Washington Nationals news & notes: Darren Baker makes MLB debut with Dusty Baker in D.C.

Notes and quotes on Darren Baker’s MLB debut … 56-ish years after his father Dusty Baker’s…

Washington’s Nationals drafted Darren Baker out of high school in 2017, but he opted to go to college at the University of California, Berkeley, then they drafted him again, taking the son of former Nationals’ skipper Dusty Baker in the 10th Round in 2021 and signing him the second time.

“Obviously you’ve got bloodlines there, but he’s a really good player. Intelligent, you watch him play on the field, so that’s a big trait, he’s got tools, he’s very versatile,” Mark Baka, the Nats’ Westcoast Crosschecker, told reporters during the ‘21 Draft.

“He can play second, play center, he can run,” Baca said, “… so that was obviously, with his father Dusty, we really liked the player, everything about the way that his clock works, great instincts. We really like the player.”

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“With Darren, you look at dad and you’re thinking, ‘Okay, well, Darren is going to fill out,” Kris Kline, then an Assistant GM and VP of Scouting Ops, and now a Special Assistant to GM Mike Rizzo told reporters. “We’re going to wait for him to fill out a little bit, but wiry, and very athletic, so you know this is a guy that when he gets out in pro ball, I would love him to see if he could just master the ability to drag bunt, maybe do that once or twice a game, get 10, 15, 20 extra base hits, and utilize his best asset, which is his speed.”

His new manager in D.C. knew Baker from his own playing days, when Davey Martinez was a player on Dusty’s teams in San Francisco and later when his team(s) would travel to play the Giants.

“When we would go to play in San Francisco, I’d see him out on the field,” Martinez said, so seeing Darren finally get the call to the majors was emotional for the manager.

“Darren has done really well the last two years in Rochester,” he told reporters before the series finale with the Chicago Cubs in the nation’s capital. “[He’s a] guy that can help us in multiple ways, defensively, hitting, he’s got good bat-to-ball skills, left-handed hitter, can play different positions. So he deserved a chance to come up here and play up here a little bit and see what we’ve got.”

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“I’m sure Dusty is on his way if he’s not here already,” Martinez added, “so it will be good to see him as well and get to see his son play in the big leagues.”

For Darren, returning to Nationals Park, where his father managed (and he was always at the ballpark, behind the scenes), was a little less stressful or at least more comfortable than it otherwise might have been on Day 1 of his big league career, after the club called him up when rosters expanded Sunday.

“I think it does feel comfortable, especially this one,” he said of the Nationals’ clubhouse.

“I knew how to get here,” he joked. “I didn’t have to put it into my phone or anything. So I felt comfortable just showing up.”

Darren said he called his mother first when he learned of the news, then called his father as well.

“He tried to play it cool, but I know he was excited,” he said.

His father, while thrilled, was not surprised to see his son make it to the majors.

“I always thought he was going to be [a big league player] because that’s what he wanted,” the elder Baker said, as quoted by MLB.com’s Jessica Camerato.

“He put in the time and the effort. I thought he had the talent to do it. … He’s not in awe being out there. He’s thankful, but he feels comfortable, like home.”

In 112 games and 483 plate appearances at Triple-A Rochester this season, the now-25-year-old Baker put up a .285/.348/.340 line with 20 doubles, 38 stolen bases (in 43 attempts), 43 walks, and 91 Ks.

Martinez was asked before Sunday’s game how Baker distinguished himself and earned the opportunity this year, after four seasons and 346 games in the minors, over which he had a combined .286/.348/.354 line.

“The way he plays the game,” Martinez said simply. “He’s hitting close to .290, maybe a little bit more, but he understands how to play the game. He was brought up a baseball player, right? But he understands the game, he knows how to play the game. He steals bases when you need him to, he puts the ball in play and gets guys over, he knocks in some big runs, all that stuff, he’s just a baseball player.”

Darren, for his part, said he knows his own path here was different from a lot of others who didn’t have a veteran of 19 seasons as a player and 26 as a manager in the majors for a dad.

“It’s a little different. I think it kind of makes me unique,” Darren acknowledge. “I’ve had a lot of different experiences and people I’ve crossed paths with to get to this point. And I’m still just getting started. We’ll see where it goes, but I’m grateful for everything.”

Especially for the way his father approached fostering his son’s love for the game.

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“He’s the best, man. He never really forced me to play,” Darren said, “or put pressure on me, or was overbearing. I kind of just found the love of [the] game myself. I think it really helped me in the long run.

“Especially the long days on the buses at Triple-A or wherever. He’s the best, and kind of just let me be me.”

On September 17, 1968, Dusty connected for his first major league hit, in his third trip to the plate in the majors. Darren needed just one pitch, hitting a cutter, down and in, back up the middle of the field for his own first hit in the majors, 20,438 days after his father’s first (of a total of 1,981).

Having his dad in the park when he connected on his first hit meant a lot to Darren.

“My mom, she’s been to all the games,” he said, as quoted on MLB.com. “But my dad, for however many years, he missed a lot of those games just because of the MLB season. For him to see that today was special, and I won’t forget it.”