There’s already been a good amount of roster turnover for the Nationals since season’s end, with multiple veterans becoming free agents and several other notable players dropped from the 40-man roster earlier this week.

As the offseason gets underway, there are now four open slots on that 40-man roster, slots that could go to free agent acquisitions or in-house prospects ready for promotion. And if more slots are needed, there are a handful of current players who could still be dropped to create space.

What do the Nats currently have? What do they still need? Let’s take a look at the organizational depth chart as currently constructed to get a better idea of the state of things, going position by position. Players on the 40-man roster are listed first, with some minor leaguers not yet on the 40-man listed below them with an asterisk next to their names …

CATCHER
Keibert Ruiz
Drew Millas
Riley Adams
Brady Lindsly*
Onix Vega*
Caleb Lomavita*
Kevin Bazzell*

Comment: Ruiz was deemed the Nationals’ long-term answer behind the plate two years ago when he signed his $50 million extension, but there will be pressure on him to show real improvement after a disappointing season. Millas and Adams were on the D.C.-to-Rochester-and-back shuttle all year, neither seizing the job. And now that he’s arbitration-eligible, Adams could be a non-tender candidate later this month. For the first time in club history, the Nats used high draft picks on catchers this summer, selecting both Lomavita and Bazzell. Neither is going to be big league ready in 2025, but both are worth keeping an eye on.

ATLANTA – There’s big news today about Dylan Crews, if you haven’t seen it yet, but the top prospect won’t be making his major league debut until Monday. Between now and then, the Nationals have a three-game series with the Braves this weekend, and that’s a challenge in itself, even if Atlanta has been dealing with a ton of injuries and is no longer a shoo-in to make the playoffs.

This is a big start for MacKenzie Gore, whose once-promising season has been slipping away over the last two months. In his last 10 starts, the left-hander is 1-5 with a 7.09 ERA, with an ugly 38-to-29 strikeout-to-walk ratio. He’s got to find a way to throw strikes tonight, but he’s also got to find a way to throw quality strikes, keep his pitch count down and at least get through five innings having given his team a chance.

The challenge is no easier for the Nationals at the plate, because they have to face Chris Sale. The likely National League Cy Young Award winner frontrunner at this point with a 14-3 record and league leading 2.62 ERA. One of those losses, though, did come to the Nats back on June 7, when Sale allowed only two runs over seven innings but was outdueled by Jake Irvin in a 2-1 victory.

WASHINGTON NATIONALS at ATLANTA BRAVES
Where: Truist Park
Gametime: 7:20 p.m. EDT
TV: MASN, MLB.tv
Radio: 106.7 FM, 88.7 FM (Spanish), MLB.com
Weather: Clear, 81 degrees, wind 8 mph left field to right field

NATIONALS
RF Alex Call
LF James Wood
1B Juan Yepez
C Keibert Ruiz
DH Andrés Chaparro
2B Ildemaro Vargas
3B José Tena
CF Jacob Young
SS Nasim Nuñez

Upon returning to the dugout following his three-run homer Wednesday night, Luis García Jr. approached his manager with a wide smile.

“Before the at-bat, he had mentioned to me to look for a ball up,” García said, via interpreter Octavio Martinez. “And the pitch that I hit out was actually up. So I came back and told him: ‘It was right where you said.’”

It was both the latest example of García’s breakthrough season on the field and the relationship he and Davey Martinez have developed over years, helping make this breakthrough season possible.

No player on the Nationals roster received as much criticism from Martinez this spring as García, who after a disappointing 2023 was told it was time to either step up or risk losing his job. At the time, there was reasoned speculation Trey Lipscomb might soon supplant him at second base.

Five months later, García has a stranglehold on the job and has shown no signs of letting it go. The 24-year-old enters today’s series finale against the Rockies with a .294 batting average (sixth in the National League), 22 doubles, 15 homers, 62 RBIs, 19 stolen bases and a .794 OPS that leads all eligible regulars on the Nats.

He’s not the most important player on the Nationals roster, and there are others who probably have more to prove over the next two months. But make no mistake, this is an important stretch for Luis García Jr., who would love nothing more than to continue what he’s done so far this summer throughout August and September and state once and for all the Nats should consider him their second baseman of the present and future.

