The 2022 season marks a new era for the Washington Nationals. A disappointing 2021 season and an 8-18 record in July led to a fire sale at the trade deadline and seemingly an end to their championship window. We saw the departures of many of the 2019 World Series heroes in Max Scherzer, Trea Turner, Daniel Hudson, Kurt Suzuki, and Yan Gomes. Along with that, we saw many veterans find new homes in Kyle Schwarber, Josh Harrison, Jon Lester, and Brad Hand. 

As a lifelong Nats fan, all these moves hurt. I thought that Scherzer and Turner were going to end their careers here in the nation’s capital, but the front-office had other plans. The combination of a disappointing start and contracts expiring made the fire sale inevitable. Just two years ago, the Nats were on top of the world, overcoming a 19-38 start to become world champions. Now, that championship window has now seemingly closed. The organization is calling this a “reboot” instead of a “rebuild”, and this season will answer the question of which road we are going down. 

Despite these additions, expectations have been lowest they have been in the past decade. The Nationals have a lineup consisting of Juan Soto… and that’s about it. After Soto, the only other notable bats are 1B Josh Bell and newly acquired DH Nelson Cruz. Bell is coming off a fairly average season for Bell standards, batting .261 with 27 HRs. In order to make that trade for him be a success, we need to see 2019 Josh Bell make a return. For Nelson Cruz, the 41-year-old makes his first appearance back in the NL since his rookie year (Milwaukee Brewers). Cruz’s sole job for the Nats is to hit the baseball and hit the baseball he can. Last season, splitting his time between Minnesota and Tampa Bay, Cruz would bat .265 with 32 HRs. Maybe Cruz can bring that magic that Schwarber brought, who broke the franchise record for most home runs in a month. Not only does Cruz bring another bat to the lineup, but he also becomes a mentor for Soto and Bell. After 17 seasons in the major league, you pick up a few things along the way. 

In terms of pitching, the Nats will have a new name starting on the mound on opening day for the first time since 2012. With Max Scherzer gone and Stephen Strasburg still injured, we will see Patrick Corbin getting the nod against the New York Mets. Corbin looks to bounce back from an otherwise disappointing 2021 season, putting up a 9-16 record with a 5.82 ERA. Until Strasburg comes back, Corbin is our ace and hopefully he can fill that void until the former World Series MVP makes his return. After Corbin, our starting pitchers consist of Josiah Gray, Paolo Espino, Erick Fedde, and Anibal Sanchez. Our starters aren’t anything to drool over, but the name to watch is obviously Josiah Gray. The Nats acquired Gray (and Keibert Ruiz) in that trade with the Los Angeles Dodgers. With being a top prospect, and being traded for Turner and Scherzer, expectations are high. Gray didn’t come close to meeting those expectations last season, throwing a 5.31 ERA through 13 starts. With having a full offseason with the Washington pitching staff, you can only hope that Gray improves on those numbers. Another pitcher to watch is Washington’s top prospect Cade Cavalli. Last season, the former first-round pick started 24 games in the minors, where he had a 3.36 ERA. We expect Cavalli to make his first major league appearance at some point this season. 

The Nats also find a familiar face back in bullpen in Sean Doooooooooooolittle. After spending last season in Cincinnati and Seattle, Obi-Sean Kenobi makes his return to the nation’s capital. Hopefully he doesn’t pick up where he left off, as his last season with the Nationals (2020), he had a 5.87 ERA through only 7.2 innings pitched. After Doo, the Nats are hoping the entire bullpen can have a bounce back season. Players like Tanner Rainey and Austin Voth need to prove that they can be consistent major league players. 

All-in-all, no one is expecting this team to make a serious playoff run. The only thing we can hope to win is that NL MVP Award. This season is to develop the young players and hopefully build this team into one that can bring us back to the promise land.