Latest / District Territory / 5 Nationals who need to be sent to Triple-A or off the roster

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5 Nationals who need to be sent to Triple-A or off the roster · District Territory

• 0:05
  Speaker 1: Welcome back to the District Territory Podcast. I'm Eric Shellhouse
• 0:08
  Speaker 1: from Bat Boys Baseball. And joining me today, Spencer Nussbaum
• 0:11
  Speaker 1: from The Athletic. In today's edition, we are going to
• 0:14
  Speaker 1: be talking about five players for the Nationals who maybe
• 0:17
  Speaker 1: need to return to AAA, have some stuff they need
• 0:19
  Speaker 1: to work on ahead of next season, or it might
• 0:21
  Speaker 1: just be time for them to cut paths. Leading off,
• 0:24
  Speaker 1: we are going to get it kicked off with Jose Tana.
• 0:27
  Speaker 1: Tenna hit 143 in the month of August and 133
• 0:31
  Speaker 1: down in September with no home runs in that final month.
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  Speaker 1: He had 12 strikeouts and three hits over his final
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  Speaker 1: 30 at-bat, Spencer, and will return to a crowded infield
• 0:42
  Speaker 1: with Brady House, C.J. Abrams, Yohandi Morales just called up
• 0:45
  Speaker 1: in September, and Seaver King on the way soon. Do
• 0:49
  Speaker 1: you think it is time for the Nationals to part
• 0:52
  Speaker 1: ways with Jose Tenna, or does he need to find
• 0:54
  Speaker 1: his swing more consistently at Triple-A?
• 0:58
  Speaker 2: Yeah, well, here's the thing I think about often, particularly
• 1:02
  Speaker 2: as it comes to, I guess, a team not being
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  Speaker 2: able to tell us something directly, but able to show
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  Speaker 2: us what their decisions, right? I think about when guys
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  Speaker 2: are moved to AAA, per se, you know, being told
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  Speaker 2: to work on certain positions because the team knows what's coming,
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  Speaker 2: or at the end of the season, if a guy's
• 1:24
  Speaker 2: at-bats are dramatically reduced that is generally not a good
• 1:27
  Speaker 2: sign for them. Um, 10, I think had 15 at
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  Speaker 2: bats in all of September, um, didn't start at least
• 1:34
  Speaker 2: in the final week and a half of the season. Um,
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  Speaker 2: and I, I think that they have kind of showed
• 1:39
  Speaker 2: with their actions that he's not a part of their future. Um,
• 1:43
  Speaker 2: you know, a left-handed hitting DH. I think they tried
• 1:46
  Speaker 2: to improve his bat speed this season, but it all
• 1:49
  Speaker 2: in all just isn't, um, a player who I think
• 1:52
  Speaker 2: they envision on their roster and he is out of options. Um,
• 1:56
  Speaker 2: And so they would have to designate him for assignment
• 1:59
  Speaker 2: and cut bait, so to speak, see if someone else
• 2:03
  Speaker 2: potentially wants him this winter. But no, I think that
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  Speaker 2: his time on the roster, as clearly as probably anyone
• 2:12
  Speaker 2: I see out there, is done. And it's possible I'm wrong.
• 2:16
  Speaker 2: It's possible I'm reading too much into things or don't
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  Speaker 2: know about injury or anything of that nature, but You
• 2:23
  Speaker 2: look at the roster construction, you talk about the infield
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  Speaker 2: that you just laid out, right? It's hard to see
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  Speaker 2: what his role is on the next Nationals team. And
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  Speaker 2: so while I think they saw glimpses of a future,
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  Speaker 2: saw him hit well in a pinch-hit spot at times,
• 2:42
  Speaker 2: I think that it's hard to know exactly what his
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  Speaker 2: role on the next Nationals team would be. And so
• 2:47
  Speaker 2: I think, you know, for a player who's been here
• 2:50
  Speaker 2: since the middle of 2024, I think that I wouldn't
• 2:53
  Speaker 2: be surprised if this organization moves on.
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  Speaker 1: Yeah, a career high for him this season, 115 games.