It was exactly one year ago when the Nationals were quite unsure about that and optioned a slumping García to Triple-A to send him a message that he was assured of nothing. And the way manager Davey Martinez talked about him this spring, it seemed clear García still was assured of nothing and the organization wouldn’t hesitate to go in another direction at second base if he didn’t perform.

Four months later, García has done just about everything in his power to put those thoughts to rest. His defense is tremendously improved. And after an up-and-down first half at the plate, he’s now turning into one of the team’s most productive hitters, which he certainly proved this afternoon.

"It's definitely paying off for him," Martinez said. "I see a different kid. More confident. Understands what he needs to do. ... He's playing really well."

During a 6-4 victory over the Brewers that got a bit too tense late, García went 3-for-4 with a homer, a double, a single and a stolen base. By day’s end, the 24-year-old's offensive numbers for the season were creeping up on those of double play partner and National League All-Star CJ Abrams.

OAKLAND, Calif. – It’s days like this, performances like this, that make you realize why the Nationals were so high on MacKenzie Gore all along.

The Nats have had promising young left-handers over the years. They’ve had guys with good fastballs. They’ve had pitchers determined to be the best.

But they’ve never had all of that wrapped into one package. Gore has everything going for him; he just needs to start putting it together on a regular basis. And on this day, he did.

With an unhittable fastball that overwhelmed the Athletics lineup, Gore struck out 11 in five scoreless innings, leading the Nationals to a 3-1 victory in one of the signature starts of his burgeoning career.

“It’s beautiful,” manager Davey Martinez said. “He goes out there and attacks the strike zone. He goes out there and competes. Hopefully, we can now see that consistency.”

Trevor Williams won the Nationals fifth starter’s job to begin the season not on merit so much as on track record, contract status and the fact his spring training competition (Zach Davies) did nothing to earn the job himself.

The leash on Williams, who statistically ranked as one of the worst starters in baseball last year, is probably short. But Davey Martinez wanted to give the veteran a chance to open the season in the rotation and hope he would provide some sense of stability for his young and developing ballclub.

Who’d have guessed the best outing by any of the team’s five starters the first trip through the rotation would come from the last of them to take the mound?

With 5 1/3 innings of two-run ball, Williams became the first Nationals starter to earn a win in 2024. And thanks to enough offensive support – including Joey Gallo’s first homer of the year – the Nats emerged with a 5-3 victory over the Pirates on a cold, rainy April evening on South Capitol Street.

Williams was far from spectacular, or dominant. But aside from a rough top of the second, he was effective, holding down a Pittsburgh club that was looking to improve to 6-0 for the first time since 1962.

FORT MYERS, Fla. – Joan Adon is back at Nationals spring training competing for a spot in the major league rotation.

His locker in the clubhouse is next to the regular starters. He’s being stretched out as a starter. And he works out with the other starters.

Even so, there is hardly an expectation when the Nats break camp for the regular season that Adon will be on the flight to Cincinnati for Opening Day. But he’s still getting a fair shot at it.

Adon took a positive step forward in his camp with three shutout innings in the Nats’ 7-3 win over the Twins at Hammond Field.

After mixed results in his first two Grapefruit League appearances, both of which came out of the bullpen, the 25-year-old right-hander finally made his first start of the spring. He only gave up two hits and one walk while being efficient with his five-pitch mix, throwing 40 pitches, 27 for strikes.

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. – The long weekend continued Saturday for the Nationals. After last night’s “weird game” against the Cardinals, they got ready for a split doubleheader against the Astros (as the away team) and Marlins (as the home team) at CACTI Park of the Palm Beaches.

The early morning and quick turnaround didn’t work out well for the boys in navy blue jerseys and gray pants.

The Nationals came out sluggish in the opening game and eventually lost 9-4 to their West Palm Beach neighbors.

After manager Davey Martinez emphasized last night the need to hit with runners in scoring position, the bats couldn’t drive in Luis García Jr. when the second baseman led off the first with a double.

Things started to come apart quickly from there. Or maybe they were never together.

