Nationals Fantasy Baseball Draft Preview | Keibert Ruiz, CJ Abrams, Lane Thomas, Joey Meneses, Kyle Finnegan and More
Discussing the top fantasy players from the Washington Nationals as the 2024 season approaches.
The fantasy baseball season is closing in quickly. FantasySP has published a number of articles about the top players at every position, and while those kinds of stories will continue until the regular season starts up, we wanted to make sure we covered as many fantasy players as possible, so it’s time to start looking at options on a team–by-team basis.
We’ve covered the Texas Rangers (hitters and pitchers), Oakland Athletics and Los Angeles Dodgers (hitters and pitchers) so far, and now it’s time to discuss the Washington Nationals.
Get ready for draft season! Check out our Mock Draft Simulator, Average Draft Position list and Draft Genius!
Top Fantasy Hitters
There are only five Washington players appearing in the FantasySP Average Draft Position list as of the time this article was written. Four of those players are hitters.
The first National off draft boards is catcher Keibert Ruiz. He ranks 103rd and has an ADP mark of 107.75.
Ruiz has played with Washington for the past two-plus years. In 2023, the catcher posted a .260 average and .308 on-base percentage, 46 extra-base hits (18 home runs) among his 136 total hits, 67 RBIs and scored 55 runs. He appeared in 136 games, which is a great number when you’re discussing a catcher.
He’ll hit in the heart of the team’s lineup, which is lacking a lot of firepower. That will limit what Ruiz can do as a run producer, and he already isn’t a huge power guy. But if you are looking for a contact hitter and want a catcher that is going to be on the field most days, Ruiz is a fine option in the 11th or so round.
Shortstop CJ Abrams is next up, ranked 129th with an ADP mark of 129.16.
He got a full season in the big leagues in 2023, flashing some signs of promise along the way. He finished with a .245 average and .300 on-base percentage. He totaled 138 hits, with 52 going for extra bases. He homered 18 times, drove in 64 runs, scored 83 times and stole 47 bases.
Those are really some pretty solid numbers across the board, but the low average has a lot of fantasy owners down on Abrams. He’s expected to hit atop the lineup, and as long as he can keep his on-base percentage above .300, he’ll have a chance to steal tons of bases and score plenty of runs. A bit higher average should help add to those numbers, and potentially make him a threat to go over 20 home runs.
If you miss out on some of the top options at shortstop, Abrams is a sneaky good option near his ADP. I’d prefer him as my top infield backup, or drafting him to be a utility starter, but if you draft well enough around him, you could potentially make things work with him as your top shortstop.
Lane Thomas is next up, ranking 190th and with an ADP mark of 154.33. He made 151 starts in right field and 11 starts in center, with just one start at designated hitter.
He was a good fantasy asset in 2023, hitting for a .268 average and getting on base at a .315 clip. He posted 168 total hits, with 67 extra-base hits (28 home runs), and drove in 86 runs. Thomas stole 20 bases and scored 101 times.
That kind of production is hard to find after the first few rounds of fantasy drafts, and that’s what makes Thomas one of my favorite value picks later in drafts. He should hit in between Abrams and Ruiz, which definitely boosts his fantasy stock. I like Thomas as your final starting outfielder, and if you draft him as your top backup, you are likely headed toward a big fantasy season.
The final Washington hitter to appear in our ADP list is Joey Meneses, sitting 309th with a mark of 222.
Meneses was the DH for 131 games last season. He made 19 starts at first base (so he should have some position versatility), along with one start in right field.
Across 154 games, Meneses posted a .275 average, .321 on-base percentage, 50 extra-base hits (13 homers), 89 RBIs, 168 total hits and 71 runs scored. He likely will hit either fourth or fifth for this year’s team.
This late in drafts, there’s really not much risk involved with taking a player. Meneses was a pretty solid fantasy asset last season, and if he can regain the power stroke he had in 2022 (13 homers across 56 games), there’s a chance one of your final draft picks is one of the season’s biggest draft steals.
Only covering four hitters means there’s five other spots for fantasy owners to keep an eye on this season. There’s a couple projected platoons, which take away most of the value, and a few of the projected regulars simply haven’t delivered consistently enough to warrant much fantasy buzz.
Joey Gallo is a boom-or-bust hitter, but could be useful if you are lacking home runs in a roto league. Luis Garcia Jr. showed some flashes of promise while playing in 122 games last season. Victor Robles is another potential option - he only played 36 games last season because of injuries.
There will be times where a couple lesser-known hitters get hot during the season. The FSP team will help you keep track of those players during the season, so be sure to keep checking back in.
Washington also has a couple of top-15 prospects (Dylan Crews and James Wood) that are expected to debut this season. Neither player has played at Triple-A yet, so they’ll likely need a little more minor league seasoning before getting the call.
Top Fantasy Pitchers
Kyle Finnegan is the only Washington pitcher to appear in our ADP list. He’s ranked 251st and has a mark of 175.
Finnegan is a contender to close games for the Nationals, although Hunter Harvey is also an option.
Finnegan had 28 saves a season ago. He went 7-5 with a 3.76 earned run average across 69 1/3 innings pitched. He struck out 63 batters along the way.
Not knowing if Finnegan will be given every closing opportunity makes it difficult to draft him at any point in a fantasy draft right now. A closer could be announced by the time your draft starts, but if it still hasn’t been announced at that point, you’d probably be better off looking elsewhere for saves. If you could draft Finnegan a few rounds later, then I’d be more on board with it.
Josiah Gray, MacKenzie Gore, Jake Irvin, Patrick Corbin and Trevor Williams are the favorites to fill out the starting rotation to start the regular season.
Last year, Corbin, Williams and Gray all made over 30 starts, with Gore at 27 starts and Irvin at 24. Corbin pitched the most innings (180), but also had a 5.20 ERA. Williams was at 144 1/3 innings and had a 5.55 ERA.
Gray had the best ERA (3.91) across his 159 innings. Gore had a 4.42 ERA across 136 1/3 innings, while Irvin had a 4.61 ERA across 121 innings.
As you can see from some of the numbers, these five all can eat some innings, but the stats that accompanied those innings weren’t all that impressive. They probably are all better as streaming options than players you’d take late in a fantasy draft, but maybe one of them will post a breakout season.
Cade Cavalli is another starting option for the Nats, although he’s expected to be out until around June.
It’s likely going to be a rough season for the Nationals, but a few players should emerge as solid fantasy assets at various points. Streaming the best pitchers and riding a hot bat for a couple weeks could help your team out more than you imagine, so don’t write off the Nationals just because their overall record is likely going to be ugly.
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