• 3:00
  Speaker 1: He was a pretty routine part of the roster and
• 3:03
  Speaker 1: a career low in batting average of 222 over the
• 3:06
  Speaker 1: course of the entire season. I just don't think it
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  Speaker 1: really makes a lot of sense for the Nationals to
• 3:11
  Speaker 1: continue with him as a part of their plans moving
• 3:14
  Speaker 1: on in the future. His time here, I would have
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  Speaker 1: to agree, is probably coming to an end, although can't
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  Speaker 1: guarantee anything. Next up, we're going to jump over to
• 3:25
  Speaker 1: the rotation. It's going to be Jake Irvin. Irvin is
• 3:29
  Speaker 1: entering his first offseason of arbitration eligibility, which I think
• 3:33
  Speaker 1: has to be taken into account here. He finished the
• 3:36
  Speaker 1: season with a 548 ERA and a 2-10 record. He
• 3:40
  Speaker 1: was bouncing on and off the injured list throughout the
• 3:43
  Speaker 1: season as well. It is a career 503 ERA entering
• 3:48
  Speaker 1: his age 30 seasons. Spencer, is it time for the
• 3:52
  Speaker 1: Nationals to move on from Jake Irvin? We saw him
• 3:55
  Speaker 1: have some efficiency out of the bullpen when there was
• 3:58
  Speaker 1: an opener in place for him later in the season.
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  Speaker 1: What do you think his future holds?
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  Speaker 2: Yeah, I think the Nationals will have to think a
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  Speaker 2: lot about this one, right? Because they have stressed or
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  Speaker 2: at least expressed that they think that there's more kind
• 4:16
  Speaker 2: of within Jake Um, Jake himself has emerged as a
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  Speaker 2: leader on this year's team. Um, but I think both
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  Speaker 2: he and the team acknowledged, like didn't do a good
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  Speaker 2: enough job limiting damage. Um, the walks were higher than
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  Speaker 2: he wanted them to be. The strikeouts were better. Um,
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  Speaker 2: but it, it just wasn't a, um, you know, it,
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  Speaker 2: it wasn't a season that he or the nationals wanted. Um,
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  Speaker 2: I know he's headed down to, um, Florida at some
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  Speaker 2: point soon. Um, Potentially adding strength or adding build onto
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  Speaker 2: a whatever 6-6 or whatever it is frame could help
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  Speaker 2: him maybe sustain velocity longer in games. Matim, I don't
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  Speaker 2: think he's shutting the door on him being a reliever
• 5:02
  Speaker 2: compared to a starter, but it might be a non-tender
• 5:07
  Speaker 2: this winter. I guess I wouldn't be shocked either way,
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  Speaker 2: but with the back-to-back seasons of a ERA over 5,
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  Speaker 2: As you mentioned, I think he's actually heading into arm two,
• 5:20
  Speaker 2: but has three and four left. Something I should really
• 5:25
  Speaker 2: know off the top of my head. Yeah, I think that,
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  Speaker 2: you know, Jay Girvin had, especially after the coming off
• 5:34
  Speaker 2: the injured list, seemed like he was trending in the
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  Speaker 2: right direction, but was never fully able to put it together.
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  Speaker 2: And I do wonder what the sort of starting pitching
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  Speaker 2: depth they expect to go into next year with. with
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  Speaker 2: potentially sending, I should say, signing a starter this offseason, right,
• 5:52
  Speaker 2: as we talked about before. It's hard for me to say, oh, yeah,
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  Speaker 2: he is a guarantee to make the rotation as he
• 5:59
  Speaker 2: was the last two years. And so, yeah, it's possible
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  Speaker 2: there is more in the tank. I don't know if
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  Speaker 2: the Nationals will be the ones, though, to give him
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  Speaker 2: that shot.
