2022 Washington Nationals season
The 2022 Washington Nationals season is the Nationals' 18th season as the baseball franchise of Major League Baseball in the District of Columbia, the 15th season at Nationals Park, and the 54th since the original team was started in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. On December 2, 2021, Commissioner of Baseball Rob Manfred announced a lockout of players, following expiration of the collective bargaining agreement (CBA) between the league and the Major League Baseball Players Association (MLBPA). On March 10, 2022, the MLB and MLBPA agreed to a new collective bargaining agreement, thus ending the lockout. Opening Day  is scheduled for April 7. Although MLB previously announced that several series would be cancelled due to the lockout, the agreement provides for a 162-game season, with originally canceled games to be made up via doubleheaders. Offseason. Lockout. The expiration of the league's collective bargaining agreement (CBA) with the Major League Baseball Players Association occurred on December 1, 2021 with no new agreement in place. As a result, the team owners voted unanimously to lockout the players stopping all free agency and trades. The parties came to an agreement on a new CBA on March 10, 2022. Rule  changes. Pursuant to the new CBA, several new rules were instituted for the 2022 season. The National League will adopt the designated hitter full-time, a draft lottery will be implemented, the postseason will expand from ten teams to twelve, and advertising patches will appear on player uniforms and helmets for the first time. Team news. After finishing with the fifth-worst record in Major League Baseball (65–97) in the 2021 season, the Nationals are expected to draft fifth overall in the 2022 Major League Baseball draft, barring a change in the draft order under a new collective bargaining agreement . Despite the Nationals' losing record and poor pitching performances in 2021, manager Dave Martinez announced that pitching coach Jim Hickey would return for a second year in 2022; Martinez himself will return for a fifth season, along with most of the 2021 coaching staff. "The Washington Post" reported that first base coach Randy Knorr and third base coach Bob Henley would not return to the major league field staff, instead becoming the catching and field coordinators for the Nationals' player development system, following the departure of a number of coaches and coordinators late in the 2021 season. With hitting coach  Kevin Long's one-year contract expiring, "The Athletic" reported that he would join the Philadelphia Phillies coaching staff, replacing former Nationals coach Joe Dillon, who returned to Washington as the organization's new minor league hitting coordinator. To replace Long, the Nationals announced the hiring of veteran hitting coach Darnell Coles, most recently of the Arizona Diamondbacks, on October 18, 2021. The Nationals hired former professional outfielder and Seattle Mariners minor league coach Eric Young Jr. as their first base coach later that month. The day after the 2021 World Series ended, on November 3, the Nationals announced the  hiring of two new coaches previously with the New York Mets: third base coach Gary DiSarcina and bullpen coach Ricky Bones, with incumbent bullpen coach Henry Blanco moving to a newly created position as catching and strategy coach. The Nationals also replaced head strength and conditioning coach Matt Eiden, promoting Tony Rogowski from a minor league coordinator position to take on the major league coaching job. Minor league pitching coach Sam Narron was named pitching coordinator for the entire player development system, paired with Knorr and Henley in their new development roles. The Nationals also hired former major league outfielder  Coco Crisp as outfield and baserunning coordinator, along with former minor league manager José Alguacil as infield coordinator and former major league infielder Bill Mueller as quality control coordinator. De Jon Watson, previously a special assistant to general manager Mike Rizzo, was named as the Nationals' new director of player development after assistant general manager Mark Scialabba, who had overseen player development for the Nationals since 2013, was reassigned to focus on player personnel. Organizational stalwart Spin Williams was joined by former Mets bench coach Dave Jauss as senior advisor to Watson in his new player development role. Under Watson , the Nationals made a major expansion to their minor league player development staff over the offseason, creating fourteen new positions and hiring more than 20 new staff members. Catcher Alex Avila, left-handed pitcher Luis Avilán, first baseman Ryan Zimmerman, infielders Alcides Escobar and Jordy Mercer, and outfielder Gerardo Parra were set to become unrestricted free agents following the 2021 