crews is approaching bust territory, but isn’t there yet

There’s no sugarcoating the fact that Dylan Crews has been disappointing since being drafted by the Nationals second overall in 2023 (surrounded by stars and incredible prospects). He has a career on-base percentage well south of .300, a batting average of .211 and a power stroke that hasn’t really shown up with just 13 long balls in 412 at-bats.

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This spring hasn’t been kind to him either. As mentioned before, Crews posted an almost unbelievably bad slash line that saw him sent down to the minors for the start of the season. Considering his high draft position and (somehow) higher expectations, the word “bust” is starting to float into conversations about Crews.

It’s not yet time for that, though.

Crews is far from a lost cause. He is still the guy who dominated at LSU and earned rave reviews as a prospect. He also is still just 24 years old, far from over the hill.

While things are not looking great, it’s not time to give up on Dylan Crews yet. But he will have to take a significant step forward this season.