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[Washington Nationals]

Nationals Prospects: An update from the farm

Jim Rassol, Jim Rassol / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Looking at the news and notable happenings from the Minor Leagues

We have focused a lot on the big club lately, so I wanted to give an update on the rest of the organization. While the games have only started in Triple-A, the rosters have come out for the other levels. I wanted to go through some of them and talk about the notable names on each.

Low-A Fredericksburg:

It's here!

Take a look at the FredNats' 2025 Opening Day Roster!

See them for the first time at Virginia Credit Union Stadium on Tuesday, April 8th.

Get your seats now at https://t.co/0i2VvNLSqI! pic.twitter.com/w1GfRpCN0E

— Fredericksburg Nationals (@FXBGNats) March 31, 2025​

Last year, Low-A Fredericksburg had one of the most stacked teams in the organization, with a ton of meaningful prospects. They had guys like Travis Sykora, Jarlin Susana, Alex Clemmey, Seaver King and Caleb Lomavita pass through.

This year they aren’t as stacked, at least for now, but they do have a couple interesting names. The most notable one is Federal Baseball’s number 9 Nats prospect Kevin Bazzell. I am kind of surprised he is not in High-A, given the fact he outperformed Caleb Lomavita last year in pro ball. He is more advanced than Lomavita from what I have seen.

One interesting non-inclusion is Luke Dickerson. The Nats second round pick from last year signed for $3.8 million. However, it looks like the Nats have decided he is not ready for pro ball just yet. He will be at extended Spring Training. Dickerson should be be in Fredericksburg sometime relatively soon.

High-A Wilmington:

Announcing our Opening Day Roster

Come see our squad in days at Frawley!

pic.twitter.com/UoEQsz4gui

— Wilmington Blue Rocks (@WilmBlueRocks) March 31, 2025​

Wilmington is the place to be if you want to see exciting Nationals prospects. A number of the guys from that great Fredericksburg team will be up in High-A. The Nationals top two draft picks Seaver King and Caleb Lomavita will both be there. One thing to note is that historically, the Blue Rocks home ball park has been very pitcher friendly, so don’t freak out too much if they don’t put up the best numbers to start.

Despite a couple rough years, Elijah Green is also getting the call to High-A. It seems like it is sink or swim time for the former top five pick.

On the pitching side, Alex Clemmey is the star of the show. Clemmey really impressed me in the Spring Breakout game, showing off a much more controlled delivery. His breaking stuff also looked filthy. Another interesting name here is Jackson Kent. He was the Nats fourth round pick last year. Seeing him skip Low-A shows that the Nats believe in him. Once he gets back from injury, we should see Travis Sykora here at some point as well.

Double-A Harrisburg:

For some reason, Harrisburg did not tweet out their roster, but the link to it is here. The biggest names are Jarlin Susana, Daylen Lile, Cayden Wallace, and Yohandy Morales.

Susana is the one I am most excited to monitor. He is one of the most electric pitching prospects in all of baseball when he is on his game. Susana can sit at 100 MPH and has a wipeout slider to go with it.

For the hitters, it is time for them to truly break out. All three of them have shown flashes, but none have made the leap towards becoming a true top 100 prospect. Can any of these guys show that they can be more than serviceable big leaguers one day? I want to see one of those hitters take a leap.

An update on Triple-A Rochester:

The Rochester Red Wings have already started their season. They are 2-2 at the moment and are actually playing right now. Robert Hassell III and Brady House are the two stars down their, with both knocking at the big league door.

House has been off to a flying start. He is hitting .350 so far and hit a home run earlier this afternoon.

HOUSE WITH A HOMER! pic.twitter.com/2ujbYfD4vC

— Rochester Red Wings (@RocRedWings) April 3, 2025​

We probably won’t see House until midseason at the earliest, but it is great to see him off to a fast start after a rough introduction to AAA last year.

The Nationals first ever Japanese import Shinnosuke Ogasawara is also down there and he pitched well in his debut. After a rough spring training, Ogasawara went six innings of one run ball in his Rochester debut.

