The Washington Nationals are a professional baseball team based in Washington, D.C. The Nationals are a member of the East Division of the National League of Major League Baseball (MLB). The team moved into the newly built Nationals Park in 2008, after playing their first three seasons in RFK Stadium. The new park is located in Southeast D.C., near the Anacostia River and with views of the Capitol.

The Nationals name derives from the former Washington baseball team which had the same name (used interchangeably with Senators). Their nickname is "the Nats"—a shortened version that was also used by the old D.C. teams.

An expansion franchise, the club was founded in Montreal, Quebec, in 1969. As the Montreal Expos, they were the first major league team in Canada. They played their home games at Jarry Park Stadium and later in the Olympic Stadium. In 1981, the Expos won a division championship, won their first-ever playoff series by defeating the Philadelphia Phillies, 3–2, and advanced to the National League Championship Series, where they would go on to lose that series to the Los Angeles Dodgers, 3–2, in their only postseason appearance during the strike-shortened season. The Expos had their highest winning percentage in the strike-shortened season of 1994, when the team had the best record in baseball. The team's subsequent shedding of players caused fan interest to drop off. After the 2001 season, MLB considered revoking the team's franchise, along with either the Minnesota Twins or the Tampa Bay Devil Rays. After being purchased by MLB in 2002, the team was moved before the 2005 season to Washington and renamed the Nationals, the first relocation since the second Washington Senators moved to Arlington, Texas, and became the Texas Rangers in 1972.

Bryce Aron Max Harper (born October 16, 1992) is an American professional baseball outfielder with the Washington Nationals of Major League Baseball. Harper was selected by the Nationals with the first overall pick in the 2010 Major League Baseball Draft. He stands at 6 feet 3 inches and weighs 225 lbs.

Harper won the 2010 Golden Spikes Award, awarded annually to the best amateur baseball player. Going into the 2012 season, baseball prospect-watchers, including Baseball America, MLB.com, and Baseball Prospectus routinely ranked Harper as a top #3 prospect. He made his MLB debut with the Nationals on April 28, 2012.

Harper earned his General Educational Development after his sophomore year at Las Vegas High School in December 2009, making him eligible for the June 2010 amateur draft in order to begin his professional baseball career earlier. For the 2010 college season, 17-year-old Harper enrolled at the College of Southern Nevada of the Scenic West Athletic Conference (SWAC) in National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA). An advantage for Harper in his eventual transition to his professional career was that the SWAC, like MLB, uses wooden bats in conference play. In 66 games, he hit 31 home runs, 98 RBI, hitting .443/.526/.987 (AVG/OBP/SLG). His 31 home runs shattered the school's previous record of 12. He was named the 2010 SWAC Player of the Year. The next day, in a doubleheader, he went 2-for-5 with a three-run double in the first game, and in the second game went 6-for-6 with 4 home runs, a triple, and a double.

Jayson Richard Gowan Werth (born May 20, 1979) is an American professional baseball outfielder for the Washington Nationals of Major League Baseball. He has previously played for the Toronto Blue Jays, Los Angeles Dodgers, and Philadelphia Phillies. He bats and throws right-handed.

Werth was born in Springfield, Illinois, and comes from an athletic family. One sister, Hillary, was a scholarship track athlete at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), while his other sister, Hannah, is a scholarship volleyball player for the University of Nebraska and his brother Adam plays soccer for Syracuse University. He is the son of Jeff Gowan, who led all Division I wide receivers in receptions while playing football for Illinois State University in 1976, and played in the St. Louis Cardinals minor-league affiliate, the Johnson City Cardinals in 1978, and Kim Schofield Werth, who competed in the U.S. Olympic Trials in the long jump and 100 meters. He is also the grandson of Ducky Schofield and nephew of Dick Schofield, both Major League Baseball infielders, and stepson of Dennis Werth, who played in parts of four seasons with the Kansas City Royals and New York Yankees from 1979 through 1982. Werth is married with two children.