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  Speaker 1: Yeah, I'd really love to see him figure it out somewhere,
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  Speaker 1: but I'm not sure D.C. will be the place next
• 6:15
  Speaker 1: season with Cade Cavalli at the top, Connelly early returning
• 6:18
  Speaker 1: and making a strong debut in that final weekend. Andrew Alvarez,
• 6:22
  Speaker 1: who we talked about last season, is definitely going to
• 6:24
  Speaker 1: be a part of the conversation. And then you would think,
• 6:27
  Speaker 1: or at least hope, in the offseason, they are going
• 6:29
  Speaker 1: to make some moves for starting pitchers as well. I'm
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  Speaker 1: not sure where that leaves Jake in D.C. I think
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  Speaker 1: he probably has a better opportunity to develop his career
• 6:39
  Speaker 1: further uh somewhere else who knows where that will be
• 6:43
  Speaker 1: but time will tell and maybe it will be back
• 6:46
  Speaker 1: in dc maybe there will be some things he works
• 6:48
  Speaker 1: on in the offseason and the nationals find another spark
• 6:57
  Speaker 1: on deck presented by the fox one app stream the
• 7:00
  Speaker 1: nlds nlcs and world series on fox one We have
• 7:04
  Speaker 1: an NLEs matchup in the round one of the wild card,
• 7:07
  Speaker 1: and it has been insanely dramatic. Game one, Austin Riley
• 7:10
  Speaker 1: delivered the late home run to give the Braves a
• 7:13
  Speaker 1: five to three win last night. The Phillies were the
• 7:16
  Speaker 1: ones to come from behind back to back home runs
• 7:18
  Speaker 1: from Kyle Schwarber and Bryce Harper in the eighth. And
• 7:21
  Speaker 1: then Austin Bone put him ahead for good in extra innings.
• 7:23
  Speaker 1: So game three is later today. Aaron Nola is the
• 7:26
  Speaker 1: expected probable picture for the Phillies, and Ray Kerr expected
• 7:30
  Speaker 1: to get an opening assignment against those big left-handed bats
• 7:34
  Speaker 1: at the top of the lineup. Spencer, what are we
• 7:37
  Speaker 1: here to expect for game three of the wildcard series
• 7:40
  Speaker 1: later today?
• 7:43
  Speaker 2: Yeah, I think we can probably expect more chaos, knowing
• 7:45
  Speaker 2: how each of these teams, their seasons have gone, I
• 7:49
  Speaker 2: should say. Yeah, I'm going to boom with just a
• 7:53
  Speaker 2: massive shot In extra innings there, it feels like, you know,
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  Speaker 2: yet another game will probably head to extras. The Phillies
• 8:00
  Speaker 2: will probably be out of relief pitching. The Braves will
• 8:02
  Speaker 2: probably turn to another starter in extras. I don't know
• 8:06
  Speaker 2: exactly how it'll shake out, but I have picked the
• 8:09
  Speaker 2: Phillies to make the World Series, so I'll probably be
• 8:13
  Speaker 2: riding with them through to the end.
• 8:15
  Speaker 1: A lot on the line tonight, a matchup with the L.A.
• 8:18
  Speaker 1: Dodgers and the NLDS after this. And of course, the
• 8:21
  Speaker 1: Padres punched their ticket against the Chicago Cubs last night.
• 8:24
  Speaker 1: They will be taking on the Milwaukee Brewers. What can
• 8:26
  Speaker 1: we expect from that Brewers Padres matchup? The Padres bats
• 8:30
  Speaker 1: were electric.
• 8:31
  Speaker 2: Yeah, I mean, electric is the exact right word to use, right?
• 8:35
  Speaker 2: It is two teams with unbelievable bullpens. Again, just like
• 8:39
  Speaker 2: another series that you feel like is going to really
• 8:41
  Speaker 2: go down to the wire. It's going to be a
• 8:43
  Speaker 2: lot of close games, potentially low-scoring games, even with how
• 8:47
  Speaker 2: good both these offenses have been. This is kind of
• 8:51
  Speaker 2: like the ultimate small ball, old school versus new school,
• 8:57
  Speaker 2: back of the bullpen, guys throwing 104. This is about
• 9:02
  Speaker 2: as fun as it gets, and I know it's two
• 9:04
  Speaker 2: markets that may not be of the New York, L.A., uh,
• 9:10
  Speaker 2: sort of sphere, but two fan bases that are unbelievably
• 9:14
  Speaker 2: poured into this. So, um, of all the matchups in, uh,
• 9:18
  Speaker 2: in the, you know, post-season coming up, that might be
• 9:20
  Speaker 2: the one that I have circled as, Oh boy, like let's,
• 9:23
  Speaker 2: let's watch this one.
