The Washington Nationals have just 11 games remaining on the 2024 MLB season and general manager Mike Rizzo revealed what he hopes to see from the young group during the final stretch during his weekly appearance Wednesday with 106.7 The Fan's The Sports Junkies, which is presented exclusively by our partners at MainStreet Bank — Cheer Local. Bank Local. Put Our Team in Your Office. Member FDIC. Equal Housing Lender.
"The consistency of the offense is what we're trying to accomplish these last couple of games before the season ends and trying to get a little rhythm in the lineup and get the guys to play more efficient baseball offensively," Rizzo told the Junkies on Wednesday. "There were some chances in the first game with the Mets where had runners that we could have moved along and got in, that type of thing. Runners on third and less than two outs that we've been pretty good at [getting home] throughout the year that we couldn't get in.
"Those are chances we have to be very efficiently at offensively. And come through and score those runs and then tack on runs when you have the lead."
In Monday's game, Rizzo pointed to Jake Irvin putting up a solid outing – allowing one run on four hits and a walk in 7.1 innings – but they "couldn't muster up enough runs to protect him" in what would be a 2-1 loss in 10 innings.
And in Tuesday's game, the Mets got a fortunate bases-loaded double from Pete Alonso, a 60.4 mph exit velocity (third lowest in the game) single, and then added on runs for a 10-1 win. But there is something to learn from in that loss.
"They got a couple of lucky hits," Rizzo said, "... kinda fell apart after that and they started piling on. That's what good teams do when they smell blood in the water, they attack and they finish teams off. And that's something that we have to learn to do to progress and get better and get back to where we wanna be."
Looking ahead to next year and potential Opening Day starters on the roster and in the lineup now, Rizzo said that Dylan Crews, James Wood and Jacob Young have "proven that they belong in the big leagues and are part of the future" and will all "have a leg up to crack the Opening Day roster."
"The middle of the diamond" with CJ Abrams and Luis Garcia Jr. are "part of our core" with Keibert Ruiz in there also.
In addition to those six, Jose Tena, acquired this season in a deal with Cleveland, "has done nothing but swing the bat and put good at-bats up offensively," but he isn't sure positionally where he will fit in. "We're very encouraged about his offensive skillset and he's going to be a guy that's gonna help us long term."
"The other guys are, obviously, gonna be battling for position," Rizzo said. "It depends on what we do in the offseason, who is gonna get an opportunity to break camp with us next year. But a lot can happen between now and Opening Day."
Prospect Updates: Right-handed pitcher Cade Cavalli
Cavalli, the Nationals first-round pick (22nd overall in the 2020 MLB Draft, is currently the No. 8 prospect in the system and is recovering from Tommy John surgery that stole his 2023 campaign and most of this year.
What is his future look like for a guy who made his big league debut in August 2022?
"Oh, he's got a bright future," Rizzo said. "He was one of the best pitching prospects in baseball until he had Tommy John surgery, he's rehabbing now. His rehab is going longer than we had planned on it, he had a couple setbacks, but he's gonna be find the end of spring training. And we expect him to be a big part of the rotation going forward."
Rizzo said "we're pretty good" at the TJ rehabs and "I think he's gonna be another big part of how we rehabbed these guys and have had success afterwards."
"We're looking forward to him," Rizzo said. "He's a guy that we're excited to see."
In that same vein, the GM mentioned left-hander James Bennett (the organizations's No. 18 prospect) as a player coming off of Tommy John that they expect will be ready for spring training and "will have an opportunity to break camp with the team or to be a guy to have an opportunity to help us."
Third baseman Brady House
House, the Nats' first-round pick in the 2021 draft (11th overall), was promoted to Triple-A Rochester this season and has nine doubles and six home runs in his first 49 games there with a .261 average and .687 OPS.
Still 21, it seems the youngster will also get a shot for his MLB debut out of the shoot.
"I think Brady has had a terrific year for us in Triple-A, he's really starting to come into his power, he's gonna be a premium defensive third baseman with power," Rizzo said. "...He's going to come to spring training and try and make the team. We like the way he's progressed so far and if he continues on that path he's gonna be a really good player for us.
"And he'll be one of the guys that we're talking about alongside of Crews and Young and Wood and Abrams and House. He's a big part of our future. We're obviously not gonna rush him, like we don't rush any player. And when his time, when he's ready for the big leagues we'll bring him because we could use that power influx and the offensive portion of his game is important to us."
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