The Washington Nationals finished 71-91 in the 2023 season. That’s still a fifth-place finish in the National League East, but it’s a big improvement from 2022.
Who to credit for the improvement? Many observers thought the Nats would fall well short of 70 wins this year, a mark they ultimately surpassed.
The purpose of this report card is to take a look at each position player on the roster and grade how they performed relative to reasonable expectations. Players like CJ Abrams and Keibert Ruiz are considered franchise cornerstones; did they live up to the hype? Players like Jacob Young and Blake Rutherford knocked down the door after strong minor league seasons; how did they acquit themselves in their major league debuts?
The standing assumption here is that if a player was called up to the major leagues, he was called up because the Nats believed he had a chance to succeed in his assigned role. Put another way: Anyone on this list could have earned any grade. A player with a limited ceiling isn’t limited to a low grade because he’s never going to be a Bryce Harper or a Juan Soto. Failing grades are reserved for players who got a chance and did not thrive.
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