• 9:25
  Speaker 1: Yeah, I kind of have a feeling whoever makes it
• 9:27
  Speaker 1: out of that matchup is going to have a steamroll
• 9:29
  Speaker 1: through in the NLCS, but we'll see. It's going to
• 9:31
  Speaker 1: be an exciting October. MLB on Fox is streaming on
• 9:35
  Speaker 1: Fox One. The postseason is here, and we have your
• 9:37
  Speaker 1: front row seats to the wildest walk-offs, lights out pitching,
• 9:40
  Speaker 1: and clutch plays all playoffs long. Stream each NLDS and
• 9:44
  Speaker 1: NLCS game, then the 2026 World Series live on Fox One.
• 9:48
  Speaker 1: At home or on the go, live or on demand,
• 9:51
  Speaker 1: never miss a moment. Stream now. Start your Fox One
• 9:54
  Speaker 1: three day free trial today at foxone.com. Next up, we
• 9:58
  Speaker 1: will jump over to Abby Malik Ortiz. Abby had a
• 10:01
  Speaker 1: rough September. He had one 22 in the month, two
• 10:04
  Speaker 1: walks in 14 strikeouts in that final month as well.
• 10:09
  Speaker 1: He is also dealing with a bit of a crowded
• 10:10
  Speaker 1: position with Yohani morale is being called up, uh, and
• 10:14
  Speaker 1: Andres Chaparro catching fire in the second half of the
• 10:17
  Speaker 1: season and making him a real part of the conversation
• 10:20
  Speaker 1: for next year's roster. With him, I would see it
• 10:24
  Speaker 1: more as probably developing in AAA, Spencer. But what are
• 10:28
  Speaker 1: some of the things he would need to work on
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  Speaker 1: ahead of next season?
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  Speaker 2: Yeah, I think it would absolutely be a AAA spot.
• 10:36
  Speaker 2: There'd be no reason to kick him off the roster.
• 10:40
  Speaker 2: Was it a good September? No, I think that he
• 10:43
  Speaker 2: would admit that as much as anyone else. Really, really
• 10:47
  Speaker 2: worked hard. But honestly, he was kind of one of
• 10:50
  Speaker 2: those guys where I don't want to say like got
• 10:53
  Speaker 2: in his own head, but was very, very frustrated when
• 10:56
  Speaker 2: things did not start going his way. I think you
• 10:59
  Speaker 2: saw that if you watched on TV, you especially saw
• 11:01
  Speaker 2: it if you were kind of at the field every day.
• 11:04
  Speaker 2: And so I think, yeah, just kind of maintaining consistency,
• 11:12
  Speaker 2: maintaining a better chase rate, a better whiff rate. all
• 11:15
  Speaker 2: these things he did his first month in the big
• 11:18
  Speaker 2: leagues and did in Rochester, I think would be huge
• 11:22
  Speaker 2: for him because as I think we learned well this season,
• 11:26
  Speaker 2: the Nationals do like to platoon. I think a lot
• 11:29
  Speaker 2: of people make jokes about that. I think a lot
• 11:30
  Speaker 2: of people are frustrated by that. I will also say
• 11:33
  Speaker 2: when the Nationals platoons were going right, they had the
• 11:36
  Speaker 2: best offense in baseball, right? And so I think you
• 11:40
  Speaker 2: try to imagine a first base platoon of him and
• 11:43
  Speaker 2: Shaparo and And you get really excited by the possibility
• 11:47
  Speaker 2: if Ortiz is able to be and do what he
• 11:50
  Speaker 2: did in that first month. But I just don't think
• 11:53
  Speaker 2: we saw enough down the stretch to say, oh, yeah,
• 11:55
  Speaker 2: this guy's in the opening day roster. I think potentially
• 11:59
  Speaker 2: he could be served well by finding more consistency in
• 12:03
  Speaker 2: AAA before coming up. And then we'll kind of see
• 12:06
  Speaker 2: from there. Because as devoted listeners will know, this is
• 12:12
  Speaker 2: one of the players who I would say I believed
• 12:14
  Speaker 2: in the most coming up from AAA. That belief hasn't
• 12:20
  Speaker 2: really wavered, although maybe it should have in September. But
• 12:24
  Speaker 2: I just think there's far too much talent in that bat.
• 12:27
  Speaker 2: He has hit it at every level. He has struggled
• 12:30
  Speaker 2: at times at every level, but always figured it out
• 12:32
  Speaker 2: after that. And so I trust this to kind of be,
• 12:36
  Speaker 2: you know, just another learning curve or another lesson. But
• 12:41
  Speaker 2: all that being said, I don't think his spot is guaranteed.