season. Three of those players retired, while the other three returned to the organization on new contracts. Avila announced on September 19, 2021, that he would retire from professional baseball. Zimmerman, the Nationals' longest-tenured player and first pick in  the 2005 draft, announced his retirement on February 15, 2022. Mercer announced he was retiring as well on April 5, 2022. The Nationals announced a $1 million extension for Escobar through the 2022 season on October 5, 2021, days after the end of the regular season. Avilán signed a new minor league deal in November to remain with the Nationals as he continued to rehab from Tommy John surgery. Parra also signed a minor league deal with an invitation to spring training. Additionally, the Nationals saw left-handed pitchers Alberto Baldonado and Sean Nolin and right-handed pitchers Steven  Fuentes and Kyle McGowin depart as minor league free agents after they were outrighted to the Triple-A Rochester Red Wings. Baldonado, Fuentes, and Nolin signed new minor league contracts to return to the Nationals organization, although the Nationals later released Nolin so he could sign with the Kia Tigers of the KBO League in South Korea. The Nationals entered the offseason with ten players expected to be eligible for salary arbitration: right-handed pitchers Erick Fedde, Ryne Harper, Tanner Rainey, Joe Ross, Wander Suero, and Austin Voth, first baseman Josh Bell, and outfielders Víctor Robles, Juan Soto, and Andrew  Stevenson. They avoided arbitration with Stevenson on November 29, signing him to an $850,000 non-guaranteed salary. Harper and Suero were not tendered new contracts, nor was first baseman Mike Ford, who was not eligible for arbitration. The Nationals settled with Bell, Fedde, Rainey, Ross, Soto, and Voth on March 22, 2022, and with Robles on April 3. Free agents linked to the Nationals in media reports included left-handed pitcher Andrew Heaney (most recently of the Los Angeles Angels; ultimately signed with the Los Angeles Dodgers); and outfielders Kyle Schwarber (most recently of the Boston Red Sox; ultimately  signed with the Philadelphia Phillies), Seiya Suzuki (posted by the Hiroshima Toyo Carp of Nippon Professional Baseball; ultimately signed with the Chicago Cubs), and Chris Taylor (most recently of the Los Angeles Dodgers; ultimately re-signed with the Dodgers). For their first offseason acquisition, the Nationals claimed rookie left-handed reliever Francisco Pérez off waivers from the Cleveland Guardians on November 5, 2021. Washington also claimed infielder Lucius Fox from the interleague-rival Baltimore Orioles on November 30, furthermore signing free agent infielder César Hernández the same day. The offseason was brought to a virtual halt as Nationals principal owner  Mark Lerner and 29 other team owners voted unanimously to institute a lockout, due to the expiration of the collective bargaining agreement that had been in effect since the 2016 season on December 1, 2021. During the lockout, the Nationals continued to sign players to minor league contracts, including veteran infielders Dee Strange-Gordon and Maikel Franco and outfielder Rusney Castillo, and acquired another player with major league experience, infielder Andrew Young, from the Arizona Diamondbacks in the minor league portion of the Rule 5 draft. The lockout was in effect for 99 days, delaying the start of spring training  and forcing some games in the regular season to be rescheduled, before owners voted unanimously to lift it after a new collective bargaining agreement was agreed to March 10, 2022. Following the lockout, the Nationals signed infielder Ehire Adrianza and right-handed reliever Steve Cishek to major league deals announced March 14, 2022. The Nationals also brought back reliever Sean Doolittle, who served as the team's closer for parts of the 2017, 2018, and 2019 seasons and departed as a free agent after the 2020 season, announcing a one-year major league pact with the left-hander on March  16. Nelson Cruz signed a one-year deal with the Nationals that was announced the following day, filling Washington's need at the new designated hitter lineup spot. With an open roster spot due to third baseman Carter Kieboom spraining his ulnar collateral ligament of the elbow and landing on the 60-day injured list, the Nationals claimed former first-round pick Hunter Harvey, a right-handed pitcher, off waivers from the San Francisco Giants on March 21. Spring training. The Nationals held spring training at their facility at The Ballpark of the Palm Beaches in West Palm Beach, Florida , which they share with the Houston Astros in their sixth year at the facility. Non-roster participants in major league spring training for the Nationals included right-handed pitchers Víctor Arano, Cade Cavalli, Carl Edwards Jr., Jace Fry, Reed Garrett, Erasmo Ramírez, Jefry Rodríguez, Jackson