Nats & Marlins Rained Out
Rain washed away Game #9 of the 2024 spring schedule for the Nationals. They’ll return to action tomorrow afternoon, weather permitting, as there is still rain in the forecast for West Palm Beach on Monday.
St. Louis will be the visitor with Trevor Williams the listed starter for Washington. Zach Davies could also get the starting nod, depending on whether or not he warmed up today.
Tuesday is the first of two scheduled off days this spring. With minor-league camp starting up this week, we’re likely to see fewer appearances from “our guys.”
First cuts are probably coming on Saturday, with the first of two split-squad days (the other is on March 23).
Meanwhile (back at the ranch), the prognosis for Daylen Lile is just a bad boo-boo (sorry to get technical); no broken bones. This is good news as there’s not much that can be done for minor fractures in the lower part of the spine, aside from physical therapy and prolonged rest.
I like Lile at 2nd base even more after this unfortunate accident. Given our numerous OF prospects and Lile’s speed/quickness and potentially good bat he would make an excellent 2nd baseman.
That’s an interesting idea. Has anyone floated that idea, or is it something you came up with?
Lile’s arm has long been cited as too weak to play in CF, relegating him to LF. However, the Nats don’t appear sold on that narrative, using him about a third of the time in CF. However, with so many more natural CFs ahead of him in the system, even if he’s competent at CF, there will always be a better option than him. Which then raises the question if his bat is good enough to play in LF… which only works if he reaches his full potential.
However, I hadn’t considered a move to the infield, and 2B is a total black hole for the Nats, both at the major league and minor league levels. The Watchlist currently dons 4 players for both middle infield positions combined, none of whom crack the top 15/20 prospects in the org, and only one of whom is more advanced than Lile currently is (Baker).
As a HS pick, Lile is still very young. For example, he’s a whole year younger than recent 2023 draftee, Dylan Crews, and it’s not entirely unheard of to move college picks to new positions. It’s even less strange to do it for HS picks. (Remember when Bryce Harper was a catcher?)
Lile’s physical profile should translate at 2B. He’s compact and quick, and a righty. In theory, there’s nothing that wouldn’t make this work, and would go a long way in addressing one of our biggest positional weaknesses. Plus, most scenarios where Lile ends up being a contributor to the Nats’ OF means most of Wood, Crews, Hassell, Vaquero and Green busted as prospects.
Interesting idea! I hope Rizzo & co are thinking about these sort of things too.
this is the same thing some blog commenters are saying about Jacob Young. at least Young played a few games at 2B in college.
the idea that you can switch a prospect’s position and not negatively impact his overall development is risky. sometime a player is not capable of playing his position (Kieboom or House at SS) but that is not the case with Lile or for that matter Young.
better to let the matter play out, you can always acquire a 2B by trade or free agent signing if you get to that point.
It’s true there’s a risk associated with jerking players around defensively, but there’s also a risk of accumulating too many players for one position. Just ask the Padres or Orioles, who have an embarrassment of riches in shortstops, but big holes in other parts of the field.
Yes, the Orioles were able to convert that infield talent into needed talent at other positions. But at quite a cost. They traded away 12 years of control of top 50 prospect, Joey Ortiz, currently blocked by Henderson, Holliday, Norby and Westburg, and former top 100 pitching prospect, DL Hall (as well as a first round comp pick!), for one year of Corbin Burnes.
And for the Padres, it turned out that Fernando Tatis was a good SS, but a fabulous RF! But Jake Cronenworth isn’t nearly as good as a 1B…
If Lile is already looking like a tough sell as a LF, then doesn’t it make sense from a developmental perspective to try something sooner than later?
to me, no it does not make sense to take a prospect who’s had one full season of minor league ball, is rapidly rising in prospect ranks and ask him to play a position he has never played. especially since second base is harder that the outfield.
I doubt the O’s are losing any sleep over what they dealt away. they’re in a much different position than the Nats this year.
Some transactions I didn’t see reported here.
Released: Riggs Threadgill, Troy Stainbrook, Edward Urena
Retired: Steven Williams
Wit the exception of Urena these were late round draft picks.
Good catch!
Threadgill’s career was unfortunately derailed due to long-term injury. He had a promising 2022, after not appearing in 2021, his draft year, as a rare community college pick.
Williams also had a shortened career, playing only 71 games in 3 seasons, with a very solid .358 career OBP, and significant positional versatility, playing catcher, corner outfield, 1B and DH in those short 71 games.
Best of luck in their post-baseball careers!
There’s this bizarre insistence that for a kid to have peak value, he must be labeled a CF, SS, or starting pitcher. That holds true for the draft, leading to lots of speculation about who is legit in those spots and who isn’t. This position labeling carries over into minor-league careers, apparently to keep trade value high for the “asset.” So the Nats have seemingly 12 guys in the system labeled as center fielders. They drafted Kieboom and House as shortstops. And everyone remains a starting pitcher until he’s burned all of his options (Adon being the latest in a long line).