Photo by Gerry Gleckel for TalkNats.com
Victor Robles is a young man with immense talent and potential on the baseball field, and a man of few words off of it. We had the chance to sit down with him prior to the Potomac Nationals game on Saturday after he had done his work in the batting cages. Still carrying his bat, Robles sat down with us and it was apparent that he is already a veteran in giving interviews as he did not give away more than was asked of him. We talked in Spanish to make the interview more comfortable for him.
The 20-year-old outfielder from Santo Domingo Este, Dominican Republic, has been playing baseball since he was nine years old and always knew he wanted to play professionally. He stands 6-feet tall with an athletic build. Unsurprisingly, he has looked to fellow Dominican player David Ortiz for inspiration. Signed by the Washington Nationals in 2014, he has been playing on farm teams in the United States since 2015, when he was only 18-years-old. Robles states it’s difficult being so far from home, but understands that it’s part of the deal to become a major league player.
“It’s a little sad since you’re not close to family,” Victor Robles said. “But you have to do your work. [I talk to family] whenever I have time.”
Robles is the number one rated prospect in the Nationals system, and depending on the rating service you look to, Robles is the 9th best prospect in all of baseball on the Baseball America report and the 8th best if you believe Keith Law. The Nationals have four prospects in the Baseball America top 100: Number 9 Victor Robles, Number 48 Erick Fedde, Number 59 Juan Soto and Number 98 Carter Kieboom.
This fact is not lost on Robles on the ratings, and it garners him a lot of attention. Robles works to ignore it the best he can, however, so he can focus on his game. Continue reading
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