-1745819772711.png){kind=logo}
PLAYER REVIEW: NASIM NUNEZ
Age on Opening Day 2026: 25
How acquired: Selected in 2023 Rule 5 Draft
MLB service time: 1 year, 89 days
2025 salary: $760,000
Contract status: Under club control, arbitration-eligible in 2028, free agent in 2031
2025 stats: 39 G, 92 PA, 82 AB, 13 R, 19 H, 2 2B, 0 3B, 4 HR, 13 RBI, 9 SB, 1 CS, 8 BB, 20 SO, .232 AVG, .297 OBP, .402 SLG, .699 OPS, 97 OPS+, 1 DRS, 4 OAA, 0.7 bWAR, 0.8 fWAR
Quotable: “I see the comments. I see the things people say: ‘Can’t hit.’ And even for myself, it’s not about proving to everyone else. It’s about proving myself right. I really proved myself right. I have to be the one to believe I can hit. When you go out there and see it, it gives you a little more belief.” – Nasim Nuñez
2025 analysis: There was no question about the Nationals’ intended plan for Nuñez this season. After surviving the entire 2024 campaign on the major league roster and satisfying Rule 5 Draft requirements, he would finally get a chance to play every day at Triple-A and continue his development. That plan quickly got thrown out the window when both CJ Abrams and Paul DeJong were injured in mid-April, prompting the club to promote Nuñez to the big leagues.
He wound up with the Nats for two months, though there still wasn’t consistent playing time available to him. Nuñez took only 49 plate appearances between mid-April and mid-June, and he did little with those plate appearances, batting .186 with two doubles and a .503 OPS.
So, the Nationals sent Nuñez back to Triple-A with instructions to play every day and finally develop as intended. Admittedly frustrated with the situation and his own lack of offensive success, Nuñez struggled at first and even considered giving up switch-hitting. But at the urging of coaches and others in the organization, he stuck with it, made some changes to his left-handed swing and saw positive results. Over a 19-game stretch in August with Rochester, he hit .365 with a .425 on-base percentage, one homer and 18 RBIs.
That earned Nuñez another promotion to D.C. when rosters expanded Sept. 1. And he was given a bit more opportunity to play, starting 10 of the team’s final 24 games. Showing off that new swing, he managed not only to hit .282 but also to hit the first four homers of his major league career, proving he does indeed have the ability to hit for power. Combined with his already elite infield defense and baserunning skills, he wound up one of the most encouraging players at the end of an otherwise dismal season.
2026 outlook: Did Nuñez manage to play his way into the Nationals’ future plans with his surprising September? It certainly was an eye-opening performance, with a display of power potential never previously seen from him at any level of baseball. If he could continue to do that on a semi-regular basis while continuing to play great defense and aggressively run the bases, he could provide real value to the club.
The question is whether what we all saw in such a limited sample was a legitimate sign of improvement that can be sustained in the long run, or merely a fun burst of production unlikely to be duplicated again. Nuñez’s track record should leave everybody skeptical. This is a guy with a career .290 slugging percentage and .645 OPS across 1,820 minor league plate appearances. It’s tough to believe someone like that could suddenly become a productive offensive player at the major league level.
Nuñez does have some good underlying qualities as a hitter, though. He’s very patient, chasing only 21.7 percent of pitches outside the strike zone (well below the MLB average of 28.4 percent). He hit .394 (15-for-38) against four-seam fastballs, with all four of his homers coming off that pitch. He did not, however, have any success against breaking balls (.087, 2-for-23) or offspeed pitches (.188, 3-for-16).
All of this, of course, is based on an extremely small sample size. Nuñez may have shown enough in September to warrant a more extensive look in 2026, but the Nationals cannot and should not assume he’s ready to be a consistently productive big league hitter yet.
