Washington Nationals Top Prospect Has Clear Path to Majors Next Season
The Washington Nationals are heading into the offseason and free agency with a lot of opportunities to improve.
For the last number of years, the Nationals have been in a rebuild that has taken some time. Since 2019, the losses have piled up, but it has resulted in a lot of young talent on the team.
With a bright and talented young core, the future looks bright in Washington, but they need to add some veterans into the mix in order to improve in free agency.
Coming into the offseason, there are a couple of main areas that the team will be looking to improve. Adding some help in the bullpen has become a recent need with Kyle Finnegan and Tanner Rainey both becoming free agents. Also, a front-end starting pitcher would be helpful for a rotation that has a lot of inexperience.
For their lineup, while they have a lot of talent, they do have some needs. Currently, at both first base and third base, the Nationals could certainly look to upgrade, as adding some power would be helpful.
At third base, Washington might have a superb option in their own system with Brady House. Recently, Bobby Blanco of MASN wrote about House potentially being the starter on Opening Day and the long-term answer at the position.
“The Nats are still waiting for House to tap into his raw power. While he makes hard contact, balls haven’t left the yard at a rate most expected. And when he doesn’t make contact, there are still a lot of strikeouts. With 143 strikeouts this season, House punched out 26.4 percent of the time, including 28.9 percent at Triple-A. Both rates were higher than his overall 23.9 rate in 2023.
Blanco indicated that improvement in both areas should accelerate House's preparedness for the Majors. He noted that House has improved markedly as a fielder as he's made the move to third base in the minor leagues.
There is certainly a lot of potential in House’s game, but he is far from a finished product. Since expectations to win are still low for the Nationals, calling up the young prospect and giving him a shot makes sense. It might also be necessary if Washington is not able to corral a veteran free agent for the position.
But, compared to the first base situation where both offense and defense was a struggle last season, passing on getting a free agent at third base and letting House play makes more sense.
While prospects are by no means guaranteed to succeed, Washington has been doing a good job of developing their young core of late. With third base being a position that they need to improve, bringing up House and giving him a chance assuming he performs well in the spring makes a lot of sense.
