Byron Kerr

Club debuts Nationals Philanthropies during pandemic shutdown

April 23, 2020, 12:08pm

Byron Kerr

Nationals

The

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Fredericksburg stadium baseball-ready for today's virtual opening day

April 22, 2020, 11:45am

Byron Kerr

Nationals

Fredericksburg stadium baseball-ready for today's virtual opening day

The Single-A Fredericksburg Nationals will be hosting a virtual version of their opening day today. This was supposed to be opening day at their new, state-of-the-art facility, but all of baseball is currently in a shutdown due to the coronavirus pandemic. The broadcast will be available on the Fredericksburg Nationals Facebook page. The page will be live at 9 a.m. and at 5:30 p.m. will show a tour of the new ballpark, ceremonies honoring local health care workers, and presentations from...

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Revisiting the trade that brought Adam Eaton to the Nationals

April 22, 2020, 3:37am

Byron Kerr

Nationals

It was one of the big trades of the 2016 winter meetings at National Harbor, Md. The Nationals sent three pitchers to the White Sox for outfielder Adam Eaton. In exchange, Lucas Giolito, Reynaldo LÃ³pez and Dane Dunning were traded to Chicago. Fast-forward to April 2020. Here is a quick look at how this trade in late 2016 affected both teams. The Nationals were in dire need of a starting outfielder who could be a workhorse at the top of the lineup. Eaton fit that bill. But a major injury to...

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Zimmerman's take on the Zoom video call to celebrate Game 7

April 20, 2020, 9:08am

Byron Kerr

Nationals

Zimmerman's take on the Zoom video call to celebrate Game 7

During a conference call Monday on the launch of the Pros for Heroes charity campaign, Ryan Zimmerman provided more insight into last week's Zoom video call with his teammates and coaching staff as they watching MASN's rebroadcast of Game 7 of the 2019 World Series. Zimmerman had a really good time that night, reminiscing with his buddies on the historic franchise win in Houston. So much so he joked at a reporter's query: "How did I feel right afterwards or the morning when I woke up after...

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Robles and Soto's outfield defense played part in Nats' title run

April 20, 2020, 3:21am

Byron Kerr

Nationals

Robles and Soto's outfield defense played part in Nats' title run

Outs Above Average (OAA) is a range-based metric that shows how many outs a player has saved. It is impressive to look back at the OAA for Nationals center fielder Victor Robles in 2019. His mark of 23 was the best in baseball, and six points better than the next closest in Kevin Kiermaier of the Rays (17). Lorenzo Cain of Milwaukee was third with 14. Nats left fielder Juan Soto had a 6 OAA and right fielder Adam Eaton a 1 OAA. Compare that to the Phillies outfield: Scott Kingery and Adam...

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Justin Lord focuses on mental side of game with Nats hurlers

April 19, 2020, 3:29am

Byron Kerr

Nationals

Justin Lord focuses on mental side of game with Nats hurlers

The Nationals have a new pitching coach at high Single-A Fredericksburg for 2020, and he is a familiar face in the Carolina League. Justin Lord, who spent seven seasons as a pitching coach in the Baltimore system, comes to the Fredericksburg and takes over for Sam Narron, who is now the pitching coach for Double-A Harrisburg. Lord most recently was the pitching coach at high Single-A Frederick. "It's really good. I'm excited about being with the Nats," Lord said by telephone from his home...

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Nats prospect watch: Cody Wilson has the tools to deliver on field

April 18, 2020, 3:25am

Byron Kerr

Nationals

Nats prospect watch: Cody Wilson has the tools to deliver on field

An obvious starting point for who will be next to have a good chance of making the big leagues is found in the Nationals top prospect lists. But what is also intriguing are players who are not on this list just yet or were not considered for some reason or another. Similar to undrafted rookies or free agents in the National Football League, these prospects can reside under the radar for a time but then burst onto the scene. I asked Nationals minor league hitting coordinator Troy Gingrich for a...

