Washington Nationals Rising Rotation Star Showing Cy Young Potential

The Washington Nationals are heading into the offseason after a promising campaign in 2024, in which they saw a lot of development even as they only won 71 games for the second straight season.

This winter figures to be an interesting one for the Nationals. They have the ability to spend and have a young core of talent, which could make Washington a desirable destination for free agents once again. 

Washington’s win total figures to take a nice jump in 2025 if it can add some veterans, along with the improvement of its young core. The everyday lineup for the Nationals gets most of the attention with top young prospects in Dylan Crews and James Wood. However, they have some young talent in their starting rotation as well. 

Since the pitching rotation is fairly young, there was inconsistency throughout last year. One pitcher who has shown some signs of elite potential has been MacKenzie Gore. 

The talented southpaw came over as part of the Juan Soto trade and has pitched well so far for the Nationals. Recently, Bobby Blanco of MASN Sports wrote about Gore’s potential to be a Cy Young candidate in the future. 

From his perspective, the way that Gore finished the season allowed him to put up some of the best numbers of any pitcher on the roster.

“..he posted a 1.55 ERA and 0.910 WHIP over his final seven starts. When it was all said and done, he had the best ERA by any Nationals pitcher who made at least 20 starts, and the most strikeouts since 2019. If Gore can put his eclectic stuff together for a full season, he has the potential to be the Nats’ best pitcher since Max Scherzer and Stephen Strasburg.”

In September, the 25-year-old totaled a 2-1 record and 1.26 ERA in five starts. A month isn’t a small sample size, and Gore clearly has some elite potential. Considering he is still a young pitcher, becoming more consistent is a priority. 

While the summer months were tough for the southpaw, he shined to start and end the season. As the franchise heads into 2025, he should build upon how he ended last year. 

Competing for a Cy Young might still be a few years away, but he has shown glimpses that he can be an elite pitcher.