Nats Blast Astros, 9-3
The Nats led wire-to-wire, highlighted by a five-run 8th as they tripled up the Astros, 9-3.
MacKenzie Gore grounded the Astros like Space-X without NASA, allowing no runs on two hits and three walks over five and a 1/3rd innings. He struck out six while winning his second ST game.
Two watchlisters were in the starting lineup…
…Dylan Crews played in his usual spots – right field, batting second – and went 1-for-2 with a walk, an RBI, and a run scored. He was caught stealing.
…Cayden Wallace was the starting 2B and played the whole game. He was 1-for-4 with a two-run double and a strikeout.
Here’s how the parade of the second wave did:
- Daylen Lile subbed for James Wood in LF. He went 1-for-2 with an RBI single in the 8th.
- Andrew Pinckney pinch-ran for Nathaniel Lowe and went 0-for-1 with a walk. He replaced Crews on defense and committed an error.
- Darren Baker pinch-ran for DH Josh Bell and scored a run. He grounded out in the 8th as the second DH.
- Brady House pinch-ran for Paul DeJong, scored a run, took over third base, and walked in his sole PA.
- Robert Hassell singled and scored a run in the 8th and followed Jacob Young in CF.
Washington (9-8) will cross the Central Fla. swamp to play Tampa Bay in Port Charlotte. DJ Herz is expected to make the start.
I think we’re just past halfway through ST, and it’s been pretty successful so far. No majors injuries *knock on wood*, and the guys we need to produce have largely done so. Ruiz has flashed power, Abrams and Garcia making good contact along with good power, Wood and Chaparro having strong spring cases, etc.
Hassell has dominated the headlines with his hot start (which he’s managed to sustain through 15 games played – he’s still hitting .417!), but Cayden Wallace has quietly had a very interesting Spring. He’s actually outhitting Hassell 1.165 OPS vs 1.073, and more interestingly, he’s shown himself to be a capable 2B defensively too.
Brady House has also quietly done very well for himself. He’s sporting a slash of .368/.478/.421. The power isn’t there, but perhaps most importantly, his plate discipline has been very good. He’s struck out only twice in 19 AB, and even more impressively walked 4 times (in 236 PA in AAA last season, he walked only 7 times total). Very encouraging stuff, even if it’s come mostly against late inning talent)
It’s almost the exact same story for Crews. He’s hitting .357/.455/.429. He’s still not displaying the power that was predicted, but a .357 AVG and .455 OBP will play at any level.
Daylen Lile has also had a strange (in a good way) Spring. He’s walked 8 times in 20 AB and only struck out 3 times, leading to a .483 OBP. Lile has been one of the few bats in the org to display better than average plate discipline, so this isn’t completely surprising, but it’s still a notable development.
A rare disappointment has been Andrew Pinckney. He’s really struggled, striking out 12 times in 31 AB, while hitting .226/.273/.387. Another, though he’s no longer on the watch list is Drew Millas, who’s likely played himself out of a major league roster spot, putting up a line of .063/.250/.125, which is really frustrating and disappointing. I’d thought 2025 would be Millas’ chance to break out. But it’s looking like he’ll have to yet again prove himself in AAA.
I’ve already commented on the arms quite a bit, but will just again say that Ribalta, Henry, Lord and Stuart have had fantastic Springs, while Brzykcy, Ogasawara, Reifert and Rutledge have seen their stocks fall after poor showings.
Speaking of Rutledge, multiple reports now on him being moved to the bullpen, including this one: https://www.mlb.com/nationals/news/jackson-rutledge-nationals-starter-turned-reliever
No surprises here, except that it didn’t happen sooner.
good rundown and I’d add Nasim Nunez to the list of those having a very good spring. if he can produce league average hitting at AAA he will be a very successful Rule 5 acquisition
I’m rooting for Nunez, if only because his profile is so unique. But, man, he’s got an uphill battle to make it.
Even while he’s hitting .458 in ST, his ISO is .042 with one 2B in 28 PA. His MILB career ISO is .055 (SLG: .286), which he somehow “bested” in the majors, with a mere .016 ISO and .262 SLG in 2024.
His hard hit % in the majors was 7.8%, second worst of over 500 batters with >50 PA). In fact third worst was nearly twice Nunez’s rate at 13%. Jacob Young, who’s been criticized for his glaring lack of power, had a hard hit % nearly 3 times that of Nunez at 20.5%. In the minors, Nunez hits ground balls over 60% of the time, and in the majors, he had the 2nd highest GB% (68.4%) again among batters with >50 PA. Altogether, he’s never his higher than .261 at any of the 7 levels through different seasons in his career, while benefiting from outrageously high BABIPs, aided by his speed.
And yet, Nunez isn’t completely useless. He’s an above average (possibly excellent) defensive SS. He walks at a very high rate. He walked a remarkable 15% of the time in the majors (almost identical to his minor league rate). He’s also extremely fast, stealing 70 bags in 2022 and 52 in 2023.
I don’t think he can make this profile work in the long term. Pitchers will just pound the strike zone, knowing Nunez won’t be able to accomplish much more than a weak grounder in the infield. And if he can’t get on base via a walk, then his baserunning skills are moot. I hope I’m wrong. Jacob Young has a similar profile, minus the walks, which he’s proven to be viable in the majors. But it’s always interesting to see guys with such extreme tool skillsets play baseball.
It’ll be especially tough for Nunez with Rosario, DeJong and Tena competing with him for playing time as the back up SS.
I’m sure there’s a metric for it somewhere, but they should come up with a way to add a stolen base to your SLG. He has zero power, that’s for sure, but if he’s a plus glove, gets on base, and can steal a lot, that’s perfectly fine.
Bill James’s Runs Created tried to address that type of guy.
This is going back 49 years ( gulp ). Big 6-0 on 31.
Cayden Wallace flipping over to 2b much like Vance Law did after Murray Cook / Dave Dombrowski acquired him from White Sox to become the DP partner for Hubie Brooks .
Yes, Will you may be right ( as Billy Joel once sang : or you might be crazy lol ..) about Nunez . But as Billy Joel might even say baseball makes us all lunatics ?
40 years
Let’s not get ahead of ourselves , folks .
The bullpen will evolve into some thing fine
Next spring cuts are easier to see after this Tampa exhibition game
Yikes Reifert surrenders GS to Montes?
Why don’t we just leave him in Port Charlotte ?
Greetings from West Palm Beach. Breaking news: Elijah Green did NOT strike out. I was at a AA/AAA intrasquad game yesterday and he hit a long HR to left. Seaver King also played in the game.
This is going back to the Golden era in Hollywood but every time I read someone snarkle
Elijah Green did not strike out
It reminds me of the slap stick end to the film Dinner at Eight where Jean Harlow quips to the woman walking in the dining room with her … I read a book today ….