Latest / District Territory / Who is auditioning for a role in next year's Nationals roster?

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Who is auditioning for a role in next year's Nationals roster? · District Territory

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Speaker 1: Hi. The losing streak is finally over. Welcome back to
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Speaker 1: the District Territory Podcast. I'm Eric Shellhouse from Bat Boys Baseball,
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Speaker 1: and joining me today, Spencer Nussbaum from The Athletic. The
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Speaker 1: Nationals had just their second win when trailing after seven
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Speaker 1: innings last night. Last night, it was some unlikely heroes
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Speaker 1: who came out in the later innings to get the
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Speaker 1: Nationals the rally they needed. Andrew Pickney with the sacrifice fly,
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Speaker 1: followed up by a clutch two-out hit from Jorbert Bibas.
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Speaker 1: Left on left, nonetheless. Censor, I imagine the vibes in
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Speaker 1: the clubhouse in that game were a little different than
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Speaker 1: they have been following the last few, but what was
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Speaker 1: drastically different?
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Speaker 2: Yeah, I mean, we've gotten used to some quiet clubhouses, right?
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Speaker 2: And I think we've kind of been told this whole
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Speaker 2: time from players, coaches, et cetera, that morale is not
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Speaker 2: dead in there, right? Just based on what I see
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Speaker 2: with my eyes, I would push back a little bit
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Speaker 2: on that notion. I think that it is impossible for
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Speaker 2: this season mentally and physically not to be wearing on
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Speaker 2: these guys. But for them to pull that one out yesterday,
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Speaker 2: obviously they were feeling pretty good about it.
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Speaker 1: I don't know if you got to talk to both
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Speaker 1: Pinckney and Vivas following the game, but I'm wondering, did
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Speaker 1: you notice any difference in their reaction or what it
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Speaker 1: meant to them, given that one of them has just
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Speaker 1: been called up a few weeks ago and one has
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Speaker 1: seen a little bit more experience in the big leagues?
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Speaker 1: Was there any difference in sort of what it meant
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Speaker 1: to them?
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Speaker 2: Yeah, we didn't talk to Pinckney after the game. We
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Speaker 2: did talk to Vivas, who, yeah, it's funny you actually
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Speaker 2: bring that up. He talked a lot about playing time right,
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Speaker 2: which I think is something we've heard from a number of,
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Speaker 2: bench players this year. They are using their bench more
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Speaker 2: than they've used it in years past, but anytime you
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Speaker 2: are more of a role player in the major leagues,
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Speaker 2: I think that's hard to swallow or stomach because it's
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Speaker 2: been your dream your entire life to be in the
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Speaker 2: big leagues and you don't necessarily picture yourself as a
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Speaker 2: role player, as a bench player, something of that sort.
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Speaker 2: And so Vivas said, yeah, it was hard for him
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Speaker 2: earlier this season when he wasn't playing every single day
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Speaker 2: now that he is playing close to every day he
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Speaker 2: said it's really helped him with his rhythm and his
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Speaker 2: timing and beyond that it obviously makes it meaningful right
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Speaker 2: when you are trusted with a larger role and come
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Speaker 2: through so yeah those are two guys who are I
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Speaker 2: think it's fair to say playing for their futures to
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Speaker 2: a certain extent right now whether that's here whether that's
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Speaker 2: on another team but anytime you are Playing for your
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Speaker 2: job the same way if I was writing for my
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Speaker 2: job or podcasting for my job, right? It would feel
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Speaker 2: special to have a big moment, especially for losing streak,
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Speaker 2: I think was very meaningful for Vivas. He thanked God
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Speaker 2: a lot, and he was very grateful for the opportunity
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Speaker 2: to come up in that spot yesterday.
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Speaker 1: Let's talk about the guy on the bump last night
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Speaker 1: and really what I think steadied the Nationals through their victory.
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Speaker 1: Cade Cavalli, man, he has just been incredible this season.