• 12:44
  Speaker 2: Especially if Chaparro is, you know, looks like one of
• 12:47
  Speaker 2: the best first baseman, one of the best hitting first
• 12:51
  Speaker 2: baseman in baseball. Again, which we can't bank on. But
• 12:56
  Speaker 2: I am rambling and all of this is to say,
• 12:58
  Speaker 2: I don't know. I think that Ortiz could learn a
• 13:01
  Speaker 2: lot from being back in AAA.
• 13:03
  Speaker 1: Yeah. It's going to be tough, I think, for him to...
• 13:07
  Speaker 1: Get consistent at bats off the rip at the start
• 13:09
  Speaker 1: of the season in the big leagues, as you mentioned,
• 13:12
  Speaker 1: with Andres Chaparro there. But the bat speed was absolutely
• 13:15
  Speaker 1: incredible that we did see at times. I think if
• 13:18
  Speaker 1: he can get himself back to what he was in
• 13:20
  Speaker 1: that first month when he was originally called up. it
• 13:23
  Speaker 1: could be a really exciting season for first base next
• 13:26
  Speaker 1: year with the Nationals. Really quickly, I want to remind
• 13:30
  Speaker 1: all of our listeners and viewers to subscribe to the
• 13:32
  Speaker 1: District Territory Show on YouTube. We are going to be
• 13:35
  Speaker 1: giving away an Eli Willits signed baseball card right here,
• 13:38
  Speaker 1: a Bowman first of the Nats 1-1 pick. And you
• 13:42
  Speaker 1: don't want to miss any of our episodes throughout the offseason.
• 13:45
  Speaker 1: We're going to keep them rolling. Moving along to the
• 13:48
  Speaker 1: next player, it's going to be shifting to the bullpen,
• 13:50
  Speaker 1: Clayton Beder. Clayton Beater was absolutely phenomenal when the Nationals
• 13:56
  Speaker 1: got him from the Yankees after the trade deadline in 2025.
• 13:59
  Speaker 1: He had a 249 ERA for them after he put
• 14:02
  Speaker 1: on the D.C. uniform. But it just wasn't the same
• 14:05
  Speaker 1: story this season, even though he did find himself in
• 14:08
  Speaker 1: the closer role at times. He carried an ERA of
• 14:11
  Speaker 1: 859 through his final seven appearances with 31 walks and
• 14:16
  Speaker 1: 48 innings over the course of the season in a
• 14:18
  Speaker 1: 140 whip. Spencer, you saw a flash of incredible stuff
• 14:23
  Speaker 1: from him when he was first acquired at the deadline.
• 14:27
  Speaker 1: You saw it in the first half, maybe for a
• 14:29
  Speaker 1: month or so this season, too. And then the wheels
• 14:32
  Speaker 1: just fell off. I think this is a guy that
• 14:36
  Speaker 1: has just lost command of the strike zone. But if
• 14:38
  Speaker 1: that can come back, you could definitely see him fitting
• 14:41
  Speaker 1: into the bullpen at some point later in the season.
