Notes and quotes from Spring Training…
When the Washington Nationals made their first roster cuts of the Spring on Monday, 6 of 8 players optioned out to Triple-A or reassigned to minor league camp were pitchers, with Nats’ skipper Davey Martinez explaining it was time they get stretched out and prepare for the start of the regular season.
Joan Adon, Cole Henry, DJ Herz, Mitchell Parker, and Amos Willingham were sent down to Triple-A Rochester (along with infielder Jake Alu), while veteran Travis Blankenhorn (OF) was reassigned to minor league camp in West Palm Beach, FL.
“Really wanted to see some young guys pitch up here, and for the most part, I saw some really good things,” Martinez said, in explaining why they kept all their pitchers around as long as they did, as quoted by MLB.com’s Jessica Camerato.
“But it’s time to get these guys stretched out and get them on a regular routine.
“Some of these guys are going to start, so we’ve got to build them up.”
Martinez got a good, long look at those pitchers though, and liked what he saw.
“They’ve got a really good mix of pitches, they really do,” Martinez told reporters.
“They attack the strike zone. There was no fear in them.”
Cole Henry, 23, and a 2020 2nd Round pick by the Nats, underwent surgery for thoracic outlet syndrome in August of 2022. Martinez talked after the moves were announced on Monday about the right-hander’s progress as he works his way back.
“I was so happy with Cole Henry because of where he’s at and the fact of the way that he’s throwing the baseball,” Martinez said. “It means a lot to us and it means a lot to him to see him healthy and competing on the field. We’ve got to get him in a routine and get him going.”
Henry told MASN’s Bobby Blanco in late February he thought it would still take him a while before he was back to 100%:
“I definitely think, as with any surgery, it’s going to take a year or two years just to be fully past it,” he said. “I mean, I’ll still have hiccups here and there as far as just a little bit more soreness on different days. Doing new things or pitching for a little bit longer than I’m used to. Whatever it is, there’s gonna be a little bit of that. But as far as being able to let the reins loose a little bit, take the training wheels off it’s been full-go. No restraints as far as rehab or anything. I’ve been basically going after it like it’s gonna be a regular full season.”
After Monday’s Grapefruit League game, the club optioned the eighth player out to Triple-A, sending 2023 Rule 5 Draft pick Thaddeus Ward to Rochester after he made it through the ‘23 season with the club so they could keep the righty in the organization (rather than returning him to his original team, the Boston Red Sox, as per the rules of the Rule 5 Draft).
“He’s had a really good Spring Training, as far as throwing strikes,” Martinez said, as quoted by MASN’s Mark Zuckerman.
“Hopefully he keeps it that way, and he’s consistent. As I told everybody today: In the course of the year, we’re going to need starters. Get yourself ready, and be ready.”
ALSO THIS:
⭐️ @tlips03 triple ⭐️ pic.twitter.com/JQxdIVeac7
— Nationals Player Development (@Nats_PlayerDev) March 13, 2024
AND THIS:
If you didn’t read yesterday’s post here at FBB, which included a section about Davey Martinez seemingly taking a tough love approach with Luis García, go read that now.
Now that you have, here’s what Mike Rizzo, as quoted by MASN’s Mark Zuckerman, told reporters when asked about the mental mistakes from García recently, and the position battles at second and in center field this spring, with García and Victor Robles trying to claim the spots they’ve held over the last few years in D.C.
Rizzo’s take on where things stand?:
“I think they’re playing hard, they’re playing well,” Rizzo said. “We have to eliminate the mental lapses and the mental mistakes. But when you think about it, they’re both still young men chronologically. Although they seem like they’ve been here forever, they’re still young people. Luis is still 23 years old. If they didn’t have ability, obviously you wouldn’t be putting up with the mental mistakes that they make. But they have a lot of ability. They’ve shown it in the past at this level. We just have to get them over that, because that’s not helping the team.”
AND THIS:
On Tuesday afternoon, the Nationals announced the latest roster cut:
The Nationals have optioned RHP Zach Brzykcy to Triple-A Rochester.
Brzykcy, 24, missed the entire 2023 season after having Tommy John surgery, but going into camp, GM Mike Rizzo said this winter things were progressing well.
“He’s typical Tommy John surgery,” Rizzo said at the Winter Meetings. “He’s a reliever. We expect him to be in Spring Training, we may slow play him in Spring Training to start, but the Tommy John protocol is going well, and we haven’t had any blips on the radar on his rehabilitation.”
Brzykcy was in Spring Training last season too, coming off a 2022 campaign in which the non-drafted free agent who signed with the club in 2020 put up a a 1.76 ERA in 51 games across three levels of the Nationals’ system, as the club noted after they added the right-hander to their 40-Man roster this winter.