Washington Nationals Dynasty Sleepers, Breakouts, and Bust

With dynasty season ramping up, I figured it was time to talk about some sleepers, breakouts, and busts for each team. You can find my rankings and reports to see how I value players for your dynasty leagues, but I also feel like it’s helpful to truly identify whether I believe a player can be a breakout or not. Here is where I call my shots on players I think require a call to action in dynasty, whether it be to buy or sell that player.

While you are here, be sure to check out the updated Washington Nationals top prospect list, updated with new international prospects. Who is thriving and moving up boards? Which prospect has gotten the most buzz this spring? Check out the Washington Nationals Top Prospects!

Washington Nationals Dynasty Sleepers, Breakouts, and Busts

MLB Sleeper: Nathaniel Lowe, 1B, 29, 6’4”/220

Lowe is boring and a bit undervalued at this point. He is an OBP machine who could reach 20 home runs with his new team in Washington. He seems like a solid buy-low candidate, especially in OBP formats.

Staying on the field consistently from 2021-2023, Lowe did miss some time in 2024 due to an oblique strain. He still got 565 plate appearances and hit 16 home runs while slashing .265/.361/.401.

Lowe has been the model of consistency in the OBP category. His last four seasons have produced OBPs of .357, .358, .360, .361. If you look at the Baseball Savant page, Lowe won’t rock your socks by any means, having pretty low exit velocity data and barrel rates. But where Lowe does show good traits is in his 106 mph 90th percentile exit velocity. The contact and approach are both quite strong.

It seems like Lowe is a bit post-hype at his point and could put together a strong season for the Nationals in 2025.

MLB Breakout: MacKenzie Gore, LHP, 26, 6’2”/193

Once the top pitching prospect in baseball, the road was quite bumpy for Gore for a while, but he has found himself and looks close to a breakout. Posting a 3.90 ERA across 166.1 innings in 2024 was fine, but it also came with a 1.42 WHIP, which definitely hurt your fantasy teams.

Gore is what Nick Pollack would define as a “cherry bomb” because of the inconsistencies start-to-start. Through his first 11 starts, Gore had a 2.91 ERA that was backed by a 2.84 FIP. In June, Gore blew up twice for six and five earned run starts while sprinkling in a dazzling seven-inning, one-run, and ten-strikeout performance.

While there were rough patches, Gore finished his season with a 1.55 ERA across his final 40.2 innings with 45 strikeouts. There seems to be a common theme to Gore’s best starts, the curveball. When the curve is working and playing well with the changeup, Gore misses bats and has strong starts.

The four-seam sits 96 with above-average IVB from the release point but does not have a stand-out trait. The changeup and slider both have strong pitch-level traits and missed bats at 51 and 34 percent marks, respectively.

Gore is close, and 2025 could be the year he puts it all together.

MLB Bust: Keibert Ruiz, C, 26, 6’0”/238

Ruiz was quite a hyped prospect for years leading up to his MLB debut in 2021. The Dodgers traded Ruiz to the Nationals in the Trea Turner deal. Ruiz has shown flashes at times, but has yet to put together a strong season, although it is still early in his career.

He is a tough profile to evaluate. Sure, he hit 13 home runs in 2024, which will work from the catcher position, but he provides little behind the plate and has terrible quality of contact metrics. The 85.4 mph average exit velocity, 3.2 percent barrel rate, and 25 percent hard-hit rate were all 6th percentile or lower for MLB hitters.

Ruiz hits fastballs well and overall has a very solid hit tool, but he is hyper-aggressive and doesn’t walk and likely will see some home run regression unless he begins to hit the ball harder. This led to a .229/.260/.359 slash.

Sure, Ruiz won’t be a complete bust, but he is still being drafted top 200 on NFBC for redraft which is just too high for my liking.

Washington Nationals Prospect Sleeper: Jorgelys Mota, 3B, 19, 6’3”/170, A

Mota was a player I honestly knew zero about before seeing him in person with Fredericksburg. Signing in 2022 for $250k, Mota was part of the class that saw the Nationals hand a near $5 million bonus to Cristhian Vaquero.

Mota is a physically gifted, 6’3” athlete. I clocked him as a plus-runner on a home-to-first sprint. He played a strong third base and showed off a cannon for an arm. Mota’s swing can get long sometimes, and there is definitely a whiff in his game. But I was pretty impressed by what I saw.

He is not someone you will find on most lists, especially anything stats-related. However, as someone who began the season as an 18-year-old, he checked many boxes for me in a live look. The stats, however, were an uninspiring .216/.288/.292 with three home runs and 12 extra-base hits in 292 plate appearances between the complex and Single-A.

There are whiff issues that could be improved, but this ranking is more about keeping an eye on a player with intangibles that cannot be coached. With age, more power is likely to come, and we hope the contact will follow as well.

Washington Nationals Prospect Breakout: Angel Feliz, SS, 18, 6’3”/185, DSL

While not the highest-paid international signee by the Nationals in 2024, Feliz still received a $1.8 million bonus, the second most in Washington’s class. He spent the year as a 17 year-old in the DSL, where he put up quite impressive results, slashing .310/.381/.468 with four home runs and 27 stolen bases.

While we want to take DSL surface numbers with a grain of salt, Feliz has plenty of reasons to excite Nationals fans. Starting with an impressive, athletic frame, Feliz moves well for his size but still has a chance to add to his frame. While he does have solid present speed, Feliz is likely to continue to fill out his frame and add power, which could push him to third base.

While the swing can get a bit long at times, Feliz has shown some whiff against breaking balls but is an impressive fastball hitter for his age. The power is presently there and has room to grow with exit velocities, plus or better for his age.

How Feliz handles better breaking balls as he moves up levels will be telling. Right now, he looks like a power-hitting third-baseman who is worth an investment. Even if the speed does tick back, and he is a five-stolen base type, the power will play with respectable contact and plate discipline.