Hitting updates on Antuna, Wilson and Pineda

Hitting updates on Antuna, Wilson and Pineda
Here are more capsules on a few of the Nationals' prospects and how they did this summer at the recently wrapped up instructional league, coming from Nats hitting coordinator Troy Gingrich. The Nats' No. 12 prospect is infielder Yasel Antuna, who begins play in the Dominican winter league starting tomorrow. He is listed as playing third base and shortstop. Gingrich said there was a good amount of buzz surrounding Antuna's hitting in Fredericksburg, Va., the Nats' alternate training site....

Teenagers Tomlin and Infante learning what it takes to succeed at pro level

Teenagers Tomlin and Infante learning what it takes to succeed at pro level
Fall instructional league workouts are completed for 2020. Now these Nationals prospects head home or get ready to play winter ball. It was interesting to hear updates on how the first professional experience was for a pair of teenagers. Infielders Quade Tomlin and Sammy Infante got their first taste of pro ball for the last month at the Nats spring training facility in West Palm Beach, Fla. Quade Tomlin is only 18, but he is no stranger to the Nationals, and being around professional...

Cluff makes plate adjustments to take advantage of quick-twitch strengths

Cluff makes plate adjustments to take advantage of quick-twitch strengths
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...

Mendoza focusing on shortening path to ball, increasing power

Mendoza focusing on shortening path to ball, increasing power
Nationals fall instructional league workouts wrap up over the weekend. Players now prepare for offseason conditioning and some will get extra at-bats in winter league competition. Rain has prevented the Nats from playing the intended full schedule, with over 20 inches of rain falling on South Florida during this month. I got the opportunity to check in with Nats hitting coordinator Troy Gingrich this week and we ran down a few of the hitters he worked with in West Palm Beach, Fla. Gingrich...

Strasburg, Martinez detail how different road trip is during pandemic

Strasburg, Martinez detail how different road trip is during pandemic
BALTIMORE - To get a good idea how baseball has changed during the coronavirus pandemic, just take a glimpse inside a quick day trip up Interstate 95 for the Nationals as they took on the Orioles in their second exhibition game of summer training. The Nationals chartered five buses that left Nationals Park starting at 1 p.m. for the scheduled 6:05 p.m. first pitch at Oriole Park at Camden Yards. "Everybody was assigned a bus," said Nationals manager Davey Martinez on a Zoom call. "We had...

60-game season might be perfect equalizer for Kieboom

60-game season might be perfect equalizer for Kieboom
The decision to play 60 games was a hot topic the past few weeks between Major League Baseball and the players' union. The number was pretty much forced to be around 50 or 60 games because the calendar had already reached late June and the previous official schedule had teams finishing on Sept. 27. The biggest question in the Nats lineup for 2020 was finding a replacement for star third baseman Anthony Rendon, who signed a lucrative offseason free agent deal to join the Angels. The Nats' top...

Shortstop Cluff has experience coming back from time away from the game

Shortstop Cluff has experience coming back from time away from the game
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,...

Nats prospect watch: Cody Wilson has the tools to deliver on field

Nats prospect watch: Cody Wilson has the tools to deliver on field
An obvious starting point for who will be next to have a good chance of making the big leagues is found in the Nationals top prospect lists. But what is also intriguing are players who are not on this list just yet or were not considered for some reason or another. Similar to undrafted rookies or free agents in the National Football League, these prospects can reside under the radar for a time but then burst onto the scene. I asked Nationals minor league hitting coordinator Troy Gingrich for a...

Nats Prospect Watch: At 18, De La Rosa ahead of competition

Nats Prospect Watch: At 18, De La Rosa ahead of competition
Exciting to hear positive news about 18-year-old prospect Jeremy De La Rosa. The left-handed hitting outfielder from Santo Domingo in the Dominican Republic signed with the Nationals on July 2, 2018. De La Rosa spent 2019 with the Rookie-level Gulf Coast Nationals for 26 games, hitting .232 with a double, two triples, two homers, three stolen bases and 10 RBIs. "He has a lot of good tools," said Nationals minor league hitting coordinator Troy Gingrich. "For being only 18 years old, I...

Minor swing adjustments allow Stevenson to be himself

Minor swing adjustments allow Stevenson to be himself
Outfielder Andrew Stevenson played in 30 games for the Nationals last season and became a solid contributor off the bench, hitting .367 with a .486 OBP. The talented left-handed hitter is only 25, and has played in the majors over parts of the past three seasons. He made an appearance in one postseason game last year, scoring a crucial run against the Brewers in the 4-3 wild card win. Stevenson scored the tying run on Juan Soto's two-run single in the bottom of the eighth to help put the Nats...