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Nats Prospect Watch: At 18, De La Rosa ahead of competition

April 16, 2020, 3:43am

Byron Kerr

Nationals

Nats Prospect Watch: At 18, De La Rosa ahead of competition

Exciting to hear positive news about 18-year-old prospect Jeremy De La Rosa. The left-handed hitting outfielder from Santo Domingo in the Dominican Republic signed with the Nationals on July 2, 2018. De La Rosa spent 2019 with the Rookie-level Gulf Coast Nationals for 26 games, hitting .232 with a double, two triples, two homers, three stolen bases and 10 RBIs. "He has a lot of good tools," said Nationals minor league hitting coordinator Troy Gingrich. "For being only 18 years old, I...

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Minor swing adjustments allow Stevenson to be himself

April 15, 2020, 3:57am

Byron Kerr

Nationals

Minor swing adjustments allow Stevenson to be himself

Outfielder Andrew Stevenson played in 30 games for the Nationals last season and became a solid contributor off the bench, hitting .367 with a .486 OBP. The talented left-handed hitter is only 25, and has played in the majors over parts of the past three seasons. He made an appearance in one postseason game last year, scoring a crucial run against the Brewers in the 4-3 wild card win. Stevenson scored the tying run on Juan Soto's two-run single in the bottom of the eighth to help put the Nats...

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Nats prospect watch: Pineda ready to bounce back from learning year

April 14, 2020, 3:49am

Byron Kerr

Nationals

Nats prospect watch: Pineda ready to bounce back from learning year

Failure is a big part of baseball. A hitter who fails seven times out of 10 is considered above average. Learning how to deal with failure and figuring out how to increase your chances of getting a base hit can go a long way to extending the life of a hitter at the higher levels. In 2019, this is what catcher Israel Pineda went through in the Nationals organization at 19. He failed more times than not on offense. And that is never an easy task to endure. At short-season Single-A Auburn in 2018,...

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Nats prospect watch: Reetz showed off power in second half

April 12, 2020, 3:36am

Byron Kerr

Nationals

Nats prospect watch: Reetz showed off power in second half

A big second half was important to catcher Jakson Reetz's potential move up in the Nationals organization. Reetz, a third-round 2014 selection in the First-Year Player Draft, hit .282 with 12 homers and 38 RBIs for high Single-A Potomac after the All-Star break. In the first half, he had hit .220 with only one homer. His slugging percentage jumped from .300 to .563. The Carolina League All-Star told me his focus at the plate from July on was critical to those number jumps. He finished with 18...

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Nats prospect watch: Barrera's plate discipline one key to success

April 11, 2020, 3:48am

Byron Kerr

Nationals

Nats prospect watch: Barrera's plate discipline one key to success

Catcher Tres Barrera made his major league debut late last season with the Nationals, appearing in two games. The Eastern League All-Star got off to a good start with Double-A Harrisburg and never looked back. Barrera was able to crank out 23 doubles, eight homers and 46 RBIs in the spacious FNB Field. "Tres had a great year last year," said Nationals minor league hitting coordinator Troy Gingrich. "Put him in a different park, give him the big league balls, he'd probably hit 15-20 homers...

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Nats prospect watch: Freeman's simple swing should pay dividends at Double-A

April 10, 2020, 3:50am

Byron Kerr

Nationals

Nats prospect watch: Freeman's simple swing should pay dividends at Double-A

Nationals prospect Cole Freeman was a Carolina League All-Star in 2019 and also got a shot at playing 15 games in the Arizona Fall League for the Surprise Saguaros. The 25-year-old worked with Nationals hitting coordinator Troy Gingrich at spring training for a short time. Gingrich admired Freeman's compact swing. "I only got to see him for three days," Gingrich said. "He's very simple. He's got a short swing. He's got to where he is using his legs, his lower half, in his swing as well....

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Nats Prospect watch: Nick Banks shortens swing to add to power stroke

April 09, 2020, 3:44am

Byron Kerr

Nationals

Nats Prospect watch: Nick Banks shortens swing to add to power stroke

Nationals minor league hitting instructor Troy Gingrich had more positive news on outfielder Nick Banks, who garnered a lot of attention last summer with his game-winning three-run homer in the Carolina League All-Star Classic in Frederick, Md. Banks, 25, is rated as the No. 27 prospect in the MLBPipeline.com Nats top 30. Gingrich said the left-handed hitting Banks made a big jump in his swing and plate discipline in 2019. His numbers improved as the season got going. He slashed .278/.338/.431...

