Notes and quotes following a much-needed off day for the Nationals (and us)…
MANAGERING:
Nasim Nuñez, the Washington Nationals’ 2023 Rule 5 Draft pick, appeared in 17 games (just 3 starts), going 0 for 10 with a walk in 11 plate appearances before he connected for his first hit in the majors Wednesday afternoon in Petco Park.
Nũnez’s manager Davey Martinez said in his post game presser, following the loss in the series finale with the San Diego Padres, he did not tell the 23-year-old infielder he would get an at-bat until it was time to go to the on-deck circle.
“I didn’t want to tell him,” Martinez said. “I was contemplating just taking CJ [Abrams] out. I didn’t tell [Nuñez] till he had to go on-deck and go hit, so the element of surprise sometimes does help. I remember my first hit in the big leagues, [Chicago Cubs’ skipper] Gene Michaels did the same thing to me. I sat there and sat there, and he goes, ‘Hey, kid, you’re hitting.’ And whoa-whoa, whoa… and first pitch I got a base hit. Happy for [Nuñez], though. I’m happy.”
Martinez’s first hit was in his 13th plate appearance in the majors. Nuñez got his in his 12th.
Nasim Nuñez goes the other way for his first big league knock!@Nationals | @Nats_PlayerDev pic.twitter.com/wVP628Z5PU
— MLB Pipeline (@MLBPipeline) June 26, 2024
Martinez seemed to think the element of surprise would help his young charge to go up there and not think, but react, and hopefully finally break through.
“I kind of surprised Nuñez a little bit. Just kind of throw him out there and he did great,” Martinez said.
“He got his first hit and I loved it. But guys were staying on the ball and guys were driving the ball. So we were able to mount some runs there at the end, but we fell short.”
The Nats trailed 8-0 in the ninth at the time of Nuñez’s opposite field hit. They rallied to put five runs on the board after the single, and Martinez said the excitement about the rookie coming through played a part in the rally.
“Everyone was jacked up he got a hit, you know,” Martinez said, “and then we started staying on the baseballs and driving the balls, and it was good.”
STATE OF THE NATIONALS:
Talking with Audacy’s Sports Junkies on 106.7 the FAN in D.C. on Wednesday morning about the then 38-41 (now 38-42) Nationals, GM Mike Rizzo told the show’s hosts he thought there were plenty of reasons to be excited about where things stand now in the club’s now-years-long organizational reboot.
“Lot of positives, man. Lot of positives to be taken from this team,” Rizzo said.
“If you can’t get excited about where we’re at here, right now,” he continued, “… then you’re not paying attention to this rebuild. It’s well underway and starting pitching is key and we’ve got that and we’ve got more guys in the minor leagues and we’ve got guys at each and every level. So it’s exciting to be here.”
The club, after getting swept in three straight by the Padres, is 3.5 games out of the final Wild Card spot (as of Thursday morning), and given the way manager Davey Martinez has them playing, questions about whether the club will be buyers or sellers at this year’s trade deadline (July 30th) are natural (if a bit premature).
Photo by Jess Rapfogel/Getty Images
Rizzo said his phone has been ringing, and he has been fielding, “… feeler calls for the last couple of weeks,” but, he noted, things don’t usually, “… get rolling until closer to the trade deadline.”
“Usually it starts heating up about two weeks before the deadline and really it goes down — a lot of the final decisions aren’t made until like a week before the trade deadline and sometimes days before the deadline,” Rizzo said.
“So I think that it often goes down to the wire with these things, and we made the Lane Thomas trade with one minute before the deadline. That’s kind of the process with these things.
“The deadline brings out the finality of ‘I’m a buyer or am I a seller?’ And I think that it’s become a thing that it’s an exciting time.”
Either way, Rizzo stressed, the club will be getting some help, even if it’s from inside the organization with a number of the top prospects knocking at the door and getting closer to their MLB debuts.
“That will be something that we’ll do for sure. Calling up the young guys [to] get their feet wet at the big league level to see if they can give us a little jump start, a little more energy. [But] you can’t get much much more energy than this team is showing. [Davey Martinez] has got this team playing hard.”