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. – It’s been exactly 145 days since the Nationals last played a baseball game. That dry spell ends tonight, and even though it’s merely opening night for the Grapefruit League season, it’s still a whole lot better than not playing a baseball game, right?

The Nats’ first of 31 exhibition games over the next month is a Saturday night home game against an Astros club that shares the same spring complex with them. The recently renamed CACTI Park of the Palm Beaches will be re-dedicated, with Houston rap star (and CACTI hard seltzer founder) Travis Scott throwing out the ceremonial first pitch to Josiah Gray.

Then everyone gets down to business, and there’s plenty of business at hand for the Nationals. Here are some things to watch for tonight …

* Which regulars will play?
Davey Martinez didn’t divulge any details about his starting lineup in advance, other than saying CJ Abrams will be leading off. Most of the projected regulars should be playing as well, but we’ll have to wait to find out for sure.

It will, of course, be interesting (and perhaps telling) where a handful of guys are playing. Is Joey Meneses the opening night first baseman, or will Joey Gallo get that honor? If not, will Gallo be in left field? Are Luis García Jr. and Victor Robles both starting, and if so, will they feel pressure to do something of note in their spring debuts, given the tenuous hold each has on his respective starting job?

We’ve entered the homestretch of the offseason at last. Pitchers and catchers report to West Palm Beach on Wednesday, at which point the 2024 season begins in earnest.

So we’re going to spend these final days of winter previewing the top stories that are likely to play out at spring training. And one of the more intriguing ones involves a couple of still-young everyday players who could be running out of time to retain their jobs.

Neither Victor Robles nor Luis García Jr. enjoyed a positive 2023 season. Robles because he barely played due to a back injury that proved far more serious than initially believed. García because he regressed at the plate and in the field and wound up demoted to Triple-A for a brief while.

Entering the offseason, there was real reason to wonder if one or both wouldn’t be back this spring. Or, at the very least, if the Nationals might bring in some competition to push them.

At this point, that hasn’t happened. Robles enters camp as the starting center field. García comes to West Palm Beach as the starting second baseman. But neither should feel totally secure about his standing yet.

We’re not quite there yet, but spring training is drawing near. Pitchers and catchers report to West Palm Beach in a mere 18 days, and at long last the 2024 Nationals will begin to take shape.

There will be more optimism surrounding this year’s team than there was a year ago, with the organization hoping to take another step forward after improving from 55 to 71 wins. But how much better should we believe the Nats actually are?

Nobody’s going to try to claim this roster stacks up with the best rosters in the National League. The key question is: How does it stack up to last season’s roster?

Over the last few days, we’ve been attempting to answer that question, position by position. We started Friday with the pitching staff. Today, we look at the position players. So, do the 2024 Nationals look better, worse or the same?

CATCHER: Slightly better
The Nationals actually had one of the better catching corps in the majors, in terms of offensive production, last season. Their collective .729 OPS ranked ninth in the big leagues, and their 84 RBIs ranked sixth. Keibert Ruiz returns as the top catcher and will hope to take another step forward in his offensive game while also hoping to make a bigger step forward in his defensive game (which was lacking in 2023). Riley Adams enjoyed a highly productive season in a backup role, and it will be interesting to see if he gets more than the 158 plate appearances he took last year.

It took the entire day, but the Nationals did sign all four of their arbitration-eligible players to 2024 contracts Thursday, with Lane Thomas ($5.45 million) and Luis García ($1.95 million) agreeing to their deals prior to Major League Baseball’s 1 p.m. deadline, then Kyle Finnegan ($5.1 million) and Hunter Harvey ($2.325 million) agreeing to their deals before the 8 p.m. deadline to file arbitration offers.

With that, the Nats avoided any awkwardness – or even nastiness – that could have come from an arbitration hearing next month. The best takeaway from the day: The team and the players appear to have been on the same page on those players’ value to the club. That’s always better than the alternative.

The other notable takeaway from the day: The team’s Opening Day payroll is starting to come into clearer focus.

The Nationals now have 13 players signed for the 2024 season. The list is top-heavy, with both Stephen Strasburg and Patrick Corbin set to earn $35 million this year (though each is deferring at least $10 million until a later date, so their actual income will be closer to $25 million.

