With 14 games left in the Washington Nationals’ 2026 season, the focus has shifted from the standings to the audition. The trade deadline, the Sept. 1 roster expansion, and the churn in the bullpen have opened the door for a fresh batch of players to make their case, even if the looks they get will be brief.
That makes the current snapshot at FanGraphs WAR especially useful. At the top, the list is mostly what you’d expect from players with larger sample sizes and steady production. The eye-opener is Andrew Alvarez, who has already worked his way to No. 5 on the team with just 95.0 innings and a +2.1 WAR.
There are other names near the top that qualify as pleasant surprises. Cade Cavalli sits at No. 2 and Jacob Young at No. 4, both of them entering the season as less obvious contributors. Dylan Crews and Brady House have also turned in surges that show up clearly in the positive-WAR group.
A second tier is now about figuring out what the Nationals actually have. Jorbit Vivas, Andres Chaparro, and Yohandy Morales are all sitting in positive WAR territory, which puts them squarely in the conversation as the team looks ahead.
At the other end of the board, the picture is much murkier. A lot of the players with negative WAR are already gone, while the ones still around will keep feeding the debate over what kind of role they should have going forward. That group includes Nasim Nunez, Jose Tena, Yovanny Cruz, Luis Perales, Abimelec Ortiz, and Clayton Beeter.
That’s a heavy dose of negative WAR, and it has to be read with some caution. Some of those players still have minor league options, and their struggles are on them.
But Paul Toboni has also pointed to a broader issue in the organization, saying, ❝ We need to be better in … developing these guys and putting them in better positions to succeed. ❞
That line matters because it suggests Toboni isn’t simply writing off the players as flawed. He’s also acknowledging that development and coaching have to do better.
Perales, in particular, is going to be a key test. He has the raw tools, and he was acquired in a 1-for-1 trade for Jake Bennett, who is a +2.1 WAR pitcher for the Red Sox.
Bennett, notably, owns the same WAR number as Alvarez.
Alvarez may be the clearest example of what the Nationals are trying to do with pitching development. The adjustments made with him stand out as a strong case study for the club’s pitching-lab approach. Jackson Kent, who has posted a +0.4 WAR in a small sample, is another pitcher worth watching closely.
The rotation picture has some encouraging signs with Cavalli, Alvarez, and Kent. But the smaller sample sizes can get distorted fast, especially when defense gets messy behind them.
In one case, a ball wasn’t caught in the outfield. In Kent’s start, a check swing that should have been strike three and ended the inning did not, and three runs scored after that.
Blake Butera was ejected after arguing the call on Kent’s behalf.
Jake Irvin’s last start had a similar feel. A ball was dropped at the wall, then a lazy underhand toss helped lead to three runs scoring on Irvin. Even so, it may have been his best start in months.
The larger point is that the Nationals are now playing for 2027 and beyond. That means more additions from outside the organization are coming, and Toboni should be expected to work both the free-agent market and the trade market.
Washington is not going to finish 2026 with a winning record, but the team has taken a step forward from 2025. That, at minimum, is real progress.
In Other News...
Nationals Avoided The Worst With Orlando Ribalta But Questions Remain
Orlando Ribaltas forearm scare could have been far worse for the Nationals, and for a while it sounded like a situation that might send a ripple through the bullpen picture. Instead, the right-hander was placed on the 15-day injured list after feeling discomfort, and the club at least got the relief of knowing the issue did not point to anything structural. Ribalta had taken a meaningful step forward this year, giving Washington a useful look at a pitcher whose performance had started to trend in the right direction.
Even with the best-case medical news, the timing is still frustrating for both sides. Ribalta is expected to be unavailable the rest of this season, which shuts the door on whatever role he might have carved out down the stretch and leaves his status focused on getting back to full strength for the next spring. For a Nationals team trying to piece together a bullpen, it also means one of the more encouraging internal options is suddenly pushed back to the offseason competition for a job. [Read more 🡒]
Eddy Yean Suddenly Has Real Stakes In Washingtons Bullpen Future
The Nationals are mired in a six-game skid on their West Coast trip, and amid the frustration, Eddy Yean has quietly re-entered the conversation in Washington. The right-hander was recently recalled and has already worked in eight big league games this season, giving the club a look at a pitcher who has generally managed traffic well with a 2.45 ERA and 0.91 WHIP.
Yeans latest outing was a bumpier one, a reminder that every appearance now carries a little more weight as the Nationals sort through the bullpen picture. Recalled in place of Zak Kent, he is not just trying to help steady the staff in the moment, but also to strengthen his case for a role in Washingtons bullpen picture moving forward. [Read more 🡒]
Nationals Just Lost Time On A Late Infield Test
The Nationals were in the middle of a late infield look when the roster took an unexpected turn. Nasim Nunezs absence leaves Washington with one less option to sort through as it continues evaluating how different defensive alignments might fit around the rest of the roster, a small but meaningful interruption for a team still trying to learn what it has.
In his place, the club brought back outfielder Andrew Pinckney for his second stint with the major league team. It is a practical move to keep the roster moving, but for Washington it also means the infield test that had been underway will have to pause for a few days while the team adjusts around one fewer candidate in the mix. [Read more 🡒]