Jacob Young is back to his best for the Washington Nationals

Since returning from injury, Jacob Young has looked more like his 2024 self

Last night, Jacob Young made one of the best catches I have ever seen a National make. In the bottom of the 9th, Young scaled the wall like Spiderman to rob a home run from the red hot Riley Greene.

It was just a totally absurd catch. The play got me thinking more about Young in the grand scheme of things. He got off to a slow start on all sides of the ball. His bat was slumping, his base running was wildly off kilter and even his elite glove just good rather than special.

It made for a frustrating watch. Young was feckless at the plate while not providing a ton of value elsewhere. However, since coming back from his shoulder injury, Young has looked a lot better.

In June, Young hit an impressive .314 with a solid .737 OPS. Given his total lack of power, he is never going to have an amazing OPS. However, his bat is not why he is on the field. Young plays because of his glove and his legs.

Last year, Young was arguably the best defensive center fielder in baseball. He had 20 outs above average and +16 fielding run value. That along with his 33 stolen bases led to a 2.6 WAR season for Young. He was a quality regular for the Nats despite a light bat.

That context made his start to 2025 even more. Through May he had fallen off across the board. He had a .588 OPS while also seeing defensive and base running regression. Young did not look like a starter and barely looked like a big leaguer.

The base running has still been pretty brutal until quite recently. His head first slide lead to him coming off the bag frequently and getting caught stealing. Young has 9 steals while being caught 8 times, and that number has been improving lately thanks to him using a feet first slide. Despite his 94th percentile speed, Young has negative base running value.

Young’s defense really has been picking up lately. Before his injury, Young was good but not elite in the field. Now he is back to his best, with last nights catch being the prime example. He is up to 6 outs above average, which is an elite number. Young has been making great catches on a regular basis lately.

Even though he can be a frustrating player at times, Young is very exciting when he is performing like this. He is not a great hitter, but can be a spark plug that really gets the team going at times. Young has been dropping down some great bunts and has been slapping line drives regularly of late.

However, Young really shines in the field. He just eats up ground in center and makes great plays. Young can make the acrobatic plays like he did last night, but he can also make tough plays look easy, a skill all the best fielders have. I do not think he is a long term starter, but there will always be a place on a big league roster for a guy with Jacob Young’s skillset.