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Speaker 1: He did fall off a little bit in the seventh
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Speaker 1: inning there. It led off with a walk and a
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Speaker 1: walk and then a base knock. All of a sudden,
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Speaker 1: the Angels had a two to one lead. But overall,
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Speaker 1: a phenomenal box score overall. Just a phenomenal season for him.
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Speaker 1: He's fourth in the league in strikeouts, ninth in innings pitch,
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Speaker 1: ninth in ERA, tenth in whip and 11th in wins,
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Speaker 1: 11th in opponents batting average overall. Spencer, I'm curious where
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Speaker 1: you see him in the bigger picture of the Cy
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Speaker 1: Young conversation, because I don't think it's ridiculous to have
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Speaker 1: that conversation of him being in the top 10 with
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Speaker 1: the season he's put together.
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Speaker 2: Yeah, I mean, I'm trying to remember how many votes
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Speaker 2: Cy Young has, and I should probably know that, but
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Speaker 2: it's not my vote this year. I think it's fine.
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Speaker 2: He may guard a little bit of trouble in a
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Speaker 2: really strong National League, actually. um, votes, but I don't
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Speaker 2: think it's like out of the question per se, as
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Speaker 2: I'm racking my mind of who else is in the
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Speaker 2: national league. Um, but I, I think, you know, is
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Speaker 2: he had a season that like Mizorowski's had or, um,
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Speaker 2: Christopher Sanchez had no, has he had a second half
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Speaker 2: as good as anyone else in baseball? Absolutely. Right. I mean,
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Speaker 2: the first half was pretty good too. Um, I thought,
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Speaker 2: I was kind of thinking about this yesterday, right. Um,
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Speaker 2: with McKenzie pitching in Texas, um, Um, there have been
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Speaker 2: times during my time in the beat these last three
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Speaker 2: years where I have looked out in the mound and said, yeah,
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Speaker 2: that guy can be an ace. Um, often it was
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Speaker 2: McKenzie or, um, there were handful of starts, even with
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Speaker 2: like DJ hers where, you know, he's probably never a
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Speaker 2: number one on the staff, but you're thinking when he's
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Speaker 2: striking out 13 or, you know, throwing five, no head innings.
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Speaker 2: It's like, Oh yeah, that's what it's supposed to. Right. Um,
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Speaker 2: Kate has been in the, that's what it's supposed to
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Speaker 2: look like mode all year. And especially in this stretch
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Speaker 2: right now. And so my mind goes less to whether
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Speaker 2: he's going to be a Cy Young vote get over here,
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Speaker 2: although I think that is a really good question. And
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Speaker 2: more about, A, is he going to have that in
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Speaker 2: the future? And B, the Nationals have a set it
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Speaker 2: and forget it postseason starter right now. Is he going
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Speaker 2: to start game one of a postseason series by the
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Speaker 2: time the Nationals are ready to contend? I could not
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Speaker 2: tell you. We don't know how future season shakeout, but
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Speaker 2: it looks as reliable as anyone else in baseball right now.
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Speaker 2: He's allowed more than 300 runs twice all year, and
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Speaker 2: I think that was start number 31, which is absurd.
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Speaker 2: He is going to finish with an ERA in the
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Speaker 2: low threes, possibly the high twos if these next two
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Speaker 2: starts are really, really good. Yeah, he is a postseason
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Speaker 2: starter for the Nationals, and that's a remarkable, remarkable spot
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Speaker 2: to be in given a year and a half ago.
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Speaker 2: He was coming off TJ, and we did not know
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Speaker 2: what he was going to look like, other than the
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Speaker 2: fact that he threw hard. It's a remarkable season for him. Yeah.
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Speaker 1: I looked it up really quickly while you were chatting there.
