Spring training may bring future into focus
Key prospects will get chance to make big league club
WASHINGTON — On Tuesday, the Washington Nationals revealed their first round of nonroster spring training invitations. More will follow before the team reports to West Palm Beach, Florida, in mid-February. But that initial list provided a glimmer of hope for the rebuilding team.
The group is headlined by outfielders Dylan Crews, Robert Hassell III and James Wood and infielders Darren Baker, Brady House and Trey Lipscomb. Outfielder Travis Blankenhorn, first baseman Lewin Díaz, pitcher Joe La Sorsa, catcher Brady Lindsly and Juan Yepez, an outfielder and first baseman, were also on the list.
But all eyes will be on that first group of six, all prospects who are getting their first crack at major league camp. An invite to big league camp doesn’t mean a player will end his spring there. Still, it signals a step in the right direction, progress for an organization that is slowly working its way back.
Crews, House and Wood are the team’s top three prospects, according to most rankings. Washington made Crews the No. 2 pick in the 2023 draft and selected House in the first round in 2021. Wood, a 6-foot-6 outfielder, arrived as part of the Juan Soto trade.
“I hope they’re all in big league camp because I want to see them play,” manager Dave Martinez said during MLB’s winter meetings. “The biggest thing is really getting to know them and work with them and kind of give them an idea of what we’re looking for and how we want to attack the game.”
Things were different for the Nationals and their up-and-coming talent last spring. Wood hadn’t played above Class A. Hassell, who was also part of the Soto trade, played just 27 games for Double-A Harrisburg. House was coming off a back injury that cost him most of his first full professional season. Crews was still at LSU.
Some of the Nationals’ prospects in major league camp last year who weren’t on the 40-man roster are no longer with the team — Yasel Antuna, Donovan Casey and Gerardo Carrillo. Two others — right-hander Zach Brzykcy, who missed all of last season after Tommy John surgery, and catcher Drew Millas, who made his major league debut in 2023 — still have shots at being contributors down the line.
At the time, the Nationals’ future felt far off. Now, things are a little clearer.
This will be the third full season of the Nationals’ rebuild, a process that started in 2021 when Washington shipped ace Max Scherzer and star shortstop Trea Turner to the Los Angeles Dodgers. Nationals fans lost two franchise cornerstones, then another in 2022 when Soto was sent to the San Diego Padres.
Right-hander Josiah Gray and catcher Keibert Ruiz, who arrived in the Scherzer-Turner deal, gave fans something to be excited about in 2021. Shortstop CJ Abrams and lefty MacKenzie Gore have added to that since. But fans have still
endured four consecutive losing seasons. Now, the Nationals’ top six prospects provide a glimpse of what could be.
Every player but Baker, who ended last season at Triple-A Rochester, finished the year at Harrisburg. There’s a chance Nationals fans could see Crews, Hassell or Wood make their major league debuts this year. Lane Thomas will open the season in right field and Joey Gallo will probably
start in left (though he could slide to first base), but the Nationals’ outfield isn’t solidified. Neither, for that matter, is their infield, aside from Abrams and Joey Meneses.
House seems the least probable of the group to come up this season. He only played in 88 games in 2023 as the team managed his workload following a back injury. But he showed improvement after a lost 2022 season.
“We’re not going to block guys,” general manager Mike Rizzo said in December. “But if we’re fortunate enough that we have this influx of guys knocking on the big league door, then that’ll be a good day for us here. Players, they tell me when they’re ready by their play on the field. We’ve never had a problem with moving players quickly to the big leagues if they can perform up there. And we’ll have no qualms about putting them there now.”
Note: The Nationals signed seven-year major league veteran Robert Gsellman to a minor league contract, according a person familiar with the deal. Gsellman, a 30-year-old righthander, spent last season in Japan and is expected to compete for a place in the Nationals’ bullpen. He is 20-18 with a 4.60 ERA in 184 career games, mostly with the New York Mets (2016 to 2021). He pitched briefly for the Chicago Cubs in 2022.