The Washington Nationals are the third Major League Baseball team in the U.S. capital of Washington, D.C. The first two were called the Washington Senators. The first moved to Minnesota to become the Twins in 1960 and the next version of the Senators left to become the Texas Rangers in 1971. It appears as the third team, the Nationals, will be a long-term fixture in the nation’s capital, moving from Montreal where they were known as the Expos from 1969-2004 before coming to D.C. in 2005.
Team Introduction
The Expos were at a big financial disadvantage for the final decade or so in Montreal, and the Nats finished under .500 from 2005-11. The team picked up after drafting pitcher Steven Strasburg and outfielder Bryce Harper and won the National League East in four of seven seasons with Harper. He left in 2019, but the team had excellent pitching with Strasburg and Max Scherzer and went on to win the 2019 World Series over the Houston Astros for the franchise’s first-ever title. Things, however, went quickly downhill after that title.
| Season | Record | NL East Rank |
| 2019 | 93-69 | 2nd (Won World Series) |
| 2020 | 26-34 | 4th |
| 2021 | 65-97 | 5th |
| 2022 | 48-88 | 5th |
* = Through September 6, 2022
Manager Dave Martinez, who won the world championship in 2019, is presiding over the rebuild, which went into full effect in 2022 with the trade of young superstar Juan Soto.
The Team
Juan Soto, who hit 34 home runs and drove in 110 runs as a 20-year-old in 2019, hit 119 home runs in his first 529 games, but he indicated to team management that he wouldn’t re-sign with the club once he became a free agent after the 2024 season, so he was traded to the San Diego Padres in August 2022. The Nats also traded first baseman Josh Bell and received pitcher MacKenzie Gore, first baseman Luke Voit, and four highly touted prospects.
The team has had some nice performances as of late from young players like Lane Thomas and Joey Meneses, who replace Soto and Bell in the outfield, respectively. Gore will help a rotation that’s struggled in 2022, as Paolo Espino is the only starting pitcher with an ERA below 4.50 on the team.
Washington Nationals Predictions
The big question for the Nationals is will this rebuilding effort pay off in 2023. The National League East is a deep division with the New York Mets and Atlanta Braves on pace for 100 wins and the Philadelphia Phillies playing well too. Miami is a young team, but they didn’t take the steps many expected of them this year. Washington may be expected to improve enough to pass Miami next year, but competing with the top three in the NL East will be a tough ask. We would expect the Nationals to be bigger players in free agency going into the 2024 season and contend for a playoff spot then.
We will update our predictions once betting odds are released for the 2023 MLB season.
The Schedule
The grueling 162-game baseball schedule is the longest in all North American sports, as teams play nearly every day for six months. The 2023 season starts March 30 at Nationals Park against the Atlanta Braves. Teams will play division foes 12 times instead of 18 starting in 2023, and all clubs will play at least a three-game series against every other team in baseball for the first time in the MLB history. The team will play four games total against geographic rival Baltimore (two home and two away). The All-Star Game will be held at T-Mobile Park in Seattle on July 11, and the regular season wraps up on Oct. 1 with the last of a four-game series in Atlanta. You can see the entire 2023 Nationals schedule here.
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FAQ’s
You can buy Washington Nationals season tickets or single-game tickets on the team website. The Nats team store, run by Fanatics, can be accessed here.
The vast majority of Nationals games are televised exclusively on MASN (Mid-Atlantic Sports Network) and MASN2. MLB has several national broadcast partners (ESPN, TBS, FOX/FS1) and streaming entities as well (Apple TV+ and Peacock). If you’re not living in the Maryland or D.C. area, you can see the games live as part of the MLB Extra Innings package on cable or satellite or the MLB.TV subscription service for streaming devices.
As explained here in greater detail, the state of Maryland does not yet have online sports betting in 2022. Currently, you can only bet on the Baltimore Orioles in person at casinos, but Maryland is expected to have online sports betting ready by Jan. 1, 2023. That means you will be able to wager online from a device anywhere in the state of Maryland for the 2023 MLB season.