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Speaker 1: We had 30 writers with five votes. Excuse me, I
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Speaker 1: almost said 55 young votes. But I would be shocked
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Speaker 1: if Cade didn't receive at least one or get some
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Speaker 1: consideration from somebody in there. He has just looked like
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Speaker 1: that guy in the second half to me. We'll talk
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Speaker 1: about the Clayton Beater demotion. The Nationals did have a
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Speaker 1: shakeup in some higher up leadership. Let's take a quick
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Speaker 1: break and talk about that when we come back.
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Speaker 1: Don't forget to subscribe to the District Territory Podcast on YouTube.
7:47
Speaker 1: Follow us on Spotify, Apple Music, wherever you get your podcasts.
7:51
Speaker 1: You don't want to miss any episodes in the future.
7:53
Speaker 1: We're also giving away an Eli Willits signed baseball card
7:56
Speaker 1: when we get to 1,000 subscribers. I also wanted to
7:58
Speaker 1: give a shout out to Otto for this kind fan love.
8:01
Speaker 1: He said, this is the best Nats fan podcast. Spencer,
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Speaker 1: your grasp of the analytics, simply A1. And I couldn't
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Speaker 1: agree with Otto more there. Spencer has a very good
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Speaker 1: hold on that. Let's talk about the Clayton Beater demotion.
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Speaker 1: The Nationals optioned the guy who has been their closer
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Speaker 1: for a majority of the season. He led the team
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Speaker 1: in saves at the time of his demotion. But the
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Speaker 1: month that he's had, it kind of makes a little
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Speaker 1: bit of sense. He struggled with a 450 ERA. Spencer,
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Speaker 1: do you have any sense of what the Nationals might
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Speaker 1: have him focusing on there down the season for the
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Speaker 1: rest of the season to contribute next year?
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Speaker 2: Yeah, it's going to be command, right? I think Peter's
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Speaker 2: one who I think we've spent a lot of time
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Speaker 2: thinking about, writing about, talking about this season because he
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Speaker 2: has been, for stretches, their most reliable closer. But also,
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Speaker 2: as Blake Butera once put it, relative to everyone else
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Speaker 2: they've had, right? He, I think, leads this team in
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Speaker 2: both saves and blown saves. And for... the majority of
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Speaker 2: the season, but I'd say really the last month or so,
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Speaker 2: the command has come back to bite him. Um, the
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Speaker 2: team believes that he is someone who can, you know,
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Speaker 2: be a good big league pitcher because you can see
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Speaker 2: the strikeout rate at 10 per nine when he's really
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Speaker 2: good at 11 per nine. Um, and you can have
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Speaker 2: a high walk rate if you're really, really good at
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Speaker 2: keeping the ball out of play. Um, but he simply
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Speaker 2: hasn't kept the ball out of play. And more than that, um,
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Speaker 2: the walk rate has gone way up. So they believe
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Speaker 2: of the two things between his strikeout weight and his
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Speaker 2: walk rate, the walk rate feels more improvable right now.
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Speaker 2: And again, like I said, for the last month or so,
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Speaker 2: the ERA, as you mentioned, is 450. I'm not sure
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Speaker 2: what the fit is which is um takes into account
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Speaker 2: strikeouts walks and homers but there's been a decent number
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Speaker 2: of homers and there's been a lot of walks and
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Speaker 2: not a lot of strikeouts too um and so yeah
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Speaker 2: beater can be a part of this team's future i
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Speaker 2: have no um disagreements with that i i think candidly
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Speaker 2: he could probably if he figures it out still be
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Speaker 2: like a setup man for the nationals next year I
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Speaker 2: think maybe a middle relief option is ideally where he's suited.
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Speaker 2: But yeah, I think in Rochester he'll be working on
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Speaker 2: his command because it hasn't been very good recently.
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Speaker 1: Some good news out of the relief corps is that
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Speaker 1: Orlando Rebalta began throwing the ball again the other day.
