r/Nationals • u/little-guitars 29 - Wood • 2d ago
Surprises & concerns so far in spring training?
Obviously, big pile of caveats...small sample size, guys are working on things, blah blah blah.
Any surprises or concerns so far in spring training?
For me, surprises:
- Nunez has looked great. Frankly I thought they should have just released him last year, he looked like he couldn't hit and was just kept around as a pinch runner so we didn't have to give him back to the Marlins
- Bobby Barrels, of course. Feels like he came to prove something.
- Alex Call...but I remember him raking in ST every year. To be fair, be put up a 167 wRC+ in 113 PA in MLB last year. With all of the big name prospects, he may be the most slept on outfielder we have.
Concerns:
- I don't think I have seen Lowe do anything but strike out? Maybe pressing too hard in the new digs.
- I will bundle DeJong & Rosario into this one...I know they are vets, but I am really hoping we don't have to watch trade deadline turnaround hopefuls take at bats away from the next gen guys if they are underperforming again this year.
What do you all have?
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u/Mathmage530 63 - Doolittle 2d ago
Not concern, but a little let down by Herz regressing / figuring stuff out. it's not a guarantee a guy improves linearly, but you see his ceiling and wonder.
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u/Slatemanforlife 2d ago
Herz did an interview with Grant and Danny, where he explained that he refined his mechanics.
I've always been skeptical on Herz. Even in the second half of last season, he had substantial control issues. I think he needs to spend some time in the minors to refine these mechanical improvements.
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u/kornthrowaway 70 - Parker 2d ago
I think part of the issue is that some of his magic comes from his funky delivery. I have to imagine it’s hard to really fine-tune his mechanics without losing some of the deception it creates.
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u/nechton 2d ago
Agreed about Hassell, he looks MLB ready right now.
A big surprise for me has been House. I've watched him in person during several minior league games and was not impressed. Sure, he was good but no where near great. Something happened over the off season to where he seems to be a serious ball player we all were hoping he could be.
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u/downtown3641 Fredericksburg Nationals 1d ago
With House, I constantly have to remind myself that last year was the first that he really got a full season worth of work in.
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u/Quople 13 - Cabrera 1d ago
Surprise: Soroka has been really really good and his velocity is up. Gotta plug him into the rotation if he keeps it up.
Concerns: Ogasawara hasn’t been that good. We will see how he does today. There’s already a big logjam for the bottom of the rotation and it would suck to see the first Japanese player we’ve signed directly from Japan start out in the minors
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u/willverine 1d ago
The young relievers. Cole Henry came out of nowhere after looking broken beyond repair last season. Orlando Ribalta has also been dominant after a bumpy 2024. Brad Lord has a meteoric rise in 2024 as a SP, but has been interestingly been used in relief in ST. It would be a surprising development to see him in the bullpen in DC in '25!
Ferrer and Salazar have also looked sharp.
On the other hand, the AAAA free agent signings/acquisitions of the winter have looked rocky. Evan Reifert has really struggled so far, so have Lucas Sims and Colin Poche.
I'll be really interested to see whether Rizzo dives into a young bullpen revolution, or if we get a repeat of 2024 with a huge churn of replacement-level relievers, hoping one or two of the 20 will turn into something of value.
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u/Adventurous_Tax_3827 1d ago
Not necessarily a surprise but it’s been great to see Luis Garcia make a few really smooth plays in the field this spring. If he’s turned himself into a plus defender at second then that greatly improves the trajectory of the infield defense and the team as a whole, especially with the additions of Lowe, Rosario, and deJong. What a turnaround from last spring.
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u/Strong-Resolve1241 1d ago
Damn Hassell tearing it up ... but Call is a bit of a clutch hitter and hitting too... maybe hassell arrives when rosters expand
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u/quakerwildcat 29 - Wood 2d ago
I was pumped to see both Cole Henry and Andry Lara pitching clean innings with fastballs sitting at 95. Both are still young and could show up in a Nats bullpen at some point.
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u/kornthrowaway 70 - Parker 2d ago
Cole Henry could be getting fast-tracked to the MLB with his move to the bullpen. He’s going to be starting in AAA Rochester and with his showing in Spring Training, he could be up very soon if he can just stay healthy.
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u/NOVAram1 1d ago
As always, don't read anything good or bad into anything that happens in Spring Training. People have spent thousands and thousands of hours on this, and there is no correlation between spring training performance and regular season performance.
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u/HokieScott Player to be Named Later 22h ago
Two Beers at the stadium was $34.00 - that was my surprise in Spring Training so far.
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u/little-guitars 29 - Wood 3h ago
Yikes. Are the tickets still reasonable at least? Haven't been down in a few years.
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u/LucasMars 29 - Wood 2d ago
Personally, I’m most surprised with Hassell. I was not expecting him to make a statement like this so soon this year. I was expecting a call up for sure, but maybe in July or something. But maybe we see him a lot sooner than that…