Want to talk about a Nationals youth movement? Tuesday night’s lineup against the Yankees had eight players 25 or under, five of which made their MLB debut in 2023 or 2024 (and one more in CJ Abrams who debuted in 2022…making Keibert Ruiz and Luis Garcia Jr. the ‘old heads’).
The lone ‘old man’ was ex-Yankee Joey Gallo, who was playing first base but could have been replaced by a 26-year-old Juan Yepez for a true kiddie crew – but, yeah, this is the state of the Nationals, where the kids are alright and ready to rock.
“That’s who we are right now – we’re a team that’s young and trying to establish the core for our next championship run,” Nats general manager Mike Rizzo said during his weekly appearance Wednesday with 106.7 The Fan's The Sports Junkies, which is presented exclusively by our partners at MainStreet Bank — Cheer Local. Bank Local. Put Our Team in Your Office. Member FDIC. Equal Housing Lender. “You’ve seen this slow pace and piecing this together, and I think you’re looking at a lineup that is very young but very talented. We’ll make our fair share of mistakes, but we’ll learn and be better for it.”
Three were homegrown, three came in blockbuster trades, and Andres Chaparro was a deadline acquisition who spent his entire career in the Minors until this month – and then there’s Jose Tena, who somewhat fits the middle category (acquired from Cleveland for Lane Thomas) but took to a new position quickly and may have usurped the hot corner from two touted prospects.
“He was highly touted by our scouting people – he’s a very handsy hitter with sneaky power. He played mostly middle infield in Cleveland and in his short tenure in the minors here, and we kind of tossed him at third to sink or swim,” Rizzo said. “Trying to learn MLB pitchers at the same time as a new position wasn’t easy, but he put in a lot of work with Miguel Cairo and Ricky Gutierrez and looks more comfortable defensively. He has a good arm and footwork, and all the skills to be a solid two-way player. He was very attractive to us at the deadline, and was an important part of that package.”
With all that youth, though, the Nats did have to say goodbye to another young veteran in Victor Robles, who was a big part of the 2019 championship team as a rookie but was released earlier this summer – and has now caught on in Seattle, where he signed a big extension and is slashing .286/.344/.415 with 16 steals in 52 games around an injury.
“The important thing is when he was playing well, he was 100 percent healthy. He’s since gone on the IL again, but he has great skills, and if he’s there and healthy and playing free and easy, he can be a really good player,” Rizzo said of Robles. “We saw it in 2019, he was a big part of that team as a rookie. He has a little swagger that a lot of those guys in Seattle don’t have – you have that when you walk in that clubhouse with a World Series championship!”