The early buzz around Devin Fitz-Gerald was easy to understand. Washington liked him enough to have him on the radar in the MacKenize Gore deal with the Texas Rangers, and the infielder looked the part right away when he exploded for eight home runs during a 10-game road trip. That kind of burst pushed him from High-A Wilmington to Double-A Harrisburg and only added to the belief that the Nationals had another serious bat on their hands.
Lately, though, the story has changed.
Keith Law of The Athletic offered a blunt assessment in a recent scouting report, and it wasn’t flattering for the 21-year-old. “... he's swinging much more uphill now than he was at the start of the year, which is producing more swing-and-miss without more production to balance it out,” Law wrote.
“It's like watching a completely different player from the one I saw in April. ... I think he needs to reset his swing and approach to where he was before that fateful road trip, focusing on hard contact wherever it goes rather than trying to lift and pull everything.”
The numbers back up the slump. Entering Thursday, Fitz-Gerald was hitting .221/.295/.308 for Double-A Harrisburg. He had four homers, five doubles and 16 RBIs in 50 games, along with 15 walks and 57 strikeouts.
That’s a sharp drop from what he did at Wilmington, where he tore through 51 games with a .267/.373/.530 line. He added 12 homers, 11 doubles, three triples and 37 RBIs, while walking 30 times and striking out 42 times. The difference is obvious: he was controlling the zone far better then, and he was doing damage without selling out for it.
Even with the rough patch, Fitz-Gerald still carries real upside. The fifth-round pick in the 2024 draft is ranked No. 5 in Washington’s improved farm system, and while MLB Pipeline doesn’t have him in its top 100, some evaluators do. His early-season power surge made it easy to see why.
For now, though, the challenge is simple. Fitz-Gerald has to get his offense back on track, whether that means a full reset or some other adjustment. He’s too talented to keep producing like this, even while he’s facing a tougher level this early in his career.
In Other News...
Nationals First Rounder Is Giving Fans A Reason To Dream Early
Chris Hacopian is off to a promising start in High-A Wilmington, and the early returns are exactly the sort of thing that can get a fan base thinking ahead. The Nationals 2026 first-round pick has already shown a mature approach at the plate, posting a .263/.391/.342 line through 12 games with eight walks, eight strikeouts and a pair of stolen bases, while also showing some pop with his first professional home run.
For Washington, the intrigue goes beyond a hot first month in the minors. Hacopian is still years from the majors, but his status matters in a broader roster picture because a possible 2027 MLB lockout has already become part of the conversation around player development and flexibility. Players outside the 40-man roster would remain in the minors, which is one reason young prospects like Hacopian are being watched so closely as the organization builds for the future. [Read more 🡒]
Nationals Collapse Now Has CJ Abrams At The Center Of It
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CJ Abrams has become one of the players at the center of that conversation, not because of one isolated issue but because the shortstop has been asked to adjust while the losses keep piling up. The larger concern in Washington is no longer just results on the field. It is whether the group can restore some edge and accountability before the season slips any further out of reach. [Read more 🡒]
Rockies Rout Just Pushed A Slumping Team To A Public Breaking Point
An early lead quickly turned into another ugly afternoon for the Nationals, who were beaten by the Rockies and watched the game swing hard in the wrong direction. Washingtons August has been defined by inconsistency on the mound and a lineup thinned by injuries, and this one fit the pattern far too neatly after the club could not hold onto the opening momentum.
Blake Buteras postgame comments made clear how much the loss stood out even against that backdrop. The manager publicly questioned the teams effort and performance, a sharp acknowledgment from a club that has spent much of the month searching for something sturdier than flashes and frustration. With the skid continuing, the bigger concern is no longer just the score from one game but how quickly this group can stop the slide from becoming its identity. [Read more 🡒]