Last week, we discussed which Nationals pitching prospects could make their major league debuts this season, aside from Cade Cavalli. This week, we're pivoting our attention to the position players on the farm. Amy Jennings and I wondered, during this week's episode of the "MASN All Access Podcast," when we might see them in Washington. But for the purposes of this post, this exercise is going to be more of an appreciation of the restocking of the Nats farm system with position players...

We spend the majority of our time here talking about major leaguers, but with the lockout now preventing teams from making any transactions involving players on 40-man rosters, let's take an opportunity to delve deeper into some of the Nationals' top minor leaguers. We continue this weekly series with a recent riser within the organization ... SS JACKSON CLUFF Height/Weight: 6-foot-0, 185 lbs. Age on opening day 2022: 25 How acquired: Sixth-round pick, 2019 draft, BYU 2021 stats (Double-A...

The Arizona Fall League came to a close Saturday night, with several Nationals prospects in the spotlight for the developmental league's championship game. The Surprise Saguaros, who had eight Nats on a roster managed by Single-A Fredericksburg's Mario Lisson, lost the championship to the Mesa Solar Sox, who pitched a combined one-hitter during a 6-0 victory in Scottsdale. Final game results aside, the last month proved valuable for many of the young players the Nationals sent to Arizona,...

The development of prospects is a vital part of any rebuilding team and the Arizona Fall League presents teams with an opportunity to send a handful of their minor league players to continue that process after the conclusions of their regular seasons. Whether they missed time due to injuries or coaches want to see them play more, the AFL is a great chance for prospects to accumulate more innings or more at-bats against other top prospects across the sport. The Nationals have eight players...

Normalcy - or, at least, some semblance of normalcy - returned to Florida today. On an 82-degree Sunday afternoon in Jupiter that included abundant sunshine at times and popup showers at others, the Nationals and Cardinals played a baseball game. At 1:05 p.m., Victor Robles dug in at the plate and took a 94-mph fastball from Jack Flaherty for strike one. Trea Turner singled and advanced Andrew Stevenson to third on a hit-and-run. Josh Bell took a 3-2 slider at the knees for a walk, and home...

Here is more perspective on the advancement of third baseman/first baseman Drew Mendoza, who finally got his shot to participate in workouts and games in Fredericksburg, Va., in the summer. The No. 11 Nationals prospect joined other top 20 Nationals prospects, according to director of player development Mark Scialabba. "We got him to the alternate site start of September. Along with shortstop Jackson Cluff (No. 20) and catcher Israel Pineda (No. 14), we had the ability to get him there to get...

A couple of weeks ago, we got an update on shortstop Jackson Cluff and how much he valued his time this summer at the alternate training site in Fredericksburg. Cluff, 23, appreciated the opportunity to stand in against big league pitchers and learned a great deal about what it takes to be a professional baseball player and how to maintain at this level from veteran Brandon Snyder. "That was a great experience for him to be around veteran guys and see how they work and see how they go about...

In late September, we got a chance to check in with shortstop Jackson Cluff, who spent the last month of the season at the Nationals alternate training site in Fredericksburg, Va. Cluff is rated as the No. 20 Nats prospect by MLBPipeline.com. He played his first season of pro ball at low single-A Hagerstown. Cluff said it was exciting to get a chance to work out with other Nationals players as part of the 60-man player pool. "I think that excitement raises when you get to play at this level...

Cade Cavalli could justifiably look at the summer of 2020 and be bitter he missed out on his first season of professional baseball. With no minor leagues and no opponents to face, the Nationals' first-round pick could only spend the last two months working out every single day at the club's alternate training site in Fredericksburg, pitching simulated games to the same group of hitters over and over and over. You'll hear no such complaints from Cavalli. If anything, you'll hear nothing but...

Former Arizona State center fielder Gage Canning started last season at low Single-A Hagerstown, but after 10 games, moved up to high Single-A Potomac in mid-April. The 23-year-old hit .243/.311/.378 with 30 doubles, nine triples, 10 homers and 68 RBIs. Single-A Fredericksburg Nationals manager Tripp Keister expects to see more of Canning this season in the Carolina League. "Canning finished the year with us," Keister said. "He looked like a guy that was going to come back. If you looked at...

We spoke about Nationals prospect Jackson Cluff last month with Troy Gingrich. The Nats hitting coordinator was impressed with the shortstop's ability at the plate, showcasing outstanding bat speed and approach. Cluff's college coach, BYU's Mike Littlewood, knows Cluff's swing very well, and likes the youngster's "quick twitch" ability. "He's got tremendous bat speed," Littlewood said. "He's got good plate discipline. He knows what's a strike and what's a ball. For the most part,...

Following his first half-season in the minor leagues, former BYU shortstop Jackson Cluff got a chance to work out during instructional league and then into spring training with the Nationals. The left-handed hitter was a sixth-round draft selection in 2019. Cluff is rated as the No. 20 Nats prospect in the MLBPipeline.com top 30, Cluff, 23, is from Meridian, Idaho, and played for the Cougars in 2016 as a freshman and again in 2019 as a sophomore. In 2019, he slashed .327/.518/.458 with 20...

Here are some updates on a few of the 2019 draft selections getting some playing time for low Single-A Hagerstown these past few weeks: left-hander Matt Cronin, shortstop Jackson Cluff and third baseman Drew Mendoza. Hagerstown manager Patrick Anderson said Cronin has picked up where he left off from his college relief work, demonstrating an ability to produce copious swings and misses. LHP Matt Cronin Round 4, 2019 Arkansas 0-0, 0.82 ERA, 9 games, 23 strikeouts in 11 innings "Matt Cronin came...

Left-hander Tim Cate has been promoted from low Single-A Hagerstown to high Single-A Potomac. The 2018 second-round selection out of UConn has gone 4-5 with a 2.82 ERA in 13 starts this season, striking out 73 and walking only 13 in 70 1/3 innings. Here is my sit-down with Cate from spring training, which focused on building from his lower half. "Cate has made tremendous strides from last year to this year with his development of all three pitches, fastballs have been commanded better,...

The Nationals completed day two of the Major League Baseball First-Year Player Draft with nine overall selections. Nationals assistant general manager Kris Kline was pleasantly surprised the club was able to select right-hander Jackson Rutledge at No. 17 out of San Jacinto North junior college, believing he is top 10 talent. "When I woke up yesterday I didn't think we could get Rutledge, but we did," Kline said. "The whole group is absolutely thrilled to get this guy: 6-foot-8, 250 pounds,...