Ten Stories for 2022

Apparently, this is an even-year thing, as when I went looking for past editions it was 2020, 2018, and 2014. I do recall that early on it was ten ’10, eleven for ’11, etc.

Anyway, with time on my hands and the prospect of no news until next year, let’s take a look at ten of the stories that defined 2022. They’re not ranked, but they’re more or less in chronological order.

A Semblance of Normality

Believe it or not, I’m not referring to COVID-19, but rather, the settling in of how the minors will be in the New World Order. The ugly placeholder names went away and the traditional names returned, but the six-game series and every Monday off (more or less) schedule stayed. Developmentally, I don’t like that – it takes too long for a given guy to see or be seen by the entire league (hold that thought) and that skews perceptions (e.g. a pitcher getting to face a team that can’t hit [insert BP joke here] three or four times). Editorially, I like it. I can look back at Tuesdays to see how the season is going or went.

Will the Real Cade Cavalli Please Stand Up (Please Stand Up)?

Drafted in 2020, the 24-y.o. dominated High-A and AA in 2021 then hit a wall in AAA to finish. He picked up where he left off in April and May, getting knocked around regularly until he found his footing around Memorial Day. After a pair of midseason shutdowns (or injury; only the Nats, God, and Cavalli know for sure and none of them are talking), Cavalli settled down and showed enough progress to get a callup in late August.

NATurally, Cavalli got knocked around in his MLB debut and then was placed on the I.L. with “shoulder discomfort” in early September. He did not pitch again in 2022, but told longtime beat reporter Mark Zuckerman he began throwing again in late September without pain. Sources told us he was taking it one day at a time and was happy to be in D.C., hoping to be able to help the ball club.

In all seriousness, it remains to be seen which Cavalli will show up in Spring Training. Cavalli only exceeded five innings six times in 21 starts and went four innings or fewer seven times.

Brady House Goes Into Witness Protection

Dog bites man. Rock star dates model. Nats prospect goes on I.L. with a vague injury.

Brady House wasn’t the dog or the rock star. After a scorching April (.341/.424/.471) the 18-y.o. phenom went on the I.L. in early May but cooled off considerably upon his return (.539 OPS in May) before his season ended for good on June 11. All we were told was House had had a back injury. I suspect we’ll eventually find out that he required surgery, which may hasten the shift to 3B, which many scouts believe is inevitable.

The Rochester Collapse

On June 1, the Red Wings were 35-19 and in 1st place by 3½ games. A month later, they were 41-38. After a 19-game losing streak, they fell to 48-59 in August, and finished the season at 67-81, 18 games behind in 8th place (out of ten teams). The reason why is pretty easy to figure out: between the Big Nats constantly shifting guys back and forth from AAA and having little-to-no organizational depth, the Red Wings fell out of sync.

The Slow Roll of Promotions

As was the case when this site first began, the drumbeat for promotions got steadily louder as the calendar went from April to May to June to July with very few true promotions (reminder #9784: Not all upward assignments are promotions).

In years past, I would remind folks that many a hot April would be reversed in May once the word got around the league. Unfortunately, the six-games series makes that take longer and I have to wonder if that’s a factor. It could just be that the Nats saw no reason to rush guys up (see: Rhinehart, Bill).

Unfortunately, many of the guys that were tearing up Low-A—Jeremy De La Rosa, Leandro Emiliani, and Rodney Theophile—were humbled in High-A. On the one hand, that would seem to justify taking so long to promote them. On the other hand, it also gave them less time to adjust once promoted. This will always be the part of prospect following that both frustrates and fascinates.

The Juan Soto Trade

If I’d led with this, would you have read to the end? Or did you skip right to this? Either way, there’s no denying this was THE story of the Nats (minors or majors) for 2022. There are two prisms through which this story will be viewed: (1) Did they get enough of a return for a generational talent? (2) Was this a factor of the team being put up for sale?

#1 we’re not going to know for quite some time. Even so, it’s hard to deny that the Nats got quite the haul. Likewise for #2, because as of this writing, the team has not been sold. Still, almost every team sale is preceded by cost-cutting. It’s just hard to the tell difference right now.

Fredericksburg: From Worst to First

The 2021 FredNats opened the season with 15 straight losses, finished with just 44 wins, and blew a 3½ game lead in the first half to finish at .500 (33-33). In the second half, they went 41-22 and led wire-to-wire. Alas, Fredericksburg picked the wrong time for the bats to go ice-cold, compounded by MiLB’s decision to shorten the playoffs to a pair of best-of-three series. After winning the opener 2-0 at home, the FredNats went down to Lynchburg and dropped both games, nearly getting no-hit in the deciding game.

The End of the Seth Romero Saga

In an ending that 29 other teams saw coming, the Nats finally gave up on Seth Romero in November after his second DWI of the year. Romero had the fortune of being lefthanded when the Nats needed a southpaw in 2020, so he got his unearned cup of coffee.

Nats Protect Six from the Rule 5 Draft

After years of protecting just one or two players, the Nats put six on the 40-man roster ahead of the Rule 5 deadline. It was the most Washington protected since 2016. Three weeks later, the only player to depart was a waiver-wire pickup (Josh Palacios). The only silver lining may be that fan favorite Jake Alu was among the six protected, offsetting the ignominy of guys protected primarily due to dexterity or draft position.

Nats “Win” #2 Pick in the 2023 Draft

With the new CBA, MLB decided to make it harder to tank (like the Nats did for Harper in 2009), so the Nats weren’t guaranteed the #1 pick with their MLB-worst record of 55-107. They could have fallen as far as #6.

Instead, they’ll have back-to-back Top 5 picks for the first time Strasburg-Harper in 2009-2010. Earlier this week, Todd Boss detailed how the draft dominoes fell with the last of the qualifying-offer free-agent signings. TL;DR – Washington will have four of the first 100 picks.

Happy New Year!