Washington Nationals news & notes: Return for Lane Thomas; José Tena + more…

Notes and quotes on the Nationals’ return in the trade that sent Lane Thomas to the Guardians…

While it hurt to part ways with (a season and a half of team control of) Lane Thomas ahead of the trade deadline this past July 29th, the Nationals dealt their right fielder to Cleveland for three young prospects from the Guardians, one of whom played out the season in D.C.

GM and President of Baseball Ops Mike Rizzo traded Thomas for left-hander Alex Clemmey, 19, who was ranked 7th in the Guardians’ system by Baseball America, and 8th by MLB.com, infielder José Tena, 23, who, at the time of the trade, led, “Cleveland’s Minor League system with 110 hits, and rank[ed] second in home runs (17),” and also a 19-year-old infielder, Rafael Ramirez Jr., who was ranked Cleveland’s 20th prospect at the time by Baseball America and No. 23 by MLBPipeline.com.

Tena played 10 games at Triple-A Rochester after the trade, then joined the major league club.

Tena, “led the Nationals in multi-hit games (15) and ranked second in hits (43) and average (.274) after joining the club on Aug. 10,” the club noted in their 2024 Season in Review.”

“He’s a tooled-up player that can play the middle of the diamond, and is versatile enough to play some other positions,” Rizzo said of the young infielder.

“Left-handed bat with some surprising pop and a guy that runs well, runs the bases well, and really plays both sides of the ball. We’re really excited about him, how he’s going to impact the club when he gets to the big leagues, and we think that he has a very low floor, but he has a lot of ceiling left.

“At 23, he’s getting better, we see his arrow going north as even this season progressed, and he’s got a really quick bat and some pop and we really like the way he plays the infield.”

“He stays behind the ball, uses his legs really well, he’s got some pop, so definitely could use that in the lineup,” manager Davey Martinez told reporters once Tena joined the club.

“After watching his videos, he stays on the ball really well,” the skipper said after Tena’s walk-off hit in his debut with the Nationals.

“We talked about it earlier. He’s got a really nice, short swing. Very handsy, but he stays in his legs really well.”

“He understands the hitting portion of the game, he really does. He doesn’t try to do too much, he lets the ball travel a little bit, and he puts the ball in play.

“We knew what about him. I can tell he loves to play the game, which is awesome.”

Tena, “[h]it in 25 of 41 games with [Washington], including 15 multi-hit games: .274, 5 2B, 3 HR, 15 RBI, 7 BB, 6 SB…Reached base safely in 12 straight from 9/4-9/16.”

Against right-handers, the left-handed swinging infielder, “… went 33-for-113 (.292) with 3 2B, 3 HR, 11 RBI[s],” and he, “[p]roduced a 49.2 hard hit percentage in his 44 G,” as the club noted after the season.

After watching him up close for a month, Martinez talked about Tena as a defender, and the manager contemplated where he could fit in on future rosters.

“He’s a good athlete. He runs a lot better than we thought when we got him. Hits the ball really well, which we knew. But he stays on the ball really, really well,” he said.

“I think this kid has potential to hit some home runs for us as well. But he’s hitting the ball well, he’s having great at-bats. Now it’s just a matter of getting him comfortable over in that position [at second base]. I really feel like he probably can play second base.

“There’s thoughts about maybe even playing him in the outfield a little bit down the road.

“And even maybe play some first base. But I love his bat. He’s in there because he’s not afraid of standing up against lefties, righties, doesn’t matter, he works good at-bats.”

“The 6-foot-6, 205-pound Clemmey,” the club highlighted in their press release on the deal had “… pitched to a 2.28 ERA (11 ER/43.1 IP) with 63 strikeouts, a 1.18 WHIP, a .185 opponents’ average and just two home runs allowed in his last 11 starts since May 24,” at the time of the trade.

A 2nd Round pick by Cleveland in 2023, Clemmey made 10 starts at Class-A Fredericksburg in Washington’s system after the deal. He’s currently ranked 6th in the Nats’ organization by MLB’s Pipeline scouts.

Ramirez, Jr. signed with the Guardians as non-drafted free agent in 2022. MLB’s Pipeline scouts have him at No. 20 in the Nationals’ system after a 2024 campaign which saw him post a .183/.299/.306 line with 13 doubles and four home runs in 71 games combined at Class-A in Cleveland and Washington’s organization.