• 14:45
  Speaker 2: Right. And I think that's kind of the perfect analysis, right? Um,
• 14:50
  Speaker 2: is this a guy who should be pitching the ninth inning, um, for,
• 14:56
  Speaker 2: for a team? Probably not. Should he be pitching in
• 14:58
  Speaker 2: the nationals open day bullpen? Um, again, the usual caveat
• 15:03
  Speaker 2: of let's see how spring training and the off season goes. Um,
• 15:06
  Speaker 2: but it didn't look like it at the end of
• 15:07
  Speaker 2: this year and that's why he was demoted. Um, look, I,
• 15:12
  Speaker 2: I think that it was a difficult year for him. Um, the,
• 15:16
  Speaker 2: the velocity wasn't, um, you know, blown guys away. The
• 15:21
  Speaker 2: slider was better, but, um, you know, when you're calling
• 15:24
  Speaker 2: pitches from the dugout and, um, you're throwing a ton
• 15:26
  Speaker 2: of sliders, I think sometimes you lose conviction, um, in
• 15:30
  Speaker 2: a pitch. So I would say that's also maybe roped
• 15:32
  Speaker 2: into some of this. Um, yeah, the, the walks are,
• 15:35
  Speaker 2: are candidly too high to be, uh, you know, in
• 15:38
  Speaker 2: a big league bullpen. And, um, so I think that, that,
• 15:42
  Speaker 2: that will be a big focus this winter. Um, I
• 15:45
  Speaker 2: am someone who believes that you can have a walk rate, um,
• 15:49
  Speaker 2: or a walks per nine of, let's say four and
• 15:53
  Speaker 2: a half per nine, like a high number. If you're
• 15:55
  Speaker 2: striking out the world, um, I think that that plays
• 15:59
  Speaker 2: in a bullpen. I think you're fine with that when
• 16:01
  Speaker 2: you're up near six or you're not getting the, the
• 16:04
  Speaker 2: strikeouts that you need, which I think beater fell into
• 16:07
  Speaker 2: both those camps this year. Um, it suggests you need
• 16:11
  Speaker 2: more time in triple a, um, he struggled with small
• 16:14
  Speaker 2: leverage spots in triple a as well. So, um, there's
• 16:17
  Speaker 2: a lot to work on and, uh, I would have
• 16:20
  Speaker 2: been surprised if in April, you told me this guy wasn't,
• 16:24
  Speaker 2: you know, putting Sharpie in the 2027 bullpen and he
• 16:28
  Speaker 2: was healthy. Um, and yet that's, that's kind of where
• 16:31
  Speaker 2: we're headed. So, um, definitely not giving up on his
• 16:34
  Speaker 2: career per se, but there is, there is a lot
• 16:37
  Speaker 2: he needs to work on to kind of earn a
• 16:38
  Speaker 2: spot back in the bullpen.
• 16:40
  Speaker 1: Yeah. The, the stuff was just filthy, but he was
• 16:43
  Speaker 1: not finding swing and miss. He was not able to
• 16:46
  Speaker 1: command the strike zone there. And that's just something he will,
• 16:49
  Speaker 1: Have to work on it, AAA next season. Hopefully become
• 16:53
  Speaker 1: a part of the Nationals' bullpen, which, as you said
• 16:56
  Speaker 1: last offseason, you couldn't really foresee that going into 2027.
• 17:01
  Speaker 1: But here we are. That's just where we're at now.
• 17:03
  Speaker 1: The final players we're going to go over is kind
• 17:06
  Speaker 1: of a two-for-one. We're going to talk about the second
• 17:08
  Speaker 1: base situation for the Nationals. Nassim Nunez. He had a
• 17:12
  Speaker 1: 209 batting average over the course of the season and
• 17:16
  Speaker 1: a 535 OPS, just eight hits in a 118 average
• 17:20
  Speaker 1: in his final 30 games, four hits and four walks
• 17:24
  Speaker 1: in the month of September. The offensive production was not
• 17:27
  Speaker 1: there for him in 2026, Spencer, and it was not
• 17:31
  Speaker 1: incredibly powerful for Jorbert Bibas as well in 2026. He
• 17:35
  Speaker 1: had a 238 average and a 331 on base percentage.
• 17:39
  Speaker 1: He was able to draw walks, but We've kind of
• 17:42
  Speaker 1: grouped those two guys together for similar things they need
• 17:44
  Speaker 1: to work on. The Bats got to find some power.
• 17:48
  Speaker 2: Totally right. And I actually don't fully know, and I
• 17:52
  Speaker 2: should look into this a little bit more. I should
• 17:54
  Speaker 2: ask around about this, what VVAS's offseason plans are. I
• 17:58
  Speaker 2: know Nas is headed to driveline this winter and so
• 18:02
  Speaker 2: should potentially be able to add some bat speed or
• 18:05
  Speaker 2: some pop in his bat because he knows and he
• 18:09
  Speaker 2: said it a ton of times, right, where um, his
• 18:12
  Speaker 2: eye is good at the plate. He is a good fielder.
• 18:15
  Speaker 2: He is a great base runner. Um, the, the thing
• 18:19
  Speaker 2: that is missing, right. Is the ability to make real
• 18:23
  Speaker 2: solid contact with the ball. And that's why you see
• 18:25
  Speaker 2: him and the year with an OPS, you know, in
• 18:28
  Speaker 2: the five hundreds. Um, so yeah, I think that, uh,
• 18:33
  Speaker 2: I wouldn't give up on him as a productive big leaguer.