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Speaker 1: There was a lot, I guess, when it comes to
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Speaker 1: the health front of the Nationals, Rebalta was throwing. Harry
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Speaker 1: Ford exited the game late. I'm sure we'll have more
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Speaker 1: on that in next week's episode. But the big story
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Speaker 1: here is that Harvey Sharman is not expected to return
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Speaker 1: after this season to the Nationals. Spencer, I guess, what
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Speaker 1: does the shakeup really mean for the organization? Is it
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Speaker 1: in terms of how injuries are being treated, or is
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Speaker 1: it more how guys prepare day-to-day basis? And what does
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Speaker 1: it take, I guess, to replace a big position like that?
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Speaker 2: Yeah, we don't exactly have a solid hold on that.
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Speaker 2: I have some strong speculations, but anytime someone is let go,
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Speaker 2: I feel obviously even more wary of sharing a speculation
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Speaker 2: if it's not recorded. What I can say, just kind
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Speaker 2: of to your final point there, is that the National
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Speaker 2: will have to probably... spend quite a bit of time
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Speaker 2: looking because that is a very important role within their organization.
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Speaker 2: And I don't know who else might get let go
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Speaker 2: before the end of the year or what other decisions
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Speaker 2: they might have to make. They will have to make
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Speaker 2: fewer hires than they did last offseason, obviously, when I
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Speaker 2: think they had even like over 50 people in player
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Speaker 2: development alone. Anytime you're playing a head medical role, you know,
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Speaker 2: my mind immediately goes to A, who is it going
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Speaker 2: to be? And B, is it going to be someone
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Speaker 2: they know already? Like, is it going to be someone
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Speaker 2: from Boston to Boney knew or Pittsburgh that Justin Horowitz knew? Or,
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Speaker 2: I mean, they hired people from all over baseball, right?
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Speaker 2: And so I wouldn't be shocked if it's a familiar name,
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Speaker 2: but that's not reported per se. That's just where my
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Speaker 2: mind goes. And I think it was also surprising, right?
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Speaker 2: Because the players seemed to really like Harvey. And yeah,
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Speaker 2: he was a very nice presence and figure around the, uh,
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Speaker 2: or in the clubhouse. So, um, surprising move, but I
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Speaker 2: don't want to speculate, um, too early on exactly why
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Speaker 2: they needed it.
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Speaker 1: Well, we may have some more on that in future episodes, uh,
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Speaker 1: as the story continues to develop, but Spencer, let's talk about, uh,
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Speaker 1: today's matchup because Andrew Alvarez is on the bump for
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Speaker 1: the nationals. And this guy has really hit another gear
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Speaker 1: the last few months. What has been important to his
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Speaker 1: success and what will we need to do today against
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Speaker 1: the angels to keep that rolling?
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Speaker 4: Yeah.
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Speaker 2: It's funny. A lot of the stuff we said about
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Speaker 2: Clayton beater, we would also say about Andrew Alvarez, right? Um, it's,
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Speaker 2: it's honestly been, I think it's been frustrating for him
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Speaker 2: and for, um, like be Tara and for the organization candidly, um,
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Speaker 2: because of the stuff has gotten better this year, right?
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Speaker 2: Like he wasn't someone where you looked at even the, the, um,
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Speaker 2: really sharp outings he had last year. And you said, Oh,
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Speaker 2: that guy's like, you know, again, as we talk about, Hey,
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Speaker 2: like a post-season starter, um, Andrew Alvarez was a late
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Speaker 2: round pick who got a few starts that were pretty
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Speaker 2: good last year. The stuff got way better. He stopped
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Speaker 2: using his fastball so much and really leaned into those
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Speaker 2: two very good breaking pitches. The issue, or I should
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Speaker 2: say the thing that he's trying to work on is
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Speaker 2: the fastball command. Because if you don't have that, you're
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Speaker 2: in a really tough spot in the big leagues. And
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Speaker 2: so yeah, he hasn't been allowing homers. He's been striking
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Speaker 2: guys out. But the walk rate is still too high.
