Photo by Sol Tucker/TalkNats)
The Washington Nationals bunked up for the night near Clearwater on the Gulf Coast side of Florida. Last night, they got clobbered by the Yankees in a lopsided game that was one hit from being no-hit. This afternoon, the Nats take on the rival Phillies in their Spring Training home in Clearwater. Jake Eder will get his second start in the Grapefruit League for the Nats.
Teams are required to have “a minimum of four players who were regulars on a previous year’s Major League team or who were platooned on the previous year’s Major League team on a regular basis, or who have a reasonable chance to be regulars on the Major League Club’s squad during the upcoming season. The regulars are supposed to play a minimum of three complete innings.”
A throwback quote for you from former GM Mike Rizzo:
“It’s the best group of upside players we’ve ever had here. I’ve been here since Day 1; I’ve never seen it like this before. And then when you filter in, there’s 22-, 23-, 24-year olds that are already kind of established in the big leagues, I think you see what we’re trying to accomplish here. I think that will be the first rung on the ladder to get back to the championship.”
— Mike Rizzo said prior to the 2023 season
Rebuilds suck. This one is taking longer because those prospects that Rizzo was talking about didn’t all blossom into good MLB players. Look at the 2006-2010 rebuild and what got added on after that. So many prospects turned into stars like Ryan Zimmerman, Jordan Zimmermann, Stephen Strasburg, Ian Desmond, Wilson Ramos, Bryce Harper, Anthony Rendon, Trea Turner, and Juan Soto. The problem is that after Turner who was acquired via a trade, the Nats have turned a drafted prospect into their own All-Star since Rendon, and the only international All-Star in Nats’ history is Soto. The dry spell is long — too long.
When you have that many prospects turn into MLB stars from that first rebuild, you can then sign great free agents like Max Scherzer and trade for a Gio Gonzalez. The Nats got nowhere near that in their current rebuild. Too many prospects are struggling like Dylan Crews, Brady House, and Robert Hassell III. They missed on almost all of the pitchers they took in the first round and now have to hope that Cade Cavalli does become a top-of-the-rotation (T.o.R.) star.
Rizzo was right that, “ The [prospect] stars have to become the [MLB] stars.” And besides James Wood putting up one great half of a season in 2025, the Nats most recent rebuild failed. That is why the Nats are where they are. Unless players are extended, the window is small that any of these current 40-man players like CJ Abrams will be part of the next winning Nats’ team. Maybe a Harry Ford will emerge, and could Daylen Lile become a star? It could still happen, but the situation is not good right now. There aren’t enough players stepping up.
This afternoon game will allow the Nats to bus back the 3 1/2 hours to West Palm Beach. This is the Nats final road trip on the West Coast (Gulf Coast) of Florida. That makes driving easy going forward. Hopefully they can travel back to West Palm Beach with a Curly W today.
Washington National vs. Philadelphia Phillies
Stadium: BayCare Ballpark, Clearwater, Florida
1st Pitch: 1:05 PM EDT
TV: Phillies video feed via the MLB app
Radio: Via the MLB app