Rutledge, Aaron Sanchez, Aníbal Sánchez, and Jordan Weems; left-handed pitchers Luis Avilán, Alberto Baldonado, and Matt Cronin; catchers Taylor Gushue, Chris Herrmann, Drew Millas, and Israel Pineda; infielders Jackson Cluff, Maikel Franco, Jake Noll, Adrián Sánchez, Dee Strange-Gordon, Richard Ureña, and Andrew Young; and outfielder Gerardo Parra. Right-handed reliever Tyler Clippard, who  pitched with the Nationals for seven years through the 2014 season, was a late addition to the list of non-roster invitees, signing a minor league deal with Washington announced March 26. Several Nationals players dealt with injuries during spring training. Carter Kieboom, expected to contend for an everyday role again as Washington's third baseman, landed on the 60-day injured list after being diagnosed with a flexor mass strain and partially torn UCL in his right arm. Ehire Adrianza, signed in the offseason as a utilityman, injured his quadriceps while running the bases in an exhibition game and  landed on the 10-day injured list. Reliever Will Harris, in the final year of an injury-plagued three-year contract with Washington, appeared in just one game before being sidelined with lingering issues from his 2021 thoracic outlet surgery. Harris left camp early and underwent another surgery on his arm to remove scar tissue that was impinging upon a nerve. He was placed on the 60-day injured list as well. Staff ace Stephen Strasburg and pitching prospect Seth Romero also went to the injured list to begin the season, with Strasburg on the 10-day IL for continuing  rehab from thoracic outlet surgery and Romero on the 60-day IL with a left calf strain. Andrew Stevenson, in contention for a bench spot as an outfielder, was cut from the team roster on April 2. The Nationals outrighted Stevenson, who was ineligible for optional assignment, to the Triple-A Rochester Red Wings. Stevenson's roster spot went to Aníbal Sánchez, who was initially a non-roster invitee in his return to the Nationals organization after previously pitching for Washington in the 2019 and 2020 seasons. The Nationals also gave Arano, Franco, and Strange-Gordon spots on the Opening  Day roster, as well as promoting prospects Joan Adon and Lucius Fox after they impressed during spring training. Relief prospect Gabe Klobosits was designated for assignment in a corresponding move. In Grapefruit League play against other teams with spring training complexes in South Florida, the Nationals went 4–11. Regular season. Opening Day. The Nationals opened their 2022 season hosting the New York Mets on April 7. The Mets were set to send ace Jacob deGrom to the mound as their Opening Day starter, but deGrom landed on the injured list with shoulder tightness in spring training. Former National Max Scherzer  was unavailable for New York as he was coming off a minor hamstring injury, leaving him on track for the second start of the series. With his top two options off the table, Mets manager Buck Showalter handed the ball to Tylor Megill for his first Opening Day start. With their own staff ace, Stephen Strasburg, sidelined as he continued to work his way back from surgery to alleviate thoracic outlet syndrome, the Nationals turned to left-hander Patrick Corbin—who had one previous Opening Day start to his name, in 2018 for the Arizona Diamondbacks—to oppose Megill. For  four innings, Corbin and Megill were locked in a pitchers' duel. Corbin got some help from his defense in the fourth inning, as center fielder Víctor Robles, shortstop Alcides Escobar, and catcher Keibert Ruiz connected on a pair of strong throws home to cut down slugging first baseman Pete Alonso as he attempted to score on a base hit by Mets third baseman Eduardo Escobar. Things unraveled quickly for the Nationals starter in the fifth, however, starting with a perfectly placed bunt against the shift by second baseman Robinson Canó. Center fielder Mark Canha walked and left fielder Jeff McNeil  singled to load the bases with nobody out. Corbin overthrew a slider that hit catcher James McCann in the foot, forcing in the game's first run. Making his Nationals debut and first major league appearance since the 2019 season, right-hander Víctor Arano came on in relief of Corbin. The Mets scored on a fielder's choice handled by third baseman Maikel Franco to make the score 2–0, before Arano induced an inning-ending double play, Franco unassisted to first baseman Josh Bell. With Canha and McNeil's back-to-back RBI singles, the Mets pushed across two more  runs in the sixth inning against another reliever, Austin Voth. Having pitched five scoreless innings to put himself in line for the win, Megill did not come back out for the sixth inning, with Showalter replacing him with reliever Trevor May. Facing Washington's superstar right fielder, Juan Soto, May gave up a towering home run into the second deck off a fastball, swatting