Washington Nationals Will Reportedly Call Up Son of Baseball Legend

The Washington Nationals are reportedly going to call up another one of their young players to give him his first taste of Major League Baseball.

Jul 16, 2022; Los Angeles, CA, USA; National League Futures infielder Darren Baker (4) throws to first for an out in the sixth inning of the All Star-Futures Game at Dodger Stadium / Jayne Kamin-Oncea-USA TODAY Sports

Entering the final month of the season, the Washington Nationals don't have a lot to play for since they are virtually eliminated from playoff contention, so they are using this time to see what their young players can do at this level.

Some have already emerged as future cornerstone pieces of this franchise, but with September call ups right around the corner, that will give the Nationals an opportunity to get other prospects some work at the Major League level.

And according to social media account Talk Nats, they are going to promote Darren Baker for his debut when rosters expand on Sept. 1.

Washington won't need to make a corresponding move.

If that name sounds familiar, that's because the 25-year-old is the son of baseball legend and former Nationals manager Dusty Baker.

The younger Baker is not considered one of Washington's top 30 prospects, but he's been performing extremely well at the plate in Triple-A, putting up a slash line of .285/.348/.340 this season.

Although he is not a home run threat by any means, having only recorded six in his first three full years of professional baseball, he's shown a proficient ability to get on base with a career batting average of .286, while also being productive with runners in scoring position, having driven in 138 runs.

Selected in the 10th round of the 2021 MLB draft by the Nationals, he's rapidly climbed up their farm system despite not being regarded as one of the top prospects in the pipeline.

It will be interesting to see where Baker plays on defense.

He's gotten the majority of his reps at second base, but he's also appeared in left field more often the past two years, perhaps signaling he could make a position change at some point in his career, or even be utilized as a superutilityman.

There has been no official announcement from the team regarding the promotion of Baker as of now, but it's expected it will come on Sept. 1 when the rosters officially expand.