Nats prospect watch: Pineda ready to bounce back from learning year

Nats prospect watch: Pineda ready to bounce back from learning year
Failure is a big part of baseball. A hitter who fails seven times out of 10 is considered above average. Learning how to deal with failure and figuring out how to increase your chances of getting a base hit can go a long way to extending the life of a hitter at the higher levels. In 2019, this is what catcher Israel Pineda went through in the Nationals organization at 19. He failed more times than not on offense. And that is never an easy task to endure. At short-season Single-A Auburn in 2018,...

Nats prospect watch: Reetz showed off power in second half

Nats prospect watch: Reetz showed off power in second half
A big second half was important to catcher Jakson Reetz's potential move up in the Nationals organization. Reetz, a third-round 2014 selection in the First-Year Player Draft, hit .282 with 12 homers and 38 RBIs for high Single-A Potomac after the All-Star break. In the first half, he had hit .220 with only one homer. His slugging percentage jumped from .300 to .563. The Carolina League All-Star told me his focus at the plate from July on was critical to those number jumps. He finished with 18...

Nats prospect watch: Barrera's plate discipline one key to success

Nats prospect watch: Barrera's plate discipline one key to success
Catcher Tres Barrera made his major league debut late last season with the Nationals, appearing in two games. The Eastern League All-Star got off to a good start with Double-A Harrisburg and never looked back. Barrera was able to crank out 23 doubles, eight homers and 46 RBIs in the spacious FNB Field. "Tres had a great year last year," said Nationals minor league hitting coordinator Troy Gingrich. "Put him in a different park, give him the big league balls, he'd probably hit 15-20 homers...

Nats prospect watch: Freeman's simple swing should pay dividends at Double-A

Nats prospect watch: Freeman's simple swing should pay dividends at Double-A
Nationals prospect Cole Freeman was a Carolina League All-Star in 2019 and also got a shot at playing 15 games in the Arizona Fall League for the Surprise Saguaros. The 25-year-old worked with Nationals hitting coordinator Troy Gingrich at spring training for a short time. Gingrich admired Freeman's compact swing. "I only got to see him for three days," Gingrich said. "He's very simple. He's got a short swing. He's got to where he is using his legs, his lower half, in his swing as well....

Nats Prospect watch: Nick Banks shortens swing to add to power stroke

Nats Prospect watch: Nick Banks shortens swing to add to power stroke
Nationals minor league hitting instructor Troy Gingrich had more positive news on outfielder Nick Banks, who garnered a lot of attention last summer with his game-winning three-run homer in the Carolina League All-Star Classic in Frederick, Md. Banks, 25, is rated as the No. 27 prospect in the MLBPipeline.com Nats top 30. Gingrich said the left-handed hitting Banks made a big jump in his swing and plate discipline in 2019. His numbers improved as the season got going. He slashed .278/.338/.431...

Nats prospect watch: Jackson Cluff brings "quick twitch" swing to table

Nats prospect watch: Jackson Cluff brings "quick twitch" swing to table
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...

Nats prospect watch: Antuna healthy again

Nats prospect watch: Antuna healthy again
It was great to get an update regarding shortstop Yasel Antuna after the young Nationals prospect was out of almost all games due to injury for more than a year. The 20-year-old Antuna lasted only three games last season for Rookie-level Gulf Coast League after playing in 87 games at low single-A Hagerstown in 2018. MLBPipeline.com rates Antuna as the No. 12 Nats prospect in their 2020 top 30 list. He is a 6-foot infielder that hails from the southern coastal area of Peravia, Dominican...

Nats prospect watch: Mendoza getting aggressive with swing

Nats prospect watch: Mendoza getting aggressive with swing
Third baseman Drew Mendoza (Twitter: @MendozaDrew22) knew from his first few weeks with the Nationals organization that he wanted to make some adjustments to his swing. The 2019 Baseball America second team All-American was a standout third baseman at Florida State, but was ready from his first few days in pro camp to add power to his approach. It is the Nationals' policy with drafted players in their initiation to professional baseball to allow them a full month to get acclimated and pitch...

Kendrick helpful to Nats' next generation of hitters

Kendrick helpful to Nats' next generation of hitters
Re-watching the Nationals' playoff run gives fans the opportunity to see Howie Kendrick bounce back from a rough start to October baseball and turn into one of the biggest heroes. Kendrick's grand slam against the Dodgers and later the foul pole-clanging two-run shot against the Astros will go down as two of the most clutch hits in Nats postseason history. Kendrick kept on going to begin 2020 spring training, slashing .318/.375/.318 during 10 games. In the 2019 postseason, the 36-year-old hit...

Nats prospect watch: Kieboom focused on aggressiveness at the plate

Nats prospect watch: Kieboom focused on aggressiveness at the plate
Nationals hitting coordinator Troy Gingrich said that top prospect Carter Kieboom started to get into a nice rhythm the final few weeks of March after a slow start to this spring training. "It was a different feeling for Carter this year because he knew the job was his for the take," Gingrich said. "He made a couple of adjustments in the offseason on his own, trying to make some moves that he does smaller. They didn't really transform how he was expecting them to in the games, along with...