• 18:35
  Speaker 2: I also wonder what the spot for him is in
• 18:39
  Speaker 2: next year's roster. If you do go into next season
• 18:42
  Speaker 2: with CJ Abrams and Sieber King is your potential middle infield, right?
• 18:48
  Speaker 2: How much playing time would be left for Nassim? I
• 18:52
  Speaker 2: think is kind of TBD, whereas like maybe if you're
• 18:55
  Speaker 2: in Rochester, you're able to get him the at-bats he
• 18:57
  Speaker 2: needs to really produce and find some, you know, level
• 19:03
  Speaker 2: or layer of consistency. And then Vivas, right? I think that,
• 19:08
  Speaker 2: You know, Nationals fans grew pretty sick of his at-bats.
• 19:13
  Speaker 2: I know he was also benched in for a game
• 19:16
  Speaker 2: in September when he didn't run out of a pop-up.
• 19:19
  Speaker 2: And so you put all of those details, elements, things together.
• 19:24
  Speaker 2: And it is a player who I think frustrated a
• 19:28
  Speaker 2: lot of the fan base. That being said, the Nationals
• 19:32
  Speaker 2: really like his swing decisions. I know it didn't really
• 19:35
  Speaker 2: come to fruition in terms of a productive bat or
• 19:39
  Speaker 2: anything like that, although I think he was still a
• 19:41
  Speaker 2: one-war player this season. But what the Nationals will ultimately
• 19:47
  Speaker 2: have to decide is, you know, is Vivas someone you
• 19:50
  Speaker 2: want as your platoon bat? Is he a, you know,
• 19:54
  Speaker 2: a good left-handed hitting option on a good team? Or
• 19:57
  Speaker 2: is he someone who, like Tena, who's out of options,
• 20:01
  Speaker 2: they decide to cut bait with, right? It's as much
• 20:04
  Speaker 2: of a roster crunch thought as a thought about, you know,
• 20:10
  Speaker 2: what is his bat actually going to look like next year? Um,
• 20:14
  Speaker 2: that being said, part of why I think I would
• 20:17
  Speaker 2: maybe lean Nassim as the option of who doesn't open
• 20:21
  Speaker 2: next year on opening day roster, um, actually isn't an
• 20:24
  Speaker 2: indictment of Nassim. It's more the fact that he is, um,
• 20:28
  Speaker 2: he has options remaining and so he can go to AAA,
• 20:31
  Speaker 2: whereas you can't do that with VVAS. Like you'd have
• 20:34
  Speaker 2: to be off the 40 man roster. Um, I think
• 20:38
  Speaker 2: it's an interesting decision the Nationals will have to make
• 20:41
  Speaker 2: down the stretch. I actually like.
• 20:44
  Speaker 2: I guess I'm still sorting this out in my head.
• 20:46
  Speaker 2: I think I like Nassim long-term as an option for
• 20:49
  Speaker 2: the Nationals, but I also think that maybe the Nationals
• 20:53
  Speaker 2: go into next year with a platoon at third base.
• 20:56
  Speaker 2: But who knows? We still don't really know how that's
• 20:59
  Speaker 2: going to shake out. And there's a lot to be,
• 21:02
  Speaker 2: you know, gleaned and determined over the next five months
• 21:05
  Speaker 2: or so. Yeah.
• 21:07
  Speaker 1: There is a lot of offseason left ahead of us,
• 21:10
  Speaker 1: and there's still the MLB playoffs, too. I hope all
• 21:12
  Speaker 1: of you at home have been enjoying those. Leave some
• 21:15
  Speaker 1: comments down below for what you would like to see
• 21:18
  Speaker 1: us focus on from a Nationals perspective this offseason or
• 21:21
  Speaker 1: any MLB playoff action you want us to break down
• 21:24
  Speaker 1: as well. We're open to it all. We'll get Kevin
• 21:27
  Speaker 1: back in next week's episodes. Until then, keep reading The Athletic,
• 21:31
  Speaker 1: keep following Batboys Baseball, and stay tuned to the Foul
• 21:34
  Speaker 1: Territory Network.
• 21:36
  Speaker 2: Peace.