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Speaker 2: And I think he's always been the first person to
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Speaker 2: acknowledge that he's very hard on himself. And so, yeah,
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Speaker 2: if I'm looking at the two things ahead for this
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Speaker 2: game and beyond, I would say a guy who's less
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Speaker 2: hard on himself would be interesting to see if he
14:22
Speaker 2: can kind of flip that switch and yeah, just controlling
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Speaker 2: the walk rate. Cause I think that's something that could
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Speaker 2: really unlock maybe even another level in his game.
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Speaker 1: Well, As we start to wrap up today, there is
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Speaker 1: one comment I want to pull up and just want
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Speaker 1: to say we had a bunch of comments on the
14:38
Speaker 1: last video and received a bunch of support and we
14:41
Speaker 1: really appreciated that. But Bob Slapnick brought to this point
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Speaker 1: that the Nationals have had a worse record post-deadline in
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Speaker 1: 2026 than they have previous season in 2025 and argues
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Speaker 1: that maybe this is a sign that the progress is
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Speaker 1: not being made. I would give a lot of pushback
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Speaker 1: to that and say, take a look back at kind
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Speaker 1: of where the entire organization is at. The winning records
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Speaker 1: are up across the board in the minor leagues. And
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Speaker 1: I think you see new things being tried this season
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Speaker 1: that you weren't seeing last season. But where does your
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Speaker 1: mind sort of go when you hear something like that, Spence?
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Speaker 1: I get quite clearly.
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Speaker 2: I don't know if offensive is the right word. And
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Speaker 2: like what I would say to any fan who feels
15:24
Speaker 2: that way is like, I think there are players and
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Speaker 2: like kind of Blake right now, even though it's year
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Speaker 2: one for him who go like, man, like they know
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Speaker 2: they've right. But I think it's really hard to acknowledge
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Speaker 2: when you're closing the season out this poorly. And I
15:43
Speaker 2: think it's, it has been hard for them to stomach.
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Speaker 2: And so I wouldn't like necessarily push back on the
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Speaker 2: idea that the, the vibes are not great right now.
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Speaker 2: I think the vibes are, they need to be better.
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Speaker 2: Candidly is how I would put it. Um, but no, I,
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Speaker 2: I would put back on the idea that they haven't
16:01
Speaker 2: made progress. I think, um, I could talk your ear
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Speaker 2: off for an hour. The simplest, simplest way I would
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Speaker 2: put it is around this time last year, the nationals
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Speaker 2: were being outscored by other teams by about 250 runs. Um,
16:13
Speaker 2: right now they have a positive run differential. I know
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Speaker 2: that's not everything. I know that wins are ultimately what matter. Um,
16:20
Speaker 2: but it is so hard to close that sort of gap. Um,
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Speaker 2: And the bullpen has just been awful. But I think
16:26
Speaker 2: it's masked a lot of progress on the offensive side.
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Speaker 2: And again, talking about the minor leagues won't do it.
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Speaker 2: But yeah, they've made progress, but it's a tough watch
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Speaker 2: right now.
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Speaker 1: Yeah. Well, as we get into the offseason, I think
16:41
Speaker 1: we are going to need to have some minor league
16:43
Speaker 1: recap episodes. There's obviously exciting stuff that the big leagues
16:46
Speaker 1: people want us to talk about right now. But there's
16:48
Speaker 1: a lot of cool stuff happening down below in the
16:50
Speaker 1: minor leagues, too, and at the big leagues every single day.
16:54
Speaker 1: I think also we should do a fan bag episode.
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Speaker 1: So I'm going to encourage people to comment on this video,
16:58
Speaker 1: you know, leave a question down below. We'll get that
17:01
Speaker 1: in at some point next week. And we'll also put
17:03
Speaker 1: out a request across all social medias. But that's going
17:06
Speaker 1: to wrap up today's episode. Thank you all so much
17:09
Speaker 1: for being with us. And we'll see you next week's
17:12
Speaker 1: first episode.
17:12
Speaker 2: Peace.