How call-ups and rehab assignments will work in 2021

How call-ups and rehab assignments will work in 2021
Throughout their 60-game season last summer and the first month of this season, when the Nationals needed to add a player to their big league roster they simply sent word to their alternate training site in Fredericksburg and waited for the player to make the short drive up Interstate 95 to Nationals Park. It was, under the circumstances, the safest way to make transactions while playing through a pandemic. No more. Beginning today, all major league clubs will have the ability to call players...

Minor league rosters set on eve of long-awaited opening day

Minor league rosters set on eve of long-awaited opening day
It's been an astounding 20 months since official Minor League Baseball games were last played, an interminable length of time for prospects, staff members, and fans in communities large and small across America to wait since the end of the 2019 season. Suffice it to say, there are a lot of eager folks right now on the eve of a long-awaited 2021 opening day. "It's going to be an exciting day tomorrow for everyone involved," Mark Scialabba, the Nationals' assistant general manager for player...

Nats ready to transition from alternate site to minor leagues

Nats ready to transition from alternate site to minor leagues
When they needed to make a transaction prior to Friday's game to open up a spot on the active roster for Jon Lester, the Nationals elected to option right-hander Steven Fuentes. That wasn't terribly surprising; the 23-year-old prospect hadn't appeared in a game after getting called up 10 days earlier, and the organization wants to make sure he gets back into a typical, five-day routine as a starter who may have a bright future here. The more notable aspect of the transaction was the location...

Pitching prospect Denaburg has Tommy John surgery

Pitching prospect Denaburg has Tommy John surgery
Mason Denaburg, the Nationals' 2018 first-round draft pick and eighth-ranked prospect, will miss the season after recently undergoing Tommy John surgery, a club official confirmed. It's another tough blow for the oft-injured Denaburg, who since he was selected 27th in the country out of Merritt Island (Fla.) High School three years ago has thrown only 20 1/3 professional innings due to arm troubles. The 21-year-old right-hander, who received a $3 million signing bonus, appeared in seven games...

Romero and Braymer stretching out as starters

Romero and Braymer stretching out as starters
The Nationals have been very clear about how they will utilize their top pitching prospects. Guys like Jackson Rutledge and Cade Cavalli project to be front-line starters, and general manager Mike Rizzo has confirmed that's the path the organization has set them on. But the futures of some mid-level prospects aren't as certain. Guys like Seth Romero and Ben Braymer have pitched both as starters and relievers throughout their careers, dating back to their time in college and continuing through...

Report: Nationals eyeing Cuban Vaquero on international front

Report: Nationals eyeing Cuban Vaquero on international front
When the new international signing period begins, likely in January, the Nationals are expected to make a big splash to sign one of the top outfielders in the class. Baseball America reports the Nationals are expected to use most of their pool money on Cuban outfielder Cristian Vaquero, a 16-year-old left-handed hitter. "Vaquero is a dynamic center fielder with plus speed, a strong arm and good defensive instincts for his age," Baseball America wrote, listing Vaquero as the player who will...

Spring training expectations set for Rutledge and Cavalli

Spring training expectations set for Rutledge and Cavalli
Reporting to the first day of spring training as rookies must feel a lot like a freshman arriving on campus for the first day of high school. But instead of being surrounded by jocks, cliques and faculty, you're stepping into a clubhouse full of world champions, a World Series MVP, a Cy Young Award winner and All-Stars. OK, so in a sense, still jocks. But for the sake of the analogy, if spring training is like high school, then rookies are freshman, veterans are upperclassmen, coaches are...

Nationals set minor league coaching staffs

Nationals set minor league coaching staffs
Now that Major League Baseball has announced minor league affiliations and schedules for the 2021 season, the Nationals took care of one remaining piece of unfinished business Friday afternoon, announcing their minor league coaching staffs for the upcoming campaign. Matt LeCroy will move up a level to manage Triple-A Rochester after spending the 2016-19 seasons as the skipper at Double-A Harrisburg. In his 13th season in the Nationals organization, LeCroy served as minor league quality control...

Minor league schedules announced by Major League Baseball

Minor league schedules announced by Major League Baseball
Major League Baseball this morning announced the schedules for the 2021 Minor League Baseball season, the final step in a year's worth of tinkering that saw MLB assume operations for all of its clubs' farm teams. The Rochester Red Wings, the Nationals' new Triple-A affiliate, will begin play on Tuesday, April 6 at Buffalo, the first of six straight road games against the Bisons. Rochester opens its home campaign at Frontier Field on Tuesday, April 13 with the first of six consecutive home...

Cavalli cracks MLBPipeline.com's top 100 prospects list

Cavalli cracks MLBPipeline.com's top 100 prospects list
Some - maybe not much, but some - was made a little over a week ago when the Nationals did not have a single prospect land in Baseball America's top 100 prospects list. They were the only major league team to not have at least one prospect ranked by the publication. But on Thursday night, another highly regarded source for baseball prospect news came out with its own top 100 rankings, and this time, the Nationals were not shut out. Right-hander Cade Cavalli found himself as the 99th overall...

