by Stan4Nats
by Stephen G. "Ghost" Mears
by Andrew Lang
There were some who were nervous as to whether Caleb Lomavita would sign after he dropped 21 spots from the No. 18 ranking that Baseball America had him at as a draft prospect. Not to fear, Lomavita officially signed today at Nationals Park, and within minutes of the official announcement — there was a press conference with Lomavita, Washington Nationals’ general manager Mike Rizzo, VP of Amateur Scouting, Danny Haas, and Lomavita’s agent, Scott Boras.
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The Washington Nationals still have not won against the San Diego Padres in a game this year. Sure, the Nats have the last laugh with CJ Abrams, MacKenzie Gore, and James Wood all coming over in the Juan Soto trade with the Padres, plus indirectly Keibert Ruiz came over in the Trea Turner trade with the Dodgers, and Turner was once acquired by the Nats in a blockbuster trade with the Padres. Additionally in the minor leagues the Nats have Jarlin Susana and Robert Hassell III as the other two players acquired from the Padres in the Soto trade.
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The Washington Nationals had a day-off yesterday after a weekend sweep of the Reds, and now have to face the Padres. The Nats went to San Diego at the end of June and were flying high until the Padres set the Nats down and knocked the Nats out of the Wild Card picture. Now the Nats are looking to wreak havoc on the Padres in Nationals Park.
The Nats stars of Sunday’s game was James Wood with the big bat, and pitcher Jake Irvin on the mound. It is good to see different players stepping up for the Nats in each game.
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The Washington Nationals youth movement is ascending. James Wood, Dylan Crews, and Brady House had all homered over the weekend. Seaver King, the team’s 2024 1st round draft pick from earlier in the month, participated in batting practice with the team on Friday at Nationals Park and blasted a BP homer.
While King has a long way to go to play alongside CJ Abrams in the infield, Wood is already making an impact at the MLB level, and Crews and House are very close to being ready for their own MLB debuts. With the trade deadline looming, this team will get even younger as the season pushes on, as younger players replace older veteran players on the roster.
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When Rizzo Foundation Board Member, David Jones, contacted me in early June about attending the first RizKids charity event, we immediately penciled in July 21 on our calendars and signed up immediately. This was the inaugural event that Mike and Jodi Rizzo planned for their newly established Rizzo Family Foundation, and this one had two components: charity blackjack, and a barbecue for those who just wanted to eat and mingle.
We knew that even before this event that RizKids was already doing good work and had granted college scholarships to Dewayne McKinnon and Langston Speed as inaugural recipients of the Kim Rizzo Penway Scholarships with $5,000 checks. Additionally, EverybodyWinsDC was their inaugural Riz Kids Partners for Change grant recipients. That grant will help fund the literacy and mentorship program at Van Ness Elementary School. The charity was already giving away money before their first fundraising event.
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The Washington Nationals had to overcome a troublesome 2.0 inning start from MacKenzie Gore (3 R), and a 2-run deficit, in what turned out to be a Nats’ come-from-behind win, their 26th of the season which tied them for the most in MLB. The Nats won 5-4.
The Nats star of the game was Jacob Young who scored two runs, stole two bases, played perfect defense, and knocked in the game-winning run in the 8th inning. He got a Gatorade bath courtesy of Jesse Winker for a quick cooldown after the game in front of over 32,700 fans. Harold Ramirez hit a 2-run homer, and the bullpen covered 7.0 innings with only giving up 1-run. Closer, Kyle Finnegan, had to face the Reds best hitters to earn his 27th save.
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The Washington Nationals had an 8-1 lead going into the 9th inning last night and had to scramble in the bullpen to save the game with the tying run in the batter’s box in an 8-5 win. The good news is that it was a Nats winner.
What can you say about the birthday boy, Patrick Corbin, who pitched his best game statistically of the season. The pre-game crowd was treated to the Nats first round draft pick Seaver King, as well as third round pick, Kevin Bazzell, as they both signed their contracts and took batting practice with the team. The postgame crowd, of over 38,000 people, was treated to a Carly Rae Jepsen concert.
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The Washington Nationals have reseeded their starting rotation, and the birthday boy, Patrick Corbin, takes the mound on his 35th birthday. As expected, first round draft pick, Seaver King, was at Nats Park to sign his contract at a reported $5.15 million, and third round pick, Kevin Bazzell, signed his contract also. Both King and Bazzell participated in the batting practice with the team.
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Draft picking can be about as unpredictable as the roulette wheel. The best drafts, rightfully, are judged years into the future. Still, evaluators will grade how each team did in real-time. The new amateur draft and scouting group led by Danny Haas, VP of Amateur Scouting, received good reviews from those watching the results of the 2024 MLB Draft, along with the third best ranking by Bleacher Report at an A-. MLB Pipeline named the Kevin Bazzell pick in the third round as their favorite draft pick by the Nationals.
Brad Ciolek is the Nats’ new Senior Director of Amateur Scouting, and was a key addition to the Nats draft group, along with Reed Dunn, as they both joined Haas to form perhaps the best amateur scouting group in MLB. From 2010 to 2014, Dunn was with the Nats, and they got him back from the Braves as the new Assistant Scouting Director and National Crosschecker.
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The trade deadline is on July 30 at 6 p.m. EDT, and that is now less than two weeks from today. While considering trades, teams will simultaneously be working on signing their drafted players to contracts with a deadline of August 1st. That will keep all front offices busy. The man at the top for the Washington Nationals, general manager Mike Rizzo, will be overseeing all of that plus tasking his young team with higher expectations for fundamental improvement.
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