NORTH PORT, Fla. – Alex Call believes in himself. Just as any professional athlete does, but maybe ratcheted up just a little extra. It’s what you have to do when you’re an undersized, non-first-round pick from Ball State who has had to earn his way onto every roster he’s ever played on.
“Bottom line, I think I’m a good player and I think I’m capable of putting up good numbers,” he said, “no matter if it’s spring training or during the season.”
Call consistently puts up good-to-great numbers in spring training. He’s played in 83 official Grapefruit or Cactus League games since 2017 with the White Sox, Guardians and now Nationals. His total offensive numbers: a .333/.456/.475 slash line, not to mention way more walks (32) than strikeouts (23).
And he’s up to his old tricks this spring, going 7-for-21 with four doubles, six RBIs and a ridiculous 10-to-1 walk-to-strikeout ratio.
If it feels like Call treats these exhibition games like they’re regular season games, he does.
“For me, it doesn’t matter if it’s spring training, instructional league, I’ve always had that mindset that every at-bat, everybody’s watching, everybody’s evaluating you all the time,” he said. “I take pride in how I play the game. I play the game hard, with all I have every single time. So it’s no different (in spring training). When I’m competing with somebody mano a mano in a game, I want to make sure I’m putting my best foot forward and locked in, giving everything I’ve got. It’s just part of my identity.”
It's those traits – not to mention production – that make Call such an ideal choice to be the Nationals’ fourth outfielder. He doesn’t have nearly the pedigree of James Wood or Dylan Crews, and he doesn’t have quite the elite speed and defensive skill of Jacob Young. But the Nats don’t need him to be any of those guys. They just need him to play hard and be ready whenever his time comes.
“We need a guy like that,” manager Davey Martinez said. “A veteran guy that understands what his role is, and he’s really good at it. He’s a guy you can count on to play all three outfield positions and do well. Come off the bench and draw a walk. Play against some left-handed pitching if we need. He’s done really well.”
Acquired off waivers from Cleveland in August 2022, Call got a chance to play regularly in 2023 after Victor Robles got hurt. He didn’t make the most of the opportunity, slashing .200/.307/.307 in 128 games while also getting overly aggressive on the bases and running himself into too many outs.
And with Young establishing himself as the everyday center fielder last April, and Wood debuting in left field in July with Lane Thomas already set in right, there was little reason to believe Call would get another opportunity to play regularly for this team. Until the Nats dealt Thomas (to the Guardians, of call teams) at the trade deadline.
Crews wasn’t ready to come up from Triple-A quite yet, so the call instead went to Call, who suddenly found himself with another opportunity to play every day in the majors.
And this time he absolutely made the most of it. Over the most torrid 23-game stretch of his life, he slashed .349/.413/.554 with eight doubles, three homers and 13 RBIs.
Call attributes his success in D.C. to a change in approach and swing mechanics while playing last summer in Rochester.
“When I got the opportunity in the big leagues, it was really the same game,” he said. “I was the same player. I was taking my same at-bats. But it felt like I was a completely different player, because I had a new mindset, a new approach and a new swing. The results were so much different that it didn’t feel like a fluke.”
Call did all this while dealing with some significant pain in his left foot, the results of plantar fasciitis. Under different circumstances, he would’ve spoken up and gone on the injured list. Not under these circumstances.
“I was limping all over the field. But I was playing so well, and I was in the major league lineup,” he said. “There’s no way I’m going to let them take me out voluntarily.”
Eventually, Call’s foot gave out. He fell to the ground in a heap trying to charge in on a sinking ball in shallow right field Aug. 23 in Atlanta, the plantar fascia tearing all the way through. His season was over, and in the meantime, the Nats promoted Crews from Triple-A and made him their starting right field not just for the rest of 2024 but ideally for years to come.
“It’s a shame he got hurt,” Martinez said, “because he really was unbelievable.”
Call was fully healed by the time he reported to West Palm Beach this spring. And he immediately started hitting the way he always does in spring training.
The difference this time? There’s no spot in the Nationals lineup for him, barring injury or some other unforeseen development involving Wood, Young or Crews. He’s close to locking up the fourth outfielder’s job, but whatever playing time he ultimately gets figures to come on rare days off for one of the starters or at the expense of an injury the team wouldn’t want to see.
“All I can do is be ready for when that happens,” he said. “I’m going to be the best teammate and the best player I can be in the role that I’ve been given. But at the same time, you never know how this game works. I’m confident these guys are going to have great years, but you have to be ready still. I still have the mindset that I’m going to be an everyday player, but it’s not up to me.”
The man who does get to decide how much or how little Call plays is just glad to have him on his roster in the first place.
“He’s the kind of player that every day you see him, he grows on you every single day,” Martinez said. “We’ve got Alex Call: Here you go, do your thing. Be a pest. Work a 10-pitch at-bat. He’ll work a walk. He does all the little things you ask him to do.”