Hassell, Crews, Irvin all deliver in Nats' spring-opening win

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. – Robert Hassell III has been here before. One year ago, in his spring training debut, the Nationals prospect went 2-for-3 with a triple. Three days later, he homered. By the end of March, he sported a .357 batting average and 1.198 OPS.

So there was a comfort level for Hassell when he stepped to the plate with the bases loaded in the ninth inning of a tie game this afternoon. Sure, he was annoyed at striking out in his first at-bat back in the fifth and lining out his next time up in the eighth. Here, though, was another opportunity to make a statement.

And that’s just what Hassell did, driving a two-out, two-strike pitch from Astros reliever Joey Mancini off the left field wall for a three-run double, the decisive blow in the Nats’ 6-3 victory to open the Grapefruit League season.

“I think I’m more prepared, for sure,” he said when asked to compare this spring to the previous one. “I think last year, they were coming right at me, the pitchers were. It wasn’t too fast for me, but just like today, I was getting down in counts a little bit. But I’m definitely more comfortable just from being here, for sure.”

A year ago, Hassell wasn’t able to parlay a strong spring into a strong regular season. Hampered yet again by a persistent hand injury, he was limited to 85 games between Double-A Harrisburg and Triple-A Rochester. He batted just .241, slugged just .328, totaled just 16 extra-base hits in 362 plate appearances.

The good news: Hassell was finally healthy by season’s end. And when he closed out 2024 with a dynamite performance in the Arizona Fall League (seven doubles, four homers, 19 RBIs, an .877 OPS in 100 plate appearances), the table was set for a strong start to his 2025.

“It definitely feels good,” he said. “And it makes you realize how hard this game is anyway. Because when you’re playing hurt, even just a little bit, it can eat you alive. I definitely feel good being in one piece.”

As he labored through his minor league season, Hassell watched as both James Wood and Dylan Crews were promoted to the majors and took over the everyday jobs in left and right fields. At the same time, Jacob Young was establishing himself as a Gold Glove-caliber center fielder, leaving no obvious openings for him entering the new year.

Davey Martinez doesn’t want the 23-year-old thinking about any of that right now, though. All the manager wants Hassell to do is keep himself healthy, keep performing in the minor leagues the way the Nationals always believed he would when they acquired him in the Juan Soto blockbuster trade and put pressure on the organization to find him a job in D.C.

“Part of that package was Hassell, right? He was one of the guys,” Martinez said. “We thought this guy could help us in the big leagues. He’s been hurt. …

“I think he understands the position he’s going to put himself into if he’s healthy. The big thing now is to get off to a good start, stay healthy. He’s going to help us. He’s a good player.”

* Jake Irvin got the afternoon started with an exceptionally efficient bottom of the first that was completed in a mere eight pitches.

Irvin, who went to the bullpen to throw 19 more pitches after he was done just to make sure he got enough work in, retired the side with a pair of ground balls and a foul out to the catcher. He threw five of his eight pitches for strikes, including the one slider he threw in the game. That’s a new pitch he’s trying to add to an arsenal that also includes a fastball, curveball, changeup and cutter.

“I struggled a lot with getting in-zone swing and miss last year,” he said. “This is something that will kind of balance out the really slower curveball and the harder fastball. And then my cutter and changeup are both a little harder, too. I wanted something that’s in that middle ground there.”

* Crews led off the exhibition season with a leadoff strikeout in the top of the first, whiffing at a down-and-away slider from Astros starter Ryan Gusto. That was a recurring issue for the top prospect in his initial big league stint late last season.

Crews, though, bounced right back two innings later with a better approach against a similar pitch. With one out and Young on third base, he calmly reached out to poke another slider on the outside corner to center field for an RBI single, driving in the team’s first run of the spring.

“That’s beautiful,” Martinez said. “Hey, we had a chance to drive in a run there by moving the baseball. He stayed in the middle of the field, stayed on it. Very good at-bat. That’s what we’re talking about. The whole process was good. His thought was: ‘I’m not going to pull off, I’m going to try to stay in the middle of the field and drive in a run.’ It worked out.”

* Jarlin Susana wasn’t anywhere close to as efficient in his spring debut as Irvin was. The 20-year-old flamethrower did post a zero in the bottom of the sixth, but he needed 34 pitches to do it, only 20 of them strikes.

Susana, whose fastball topped out at 103 mph and bottomed out at 99 mph, issued two walks and allowed a single as well to load the bases. He did record a pair of strikeouts and, given the chance to escape the inning without any damage, pulled it off.

“We’ve got to get him ready for the season, so we’re not going to baby him,” Martinez said. “That’s why we left him out there for that many pitches, because we know he can throw that many. We’ve got to build him up and get him ready for the season.”