Four other players are signed for $5 million to $7 million: Thomas, Finnegan, Keibert Ruiz ($6.875 million) and Trevor Williams ($7 million). Everyone else makes less than $3 million, that list including Harvey, García, Victor Robles, Dylan Floro, Nick Senzel, Tanner Rainey and Ildemaro Vargas.

For the first time in a long time, there will be Nationals news today. Not news about the signing of a prominent free agent (unless Mike Rizzo has a surprise up his sleeve). But news about the status of four players who must either agree to 2024 salaries today or file for arbitration.

The four players on the clock today: Lane Thomas, Kyle Finnegan, Luis García and Hunter Harvey.

What’s actually happening today? Major League Baseball requires all players who are arbitration-eligible (between three and six years of big-league service time, plus a percentage of the most experienced players with less than three years) to negotiate and ultimately agree to their one-year salary figures. Anyone who doesn’t real a deal on their own must then submit a formal salary request, with the team also submitting its formal contract offer, and then an arbitration hearing is scheduled for February before a three-person panel which decides which offer wins.

The all-important caveat: Even if players and teams file for arbitration today, they’re still free to negotiate a deal on their own over the next month. And more often than not, those cases are settled before ever reaching the arbitration panel.

The Nationals actually entered the offseason with eight arbitration-eligible players. But Dominic Smith and Michael Chavis each was cut loose months ago, and Victor Robles ($2.65 million) and Tanner Rainey ($1.5 million) already agreed to their 2024 salaries back in November.

Baseball’s second significant roster deadline of the week comes this evening, when teams are required to tender contracts to all players on the 40-man roster who aren’t already signed for the upcoming season.

Tendering a contract doesn’t mean actually agreeing to a 2024 salary. That process can still take place over the next two months, with any cases that aren’t settled ultimately heading to arbitration. This first step merely involves a team indicating its intention to sign a player for another season.

And the vast majority of these cases are cut-and-dried. Almost everyone involved in this process will have his contract tendered by the end of the day. Anyone who doesn’t get tendered … well, that’s the real newsworthy event.

Dozens of players across the sport get “non-tendered” every year on this date. Most are arbitration-eligible and due to earn more money via standard raises than the club is willing to pay after disappointing performances, making them free agents who can then sign anywhere they like.

The Nationals used this to their advantage last winter. They not only non-tendered Luke Voit, Erick Fedde and Tommy Romero, they wound up signing two players who were non-tendered by other clubs: Jemier Candelario and Dominic Smith.

PLAYER REVIEW: LUIS GARCÍA

Age on Opening Day 2024: 23

How acquired: Signed as international free agent, July 2016

MLB service time: 2 years, 142 days

2023 salary: $739,000

MILWAUKEE – There's no question at the end of this weekend which of the two ballclubs that competed at American Family Field is headed for the postseason and which is headed home for October. The Brewers looked the part of a first-place team. The Nationals looked the part of a last-place team.

And yet every one of these games was there for the Nats to take. They just couldn’t find a way to take any of them in key, late moments. Until they finally did what they needed to do in the most critical moments this afternoon to pull out one victory at last.

Unable to convert on countless scoring opportunities throughout the game, the Nationals finally came through in the top of the 11th and escaped with a 2-1 victory over Milwaukee. In the process, they snapped a five-game losing streak and avoided falling to 20 games under .500 with only 12 left to play this season.

"Just a great win," manager Davey Martinez said. "The guys battled. We battled yesterday, and we're in a lot of these games. To finish a series like this, against a really good team, it feels gratifying."

This was shaping up to be an incredibly frustrating afternoon. The Nationals led 1-0 in the sixth, then gave up the tying run. They were in prime position to re-take the lead in the eighth, then blew that opportunity. They stranded a runner on second in the top of the ninth. They stranded a runner on third in the top of the 10th. They finished 0-for-9 with runners in scoring position.

MILWAUKEE – That the Nationals found themselves in this position tonight – tie game in the eighth inning – after the kind of start they got from Trevor Williams, was quite the surprise.