Following the Minor League teams should be a fun ride this season. While a lot of the Nats young stars are in the big leagues now, they still have plenty of talent on the farm.

Source: https://www.federalbaseball.com/2025/4/3/24400678/nationals-prospects-update-from-the-farm

 

[Washington Nationals]

Keibert Ruiz is a bright spot in struggling Nationals offense

John E. Sokolowski-Imagn Images

This is a big year for Keibert Ruiz and he knows it. The Nationals catcher is red hot to start the season

The Washington Nationals offense has been slumping to start the season. They have been striking out far too much and have struggles with runners in scoring position. Guys like Dylan Crews, Josh Bell, Jacob Young, and Luis Garcia Jr. have stumbled out of the gates, combining for just five hits. However, one guy who is not slumping is Keibert Ruiz, who is looking to bounce back from a brutal 2024.

Prove it Year:

2025 is a crossroads in the year in Keibert Ruiz’s career. In the offseason, I wrote about how the organization has put a lot of trust in Ruiz, and that it is time for him to live up to his end of the bargain. So far he has done just that.

Before the 2023 season, the Nats made the bold move of extending Keibert on an 8-year extension that guaranteed the catcher $50 million dollars. Ruiz was coming off a solid, but not spectacular first full season in the big leagues after coming over in the Max Scherzer/Trea Turner trade. It was a big move that showed the Nats hierarchy was all in on Ruiz.

The last couple of years have been up and down to say the least. In 2023, Keibert was solid with the bat, putting up a .717 OPS with 18 homers. However, he was a train wreck defensively, grading out as the worst defensive catcher in baseball.

In 2024, his bat fell off a cliff, putting up a paltry .619 OPS. However, he was passable behind the plate defensively, even if he was not great. A big storyline in 2024 was Ruiz’s early season illness that saw him lose 20 pounds.

Rushing him back from the illness could explain some of the drop in offensive production. However, there is more to it than just that. If the illness hampered him so much, how did he make strides defensively? I think the bigger problem was Ruiz’s approach and plate discipline. He was chasing too much and making far too much weak contact.

Positive Signs in 2025:

Ruiz has gotten off to a great start in 2025. He is hitting .381 with a 1.149 OPS. The Nationals catcher has gotten a hit in every game this season, and has a 10 game hitting streak dating back to last season. He is just 46 games away from tying Joe DiMaggio!

Keibert has also shown off the power stroke, hitting two home runs so far this season. The quality of his at bats are also just much better. He is taking more pitches and finding his pitch to hit, rather than just swinging for the sake of it. Ruiz has the bat to ball skills to hit with two strikes and be patient, so it is cool to see him lay off the junk.

He also looks more athletic, both at the plate and in the field. One metric that quantifies this is his pop time on stolen base attempts. Last year his pop time was 2.06 seconds on average, which is substantially slower than the average catcher. This year it has been a much better 1.91 seconds. You are seeing the results of this, with Keibert catching two of four base stealers so far.

It is a small sample size, but it is something I have noticed while watching the games. I have never been impressed with Keibert’s ability to control the running game before this season. However, he looks much quicker out of the crouch so far. On the broadcast, MASN mentioned that Ruiz hired a personal chef, so maybe a better diet is helping him trim off the fat.

Moving Forward:

Of course, this is still a tiny sample size, so this could just be a mirage. However, it would be a big plus for the Nats if Keibert can truly establish himself as an average to above average starting catcher. He has always had the bat to ball skills, he just hasn’t put it all together on either side of the ball yet.

I am still not totally all in yet because we have seen good stretches from Keibert before, especially at the plate. Those tend to be interrupted by extended periods where Ruiz is constantly rolling over ground balls to the second baseman early in the count. We need to see sustained success, but Keibert Ruiz has come into the year with the right mindset and it is showing on the field so far.

Source: https://www.federalbaseball.com/202...z-bright-spot-in-struggling-nationals-offense