Washington Nationals news & notes: Brady House takes a big step

Notes and quotes on the Nationals’ 2021 1st Round pick, Brady House…

MLB’s Pipeline scouts (who have the 2021 1st Round ranked No. 3 in the Nationals’ system) describe infielder Brady House in their scouting report on the 21-year-old as a, “… building [block] for the future of baseball in the capital,” along with James Wood and Dylan Crews.

Kris Kline, then the Assistant GM and VP of Scouting Operations, now a Special Assistant to Nationals’ GM and President of Baseball Ops Mike Rizzo, talked on the night of the ‘21 Draft, after picking House 11th overall, about why the club was comfortable taking the high school shortstop (who has since moved over to third base almost exclusively) where they did.

“He checks a lot of really good boxes,” Kline explained at the time. “You’ve got size, you’ve got strength, you’ve got power, you’ve got bat speed, you’ve got speed, you’ve got a well-above average arm, all those boxes are checked.

“The bat is the one thing with every player, position player, we take, that you’re counting on.

“And if they don’t hit, it’s not going to happen. They become utility infielders or role players, or extra players.

“But I think that Brady checked all the boxes of to where we felt really comfortable that he’s going to put together a really, really nice career.”

House was limited by a back issue in 2022, but he returned to form (.312/.365/.497 line, 21 doubles, and 12 HRs in 88 games and 373 plate appearances) in 2023, playing at three levels (A, High-A, Double-A) and he’s followed a trajectory similar to his fellow building blocks (Wood and Crews), starting out with the Double-A Harrisburg Senators this past season (after finishing up there in ‘23) before moving up to Triple-A Rochester.

In 129 games and 542 PAs between AA and AAA this season House put up a combined .241/.297/.402 line, 21 doubles, and 19 home runs in his 4th season in the organization.

“I think Brady has had a terrific year for us in Triple-A,” Rizzo said in a mid-September interview with The Sports Junkies.

“He’s really starting to come into his power, he’s gonna be a premium defensive third baseman with power.

“He’s going to come to Spring Training and try and make the team.

“We like the way he’s progressed so far and if he continues on that path he’s going to be a really good player for us.”

As Rizzo framed it, House is lined up to be a part of the next competitive club in D.C., along with the other top prospects who are already in Washington and on their way up.

“He’ll be one of the guys that we’re talking about alongside of Crews and [Jacob] Young and Wood and [CJ] Abrams. … He’s a big part of our future. We’re obviously not going to rush him, like we don’t rush any player. And when his time — when he’s ready for the big leagues — we’ll bring him because we could use that power influx and the offensive portion of his game is important to us.”