Going Deep with The Nats

Grapefruit League play gets underway on February 24 for the Washington Nationals. But most of their position players have already reported to camp.

The Nats have their work cut out for them in 2024. The front office chose not to give out any multiyear deals this winter, going for cheap, short-term additions where they bothered to add at all onto last year’s 71-win team. It seems clear that if the Nats are to build on their 2023 showing, the improvement will come from top prospects like James Wood, Dylan Crews, and Brady House stepping up and making an impact in the major leagues. If they stumble, the Nats fall.

Alongside Wood, Crews, and House, the Nats have a mixture of non-roster invitees from further down the prospect charts and outside the organization in camp. They also welcome new players in Joey Gallo and Nick Senzel, two of just three free agents signed this past winter to a major league contract in Washington.

Here’s your guide to the new faces in camp this year on the position player side.

Spring training is once again upon us. Pitchers and catchers have reported, along with most of the rest of the Washington Nationals.

It has not been an impressive offseason for General Manager Mike Rizzo & Co. Many of Rizzo’s stated priorities heading into the winter have not been addressed, or they’ve been addressed very cheaply and by players who don’t inspire a great deal of confidence. But all around baseball, the offseason has moved slowly, and the Nats aren’t the only team that begins the preseason with an unfulfilled shopping list.

The Nats have chosen not to invite as many non-roster players to camp this year as they have in many past springs. However, they’ve also continued to add players on minor league deals even since camp opened earlier this week. More signings could yet follow, although Rizzo has said not to expect any more major league deals (the Nats evidently satisfied with the three one-year guarantees they’ve already handed out).

With that, let’s take a look at some of the faces Nats fans might not recognize: non-roster invitees and pitchers who didn’t appear for the Nats last season. We’ll take a similar look at position players in a second part of this annual feature.