at the air in frustration as the home crowd erupted. With the Nationals now on the board, 4–1, May limited the damage from the inning. Two-out singles by Bell and Ruiz put runners on the  corners, but May got left fielder Lane Thomas to ground into a fielder's choice, ending the threat. The Mets scored one more in the seventh off Andrés Machado, as shortstop Francisco Lindor singled home designated hitter J. D. Davis after Davis' leadoff double. For the Nationals, however, the scoring was over. New York relievers Adam Ottavino, Seth Lugo, and Edwin Díaz combined to throw three innings without allowing a hit, and the Nationals did nothing with the two walks they managed over the game's back third. In the ninth inning, an errant fastball from Nationals reliever Mason Thompson  struck Alonso in the face, prompting Showalter to immediately take Alonso out of the game. Alonso suffered a split lip but escaped serious injury. Thompson struck out the other three batters he faced in the inning. Díaz walked Thomas with one out in the bottom of the ninth, but Franco struck out and Escobar popped out to second to end the game. April. Following their 5–1 loss on Opening Day, the Nationals' lives didn't immediately get any easier. They welcomed their former ace of seven seasons, three-time Cy Young Award winner Max Scherzer, now wearing the blue and  orange colors of the division-rival New York Mets, back to Nationals Park on April 8. While his fastball wasn't at his best and he allowed several hard-hit balls, Scherzer led the Mets past his former team, giving up three runs over six innings—two coming on a fourth-inning homer into the second deck by Nationals first baseman Josh Bell. The Nationals' Josiah Gray, whom the team had acquired by trading Scherzer to the Los Angeles Dodgers the previous July, pitched very well through two innings before the Mets solved him. Gray ultimately gave up four runs  before departing in the fifth inning. Another run would have scored off Gray in the fourth inning if not for a strong throw home by center fielder Dee Strange-Gordon, making his season debut and first appearance in the major leagues since the 2019 season, to nail baserunner Robinson Canó. After Nationals pitchers hit Mets catcher James McCann twice and first baseman Pete Alonso once on Opening Day, New York manager Buck Showalter and the Mets bench reacted angrily when a fastball from Nationals reliever Steve Cishek sailed up and out of the zone, catching star shortstop Francisco Lindor on  the chinflap of his helmet as Lindor squared to bunt in the fifth. Cishek and Nationals third base coach Gary DiSarcina were ejected from the game after the umpiring crew determined they were the "aggressors" in the benches-clearing squabble that ensued, although no punches were thrown and no one was injured. Left-hander Sean Doolittle entered in relief after Cishek's ejection, making his season debut and first game appearance with the Nationals since the 2020 season, and retired the side to quell the scoring threat. Three singles off reliever Víctor Arano in the sixth inning expanded the Mets ' lead to three runs, and after a brief rain delay in the ninth inning, reliever Paolo Espino gave up one more run to give the game its final score of 7–3. Continuing a pattern, Nationals rookie Joan Adon pitched quite well to begin his outing on April 9, opposing Mets right-hander Chris Bassitt. But after Bassitt pitched out of a fourth-inning jam, striking out left fielder Lane Thomas and inducing an inning-ending flyout by third baseman Maikel Franco, a flagging Adon finally cracked in the top of the fifth. He got ahead of but couldn't put  away Lindor, walking him on a full count to load the bases with one out, and the next batter, Alonso, crushed a fastball into the seats for a grand slam. The Nationals were shut out, 5–0, with one more run crossing the plate on a wild pitch by reliever Andrés Machado in the ninth. The Nationals lost the services of another reliever, Mason Thompson, who left the game after pitching to just one batter and was placed on the 10-day injured list the following day with a right biceps strain. Right-hander Hunter Harvey was recalled from the Triple -A Rochester Red Wings to replace Thompson on the roster. The Nationals salvaged the four-game series and earned their first win of the season with a come-from-behind effort on April 10. Trailing 2–1 in the eighth inning—an early Nelson Cruz home run off Mets starter Carlos Carrasco was neutralized by a Lindor solo shot off Nationals starter Erick Fedde, then an RBI single by right fielder Mark Canha that bounced in and out of his Washington counterpart Juan Soto's glove—the Nationals rallied, loading the bases and scoring the tying run on a safety squeeze  bunt up the first base line by shortstop Lucius Fox, in Fox's major league debut. Cruz collected two more RBIs