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Nats prospect watch: Jackson Cluff brings "quick twitch" swing to table

April 08, 2020, 3:45am

Byron Kerr

Nationals

Nats prospect watch: Jackson Cluff brings "quick twitch" swing to table

Following his first half-season in the minor leagues, former BYU shortstop Jackson Cluff got a chance to work out during instructional league and then into spring training with the Nationals. The left-handed hitter was a sixth-round draft selection in 2019. Cluff is rated as the No. 20 Nats prospect in the MLBPipeline.com top 30, Cluff, 23, is from Meridian, Idaho, and played for the Cougars in 2016 as a freshman and again in 2019 as a sophomore. In 2019, he slashed .327/.518/.458 with 20...

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Nats prospect watch: Antuna healthy again

April 07, 2020, 3:41am

Byron Kerr

Nationals

Nats prospect watch: Antuna healthy again

It was great to get an update regarding shortstop Yasel Antuna after the young Nationals prospect was out of almost all games due to injury for more than a year. The 20-year-old Antuna lasted only three games last season for Rookie-level Gulf Coast League after playing in 87 games at low single-A Hagerstown in 2018. MLBPipeline.com rates Antuna as the No. 12 Nats prospect in their 2020 top 30 list. He is a 6-foot infielder that hails from the southern coastal area of Peravia, Dominican...

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Nats prospect watch: Mendoza getting aggressive with swing

April 06, 2020, 4:04am

Byron Kerr

Nationals

Nats prospect watch: Mendoza getting aggressive with swing

Third baseman Drew Mendoza (Twitter: @MendozaDrew22) knew from his first few weeks with the Nationals organization that he wanted to make some adjustments to his swing. The 2019 Baseball America second team All-American was a standout third baseman at Florida State, but was ready from his first few days in pro camp to add power to his approach. It is the Nationals' policy with drafted players in their initiation to professional baseball to allow them a full month to get acclimated and pitch...

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Kendrick helpful to Nats' next generation of hitters

April 05, 2020, 3:43am

Byron Kerr

Nationals

Kendrick helpful to Nats' next generation of hitters

Re-watching the Nationals' playoff run gives fans the opportunity to see Howie Kendrick bounce back from a rough start to October baseball and turn into one of the biggest heroes. Kendrick's grand slam against the Dodgers and later the foul pole-clanging two-run shot against the Astros will go down as two of the most clutch hits in Nats postseason history. Kendrick kept on going to begin 2020 spring training, slashing .318/.375/.318 during 10 games. In the 2019 postseason, the 36-year-old hit...

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Nats prospect watch: Kieboom focused on aggressiveness at the plate

April 04, 2020, 3:54am

Byron Kerr

Nationals

Nats prospect watch: Kieboom focused on aggressiveness at the plate

Nationals hitting coordinator Troy Gingrich said that top prospect Carter Kieboom started to get into a nice rhythm the final few weeks of March after a slow start to this spring training. "It was a different feeling for Carter this year because he knew the job was his for the take," Gingrich said. "He made a couple of adjustments in the offseason on his own, trying to make some moves that he does smaller. They didn't really transform how he was expecting them to in the games, along with...

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Nats prospect watch: GarcÃa works to employ lower half in swing

April 03, 2020, 3:41am

Byron Kerr

Nationals

Nats prospect watch: GarcÃa works to employ lower half in swing

We switch gears now in our previews to the offense and check in with how Luis GarcÃa's spring training was going before the shutdown. Um, yeah, it was going really well. The left-handed swinging GarcÃa was hitting the baseball consistently to begin 2020. The 19-year-old shortstop slashed a stunning .417/.462/.542 in 15 big league games, with one homer and four RBIs. GarcÃa is listed as the No. 97 overall prospect according to MLBPipeline.com's preseason rankings. As one might expect,...