The Nationals knew they needed to hit for considerably more power in 2025 to enjoy better results than they experienced in 2024. And they did manage to do it. It just took longer than expected. And still wasn’t enough in the end to produce a better won-loss record.
This final week of a difficult season, though, has shown what a difference legitimate power up and down a lineup can make. With three more blasts today during a 6-5 victory over the White Sox, the Nats have now launched 12 home runs over their last three games, bringing their season total up to 161, a 26-homer increase from a year ago.
They still rank in the bottom third of the majors, and there’s plenty of room for continued improvement in 2026. But as they look ahead, this unquestionably is a lineup capable of hitting for power with far more regularity than several previous versions were.
Today’s blasts included yet another big hit by rookie Daylen Lile, the hottest hitter on the team and one of the hottest hitters in the sport right now. And then it included back-to-back blasts by one guy not known for power (Jacob Young) and one guy very much known for power (James Wood), flipping the game for the home team in the bottom of the seventh.
A game that began 40 minutes late due to rain concluded in the rain more than two hours later. Just as the drops were beginning to fall in the bottom of the seventh, Young made it rain even harder with a moonshot to left field, a two-run blast that represented only the fifth home run of his career.
As the heavens opened up, White Sox manager Will Venable summoned left-hander Brandon Eisert to face Wood and paid the price for it. Wood drove an 88-mph fastball the other way, clearing the left field bullpen with room to spare for the go-ahead homer, his 31st of the season and fourth during this final week. (Wood added a tack-on, RBI single in the eighth to extend the lead.)
That part resembled Friday night’s wild affair, ultimately a 10-9 win for Chicago. The difference this evening: The back end of the Nationals bullpen hung on, with Konnor Pilkington and Clayton Beeter combining for three outs in a scoreless eighth and Jose A. Ferrer bouncing back from his blown save the night to record three outs in the ninth despite putting three runners on base (one of whom crossed the plate).
It was far too late for Jake Irvin to turn his season around. Nothing the right-hander achieved today was going to change the bottom line. But on the heels of a solid outing last weekend at Citi Field, this did provide him an opportunity to head home for the winter on a modest high note.
Alas, Irvin was done in by the same thing that did him in far too often in 2025: the long ball. Five of his six innings today were clean, the White Sox managing three hits but no runs in any of them. The other inning (the top of the fourth) turned into a nightmare thanks to a pair of two-run homers.
In each case, Irvin was one pitch away from escaping damage. He had Colson Montgomery in an 0-2 count before giving up a two-run shot to right on a 93-mph fastball. He had Brooks Baldwin in a 1-2 count before giving up a two-run shot off the foul pole on a curveball.
Thus did Irvin surrender his 37th and 38th home runs of the season, matching Josiah Gray’s club record set in 2022.
He also finished with a 5.70 ERA, matching teammate Mitchell Parker (who could still potentially pitch in relief of Brad Lord on Sunday) for the highest mark among all qualifying major league starters.
Irvin actually had been the beneficiary of some decent run support this year, which explains how he still was credited with a team-high nine wins. That wasn’t the case this evening, with the Nationals scoring only two runs while their starter was in the game, both of those coming on one big swing from a rookie enjoying a major September heater.
Lile stepped to the plate with one on and one out in the bottom of the fourth having already produced eye-popping numbers in the final month of his rookie season. But the 22-year-old continues to show he’s not pulling up to the finish line. He’s going to burst right through it into the winter.
When Lile launched a 98 mph fastball from White Sox bulk reliever (and former Maryland Terrapin) Sean Burke, he took off around the bases like he fully intended to go for his club record 12th triple. When the ball caromed off the top of the wall in right-center, Lile briefly slammed on the brakes rounding second, thinking he had only doubled. Nope, the ball actually cleared the wall for a homer, his ninth of the season, his sixth of the month (to go along with seven triples).
With that, Lile raised his batting average to .300 and his OPS to .848. That’s 40 points higher than Braves catcher Drake Baldwin, the presumed favorite for National League Rookie of the Year who has 92 more plate appearances on the season. There’s still one more game to go for Lile to finish making his case. At minimum, he should become the Nationals’ first player to receive votes for a BBWAA award since Juan Soto finished runner-up for NL MVP in 2021.