with a sharp grounder up the middle, putting Washington on top. Tanner Rainey closed out the Mets in order in the ninth inning to earn his first save of the season. Aníbal Sánchez, ticketed as the Nationals' fifth starter after making the team as a non-roster invitee to spring training, landed on the injured list with a cervical nerve impingement before he could make his first start on April 11, as the Nationals traveled to Atlanta to play  the defending world champions and their division rivals, the Braves. To replace Sánchez on the roster, the Nationals recalled Josh Rogers from Rochester and tabbed him with the spot start. Rogers rewarded Washington by pitching into the sixth inning, allowing just one run on two hits, and became the first Nationals starting pitcher of the season to earn a win. While the Braves struck first with an RBI single by Marcell Ozuna in the first inning, the Nationals answered with five runs in the third inning—capped by Franco's first home run of the season, a no-doubt two -run blast to left—and never looked back. Atlanta's bullpen combined to give up six more runs, three more of them batted in by Franco, while Arano and Harvey shut out the Braves through the eighth inning. Facing reliever Patrick Murphy in the ninth, the Braves scratched across one more run, but Murphy completed the inning to seal an 11–2 road win. Atlanta flipped the script in the second game of the three-game series on April 12. Rookie right-hander Bryce Elder, making his major league debut as the Braves' starter, bounced back after giving up a run  in the first inning to stymy the Nationals over the next four innings, finally running out of steam in the sixth inning as he gave up back-to-back-to-back extra base hits, including long homers to left by Soto and Bell. On the other side of the ledger, the Braves sacked Nationals left-hander Patrick Corbin in his second start of the season, chasing him in the third inning. After Corbin gave up six runs, all earned, reliever Austin Voth provided little relief as he was charged with four more runs. One of those runs was awarded to  the Braves on what "The Washington Post" described as a "circus play", in which the Nationals defense botched a rundown attempt and catcher Keibert Ruiz was charged with an interference error when he collided with baserunner Guillermo Heredia in between third base and home plate. After homering off Voth, Braves left fielder Marcell Ozuna took Espino deep, as the long reliever gave up three more runs. In just his second appearance of the season, the utilityman Strange-Gordon made his first major league appearance as a pitcher, coming in to spare the actual bullpen further stress in the eighth inning . Strange-Gordon struggled to find the zone, giving up a homer to Ozzie Albies on a hanging changeup, then loading the bases by issuing two walks and hitting Braves catcher Travis d'Arnaud, who comically collapsed to the dirt after taking Strange-Gordon's curveball off his shoulder, then walking Adam Duvall to force in a run. After Dansby Swanson singled to shallow left to score one run, d'Arnaud was thrown out by the left fielder Thomas attempting to score from second. Rookie Jackson Stephens, recalled along with Elder earlier that day from the Triple-A Gwinnett Stripers, pitched the final  three innings for the Braves, allowing one run in the ninth inning, to earn the save. The Nationals rebounded to win the rubber game behind five shutout innings from Gray and RBIs by Bell, Franco, and Thomas. All three Nationals runs in the 3–1 contest were charged to Atlanta starter Max Fried, who exited in the sixth inning after being struck in the leg by a comebacker off the bat of Cruz. Nationals reliever Kyle Finnegan gave up a two-out home run to Austin Riley, but that solo shot was all that Washington pitching allowed as the Nationals took  the rubber game and won the three-game series. The Nationals dropped three of four games visiting the Pittsburgh Pirates. Pittsburgh got to Adon for six runs on April 14, knocking him out of the game in the fifth inning, and tacked on more runs against the bullpen to win 9–4. The Nationals blew an early three-run lead provided by Ruiz and left fielder Yadiel Hernández to lose the game. Washington rebounded on April 15 for what would end up as their only win of the series, again jumping out to a three-run lead in the early going  but this time holding on to win behind Fedde, who bent but didn't break as he scattered two runs over five innings. Bell and Cruz were the big contributors on offense, each with three RBIs in the contest. Before the game, the Nationals placed Strange-Gordon on the COVID-19 injured list and recalled outfielder Donovan Casey for his first major league stint, also adding to their outfield depth by claiming Joshua Palacios off waivers from the Toronto Blue Jays. Despite a big game from Soto on