Pineda gained valuable experience in Fredericksburg over summer

Pineda gained valuable experience in Fredericksburg over summer
One of the well regarded backstops in the Nationals organization is Israel Pineda, ranked No. 12 on the Nats top 30 prospects list from MLBPipeline.com. Nationals catching coordinator Michael Barrett said the 20-year-old out of Maracray, Venezuela, gained valuable experience by getting a taste of working with big leaguers at the club's alternate site over the 2020 summer season. "Pineda had an opportunity to go to Fredericksburg, which was a great experience for him," Barrett said. "He kind...

Thurman runs down Nats young outfield prospects

Thurman runs down Nats young outfield prospects
Here is our final installment on the young outfield corps for the Nationals, guys that are making some noise at the lower levels. Most of these prospects got to work out and play games during instructional league in West Palm Beach, Fla., back in October. One well regarded outfielder who did not get to participate but is certainly worth notice is 17-year-old Roismar Quintana from Caracas, Venezuela. He had a quad injury and didn't play games this season, but Nationals outfielder/baserunning...

Barrett: Catchers at instructs made "incredible" progress

Barrett: Catchers at instructs made "incredible" progress
Here is an update on the catchers at instructional league. Nationals catching coordinator Michael Barrett, who caught in the major leagues for 12 seasons, coached up and worked with the young backstops as they participated in the October camp. Here is a rundown of the catchers in camp and current ages: Geraldi Diaz, 20 Mason Doolittle, 22 Brady Lindsly, 22 Ivan Murzi, 19 Wilmer Perez, 22 Israel Pineda, 20 Ray Torres, 20 Barrett was impressed with how seriously all of these catchers took the...

Highly touted shortstop among Nats' 10 international signings

Highly touted shortstop among Nats' 10 international signings
Today is the first day for international free agent signings across Major League Baseball. The Nationals made big news by signing the No. 5 prospect in 16-year-old shortstop Armando Cruz for $3.9 million. Because of the coronavirus pandemic, the usual July 2 signing date was delayed until Jan. 15. In all, the Nats announced 10 signings. The list includes five pitchers, three outfielders and two shortstops. Five of the prospects hail from the Dominican Republic, four are from Venezuela and one...

Nats keep eye on Venezuela for top-flight prospects

Nats keep eye on Venezuela for top-flight prospects
If you study the 2020 Nationals instructional league roster, you will notice a good amount of talent drawn from Venezuela. Of the 65 players on the roster, 16 are from Venezuela. Here is a list of those Nats prospects in attendance at the October camp in West Palm Beach, Fla., along with their top 30 prospect ranking, according to MLBPipeline.com: Pitchers RHP Tomas Alastre RHP Mirton BlancoRHP Niomar GomezRHP Angel GuillenRHP Andry Lara (No. 4)RHP Carlos RomeroRHP Karlo Seijas LHP Alfonso...

Nats' minor league pitching depth still a position of strength

Nats' minor league pitching depth still a position of strength
The Nationals system is strong from a pitching standpoint, even with the recent trade of prospects Wil Crowe and Eddy Yean to the Pirates. The Nats' top 10 prospects were all pitchers prior to the move that acquired All-Star first baseman Josh Bell, so now it is top eight, according to MLBPipeline.com. Prospects Jackson Rutledge, Cade Cavalli and Cole Henry are the top three. All three were drafted in 2019 or 2020. No. 5 prospect Mason Denaburg was a 2018 top selection. Nats assistant general...

How Nats prepare young outfielders for what they will see in games

How Nats prepare young outfielders for what they will see in games
Here is a list of the young outfielders (and their ages) that were in attendance at Nationals instructional league workouts in October: Andry Arias, 20Gage Canning, 23Justin Connell, 21 Jeremy De La Rosa, 18 Braian Fernandez, 21 Jorge Hurtado, 20 Daniel Marte, 18 Ricardo Mendez, 20 Roismar Quintana, 17 Jake Randa, 22 Cody Wilson, 24 Outfield/baserunning coordinator Gary Thurman worked with these players on the fundamentals the Nats want every outfielder to master as they make their way through...

De La Rosa stepped into leadership role at instructional league

De La Rosa stepped into leadership role at instructional league
The Nationals are building outfield talent at the lower levels of their organization. The club boasts a good amount of quality prospects that are a couple of years away from making an impact at the major league level. The highest-rated of these outfielders is Jeremy De La Rosa, who is No. 13 on the list of MLBPipeline.com Nats prospects. The 18-year-old played 26 games with the Rookie-level Gulf Coast League Nationals in 2019. Former major league outfielder Gary Thurman has been the...

Report: Nats finalize minor league managerial appointments

Report: Nats finalize minor league managerial appointments
The Nationals have set their minor league managers for 2021, according to published reports. At Triple-A Rochester, Matt LeCroy returns to the dugout, moving up from Double-A Harrisburg. Moving to the Senators to manage is Tripp Keister. At high Single-A Wilmington is Tommy Shields. Mario Lisson takes over as manager for low Single-A Fredericksburg. Since 2008, LeCroy, 45, has managed in the Nats system at low Single-A, high Single-A and Double-A and was the bullpen coach on Matt Williams'...

Notes on Mendoza, Cluff and Snyder from alternate site

Notes on Mendoza, Cluff and Snyder from alternate site
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...