Truth be told, this game never should’ve been there for the taking, not after Williams needed an astounding 70 pitches to complete two innings and left his bullpen to pick up from there.

And yet, there it was, right there for the taking thanks to a yeoman’s effort from that bullpen and a lineup that scratched and clawed its way back from an early deficit to tie it up in the eighth.

Which perhaps only made the events that followed sting even more.

Kyle Finnegan, pitching for the first time in a week, loaded the bases in the bottom of the eighth, was one pitch away from getting out of the jam, then gave up the grand slam to Mark Canha that flipped this game right back to the Brewers, who wound up winning 9-5.

Riley Adams wasn’t overly concerned in the moment when he fouled off a pitch Wednesday night and felt something wrong with his left wrist. That’s not uncommon. Then he tried to take a practice swing.

“I went to grab the bat again, and it certainly felt more painful than I’ve experienced before,” the Nationals catcher said. “That’s when I was thinking something was up.”

Sure enough, Adams learned Thursday he had fractured the hamate bone in his wrist, an injury that will require surgery Monday and will end his season 3 1/2 weeks before he wanted. The Nats placed him on the 10-day injured list today and recalled second baseman Luis García from Triple-A Rochester to take his roster spot.

It’s a tough, and abrupt, end to a promising season for Adams. The 27-year-old finished with 159 plate appearances over 48 games as Keibert Ruiz’s backup behind the plate, hitting .273 with 13 doubles, two triples, four homers, 21 RBIs and an .807 OPS.

Hamate fractures, while frustrating, typically heal in six to eight weeks. That affords Adams plenty of time to recover and begin his offseason training program with no ill effects, though hitters have been known to need more time to see their power return once back playing on a daily basis.

It was an eventful off-day for the Nationals, who have made a roster move heading into tonight’s series opener against the Dodgers. Riley Adams unfortunately did break the hamate bone in his left wrist on Wednesday night, so he’s on the 10-day injured list and out for the rest of the season. Taking his place on the roster is Luis García, who was recalled from Triple-A Rochester and will get another shot to prove he has made adjustments since his demotion last month.

García is right back in the lineup, batting eighth and starting at second base. Keibert Ruiz is catching, but I would imagine we’re going to see more of Drew Millas down the stretch now that Adams is out. Lane Thomas also is out for the third straight game, his back still not fully healed. Thomas said the other day he expected to return “Friday or Saturday,” so he still has a chance to make good on that.

MacKenzie Gore, meanwhile, returns after going on bereavement leave and will be making his first start in 10 days. The left-hander looked like he needed a breather after that last outing in Toronto, so we’ll see if the extra rest did him any good. It’s not an easy challenge for him, facing a tough Dodgers lineup tonight.

WASHINGTON NATIONALS vs. LOS ANGELES DODGERS
Where: Nationals Park
Gametime: 7:05 p.m. EDT
TV: MASN2, MLB.tv
Radio: 106.7 FM, MLB.com
Weather: Chance of storms, 87 degrees, wind 8 mph out to left field

NATIONALS
SS CJ Abrams
DH Joey Meneses
1B Dominic Smith
C Keibert Ruiz
RF Travis Blankenhorn
LF Jake Alu
3B Carter Kieboom
2B Luis García
CF Jacob Young

Major league rosters expand to 28 players today, allowing teams to carry two extra players from now through the end of the regular season.

For general manager Mike Rizzo and the Nationals, there are a couple of different ways they can utilize the extra spots.

“We talked about a few things,” manager Davey Martinez said before last night’s opener against the Marlins. “Mike and the crew upstairs are really bearing down and figuring out what we want to do and which direction we want to go in.”

Teams are allowed to have a maximum of 14 pitchers in September. The Nats will call up one pitcher and have a 10-man bullpen at least for the weekend while starter MacKenzie Gore is on the bereavement list, which means he has to miss at least three games.

If Gore needs more time before returning, the Nationals will still be able to start Patrick Cobin on regular rest thanks to Monday’s off-day and the six-man rotation. The extra man in the bullpen also helps as added insurance. Left-hander Joe La Sorsa was activated to the roster yesterday to take Gore’s roster spot for now.