April 16—he homered and doubled—the Nationals accomplished little with runners in  scoring position in a 6–4 loss. Tabbed with his second start of the season, Rogers couldn't replicate his performance against Atlanta, giving up three earned runs and exiting in the fifth inning. For the third time in the series, in the finale on April 17, the Nationals jumped out to an early three-run lead, but for the second time in the series, the Pirates came back to win. Corbin pitched well for the first five innings before hitting a wall in the sixth inning, bequeathing two runners to Arano. Both scored. Cishek came on for the seventh inning  but was pinned with a blown save and a loss, as he uncorked a wild pitch that scored Cole Tucker and then gave up the go-ahead single to Michael Chavis. Returning home for a series against the Arizona Diamondbacks, the Nationals initially rebounded. A scheduled April 18 game was rained out and made up as part of a day-night doubleheader on April 19, which Washington swept in front of sparse home crowds. Gray gave up nought but a solo home run off the bat of Arizona center fielder Daulton Varsho in the matinee, leading the Nationals to a  convincing 6–1 win. His opposite number, Madison Bumgarner, carried a no-hit bid into the fifth inning, but Nationals center fielder Víctor Robles delivered just his second hit of the season, an RBI double, to put his team into both the hit and run column. Adon pitched into the seventh inning, the longest start of the year to date by a Nationals pitcher, while holding the Diamondbacks scoreless to key a 1–0 victory in the nightcap. The only run of the game was scored by Robles on a double by second baseman César Hernández in the sixth inning, following five  strong innings by Arizona starter Tyler Gilbert. The news for the Nationals soured after the doubleheader sweep, as Doolittle landed on the 10-day injured list on April 20 with what the team described as a left elbow sprain. Left-handed reliever Francisco Pérez, recalled the previous night as the extra man in the doubleheader but not used, stayed with the Nationals to take his roster spot. The Nationals added some bullpen insurance by optioning Casey, who had not appeared in a game since being called up during the Pittsburgh series, and recalling another southpaw, Sam Clay, from Rochester. Both  Clay and Pérez appeared in the April 20 game, an 11–2 drubbing. Fedde was knocked out of the game in the fourth inning, having allowed seven runs. Bell, the Nationals' most productive hitter so far in the season, exited with knee soreness during the game, prompting manager Dave Martinez to insert Fox at third base to replace him, Franco shifting to first base. Fox almost immediately committed a throwing error, which contributed to Murphy giving up three more runs in the fifth, salting the game away for the Diamondbacks. Washington had to settle for a split of the four-game  set as they couldn't scratch across the tying run despite loading the bases in the ninth inning of the April 21 series finale. While Bell was able to play after an MRI showed no major issues with his knee, the Nationals did have to make a pregame roster move, placing reliever Hunter Harvey on the injured list with an adductor strain and selecting the contract of veteran right-hander Erasmo Ramírez. Utilityman Ehire Adrianza was transferred to the 60-day injured list in a corresponding move. Ramírez pitched the eighth inning for the Nationals, working around a leadoff double  for a scoreless outing. The Nationals closed the gap to one run when Bell's swing hit the mitt of catcher José Herrera in the eighth inning, forcing in a run with the bases loaded, and loaded the bases when former Nationals reliever and Diamondbacks closer Mark Melancon hit César Hernández with a pitch in the ninth. But with two outs, Soto popped out on the infield to end the game at 4–3. Rogers, who gave up three runs—including a two-run blast by Cooper Hummel to knock him out in the fifth inning—shouldered the loss. Game Log . Due to the 2021–22 Major League Baseball lockout, Opening Day was pushed back to April 7, and the first two series of the season were rescheduled. Broadcasting. The Nationals are minority owners of the Mid-Atlantic Sports Network, which they share with the Baltimore Orioles under an agreement brokered by Major League Baseball. The Nationals brought back veteran play-by-play television commentator Bob Carpenter for the 2022 season as well as the 2023 season. Carpenter was paired with new color commentator Kevin Frandsen, who played for the Nationals during the 2014 season. Color analyst F. P. Santangelo, originally hired  ahead of the 2011 season, parted ways with MASN and the Nationals following the 2021 season. Dave Jageler and Charlie Slowes are calling their 17th consecutive season together as the Nationals' play-by-play radio commentators.