Rays Sting Nats, 14-4; Shifting Gears
The third set of cuts were perhaps made just a little easier in a 14-4 Tampa Bay demolition of Washington yesterday.
DJ Herz got the start and muddled through three innings, giving up a solo HR and two hits total. He walked two and struck out one.
Brad Lord was the first man out of the ‘pen and retired just two of 11 batters faced, as he gave up eight runs on seven hits and two walks while striking out one. He was charged with his second blown save and first loss of the spring.
Two of those runs charged to Lord came when Evan Reifert coughed up a grand slam after walking the first batter he faced. He would walk four more and give up five runs of his own. His spring ERA is now 15.63. For those wondering, it has been 15 years since the Nats returned a Rule 5 draft pick during spring training.
Dylan Crews was the sole watchlister in the starting lineup again. The Nats’ #1 pick in ’23 went 1-for-3 with a run scored while manning right field.
Here’s how the rest of “our guys” did:
- Robert Hassell subbed for Crews in RF and in the lineup, shifting over to CF when Jacob Young was lifted. He went 0-for-1 with a strikeout.
- Brady House pinch-ran for Paul DeJong and took over 3B. He also struck out in his sole AB.
- Cayden Wallace pinch-ran for Luis García Jr. and followed him on defense at 2B. He went 0-for-1.
- Yoyo Morales replaced Juan Yepez at 1B and drew a walk in the 9th.
- Andrew Pinckney subbed for Alex Call in LF and struck out in his lone PA.
- Daylen Lile played the 8th in RF and lined out end the game.
The loss drops the Nats to .500 (9-9). They’ll visit the Barves this afternoon with the rubber-armed TBD on the bump. The game is free today on MLB.com.
With the spring breakout in Texas Florida, many of the watchlisters will be West Palm Beach instead of with the big boys at Atlanta’s ST facility. As such, I am shifting coverage away from the major-leaguers.
This is, after all, a site devoted to the prospects and minor-leaguers. Spring Training coverage is a specious indulgence, even if this year I have to admit “our guys” are still getting a lot of play well into the schedule.
But I think that’s going to change soon, if for no other reason there hasn’t been a third set of cuts yet (which, of course, means it’ll probably happen this afternoon; I do have a knack for being one day early).
Nineteen games is about right for getting back in the groove of writing every day. Plus, this is my busy season at work, so buying a little time isn’t worst thing.
There’s really not that much drama regarding our guys. Crews making the Opening Day roster is a foregone conclusion, especially with the incentives to play him stronger than the ones to have him “work on his defense” that used to keep guys like him in AAA three weeks too long.
Perhaps we’ll get a surprise with Hassell, though I wouldn’t put more than Duke Bros. bet on it.
AAA starts up two weeks from today (March 28); the rest of the full-season teams the week after (April 4). It won’t be that long of a break.
At another AA/AAA game yesterday that included some MLB players, Green hit a double off of Kyle Finnegan. Seaver King also made some nice plays at shortstop.
Peyton Glavine took the mound at an A level game to thunderous applause from his teammates. It was his first time on the mound in three years since undergoing two TJ surgeries and a broken leg.
That’s a great comeback story about Glavine.
Totally sucks for Brad Lord. He seemed to have been making a strong bid to make the bullpen.
It’s been good that a lot of guys who will be in the upper minors have gotten much playing time in MLB games. Among the guys who are close, Hassell looks closer than House, although House only having two K’s so far is quite encouraging. As Will noted on the last post, though, he hasn’t hit the ball hard, with only one of his seven hits for an extra base.
DeJong isn’t going to present an obstacle to House whenever he’s ready. He just needs to keep making contact and taking some walks.
There’s a conundrum with Hassell, because they’ll likely want him playing every day (at Rochester) unless/until he shows enough power to make him more valuable than Young’s defense at the MLB level. FWIW, Young hasn’t had a good spring at the plate. If that trend continues through April, Hassell could get a look.
In his first healthy action in a Nat uniform, Cayden Wallace has shown promise. Presumably he will be the 2B at Rochester. Not sure what they’re going to do with SS unless they keep Nunez or Lipscomb for the MLB roster. Rosario hasn’t had a good spring, so if those guys keep hitting, they may make Rosario expendable after a couple of months.
I have no bullpen predictions. They always do weird things with guys they keep. To me, this still seems like a weak link for the big club, an area where they should have spent more. I didn’t understand why they cut Cole Henry so early in the process.
I also have some renewed hope for Wallace, though it wouldn’t be the end of the world for him to start in Harrisburg. that leaves space for Lipscomb in AAA for now.
Reifert continues to play himself out of a roster spot. This isn’t unusual, the majority of R5 picks get returned before the regular season even begins. But with such a wide open bullpen, Reifert had a clearer path than most R5 picks… But Reifert now has 12 BB in 6.1 IP. That’s not acceptable.
That’s a tough outing for Lord, but I’m still a bit perplexed why he, of all our SP options, has seemingly been converted to relief. It might be a blessing in disguise for this relief experiment to not go super well, as I think there’s still a good starter to be developed there. Rutledge got 5 seasons to prove he couldn’t hack it. At least give Lord 3.
Barves , snarkle , Luke ?
Well the Rays were heavier hitters on the diamond than off the diamond resolving that stadium ( borrowing someone’s am coffee word of day ) conumbdrum
Comfortably numb , Pink Floyd !
Great news about Glavine .
I’m sending there might be a couple surprises of bumped up players to Harrisburg this April ?
A couple of hop – scotchers?
Could we see Marcus Browns defense carry him to AA to play along with Paul Witt off the Deshields bench ?
Brown was one of the biggest disappointments of ’24 for me. I expect he’ll be back in the First State, maybe Biden can be his host family