It's now up to Hassell, House to perform at Triple-A and force the issue

JUPITER, Fla. – It was never really a question whether Robert Hassell III and Brady House would make the Nationals’ Opening Day roster. That wasn’t going to happen, not without some combination of exceptional performance on their part and calamity to a big league regular to open up a spot in the lineup.

The real question all along was: How close are Hassell and House to being big league ready, and how soon could we see the Nats promote one or both to make his major league debut?

Team officials weren’t about to give a definitive answer to that question Wednesday after both prospects were sent to the minors. But read between the lines and you do get the sense both are in the team’s plans … sometime in 2025.

“Every year that I’ve seen them, they continue to grow on me. They continue to get better,” manager Davey Martinez said. “With that being said, they need to go down there and get off to a good start. It’s all about consistency with those guys. They’re young, and they’re still learning. … Those two guys will definitely be a part of our future, and they’re not that far away.”

Hassell looked more big league ready this spring than House, which is less a criticism of House and more a compliment of Hassell. The 23-year-old outfielder really did everything anyone could have asked of him over the last month. He batted .370 (17-for-46). He had six extra-base hits. He showed off legitimate opposite-field power. He made several exceptional plays in the outfield.

He might have been the best all-around player on the team, not as prodigious a hitter as James Wood or as patient at the plate as Alex Call or as spectacular in the field as Nasim Nunez, but good at all of those skills combined. Based purely on performance, there would be a case for him to start in center field over Jacob Young.

That’s not how this works, though. It’s not just about spring training performance, nor should it be. Young has already established himself as a Gold Glove-caliber center fielder in the majors and an elite base-stealing threat. Hassell still needs to prove he can hit at Triple-A, let alone the big leagues.

Keep in mind he played only 17 games with Rochester last season, going just 8-for-64 with at.345 OPS. He still needs to master the highest level of the minor leagues before earning the opportunity to play in the major leagues.

“He had a great spring,” Martinez said. “The thing was, he’s got to go down there and start getting four at-bats every day and get himself ready. Go out there and play, keep learning and keep developing. The biggest thing for us is health. He’s got to stay healthy. He stays healthy, he’s definitely going to be able to help us here one of these days, hopefully sooner than later.”

House actually has more Triple-A experience than Hassell despite being two years younger. The 21-year-old played 54 games for Rochester last season, batting .250 with a .655 OPS. He walked only seven times and struck out 68 times, a nearly 7-to-1 ratio that will not cut it in the big leagues.

House, though, seems to have made some real strides at the plate and this spring batted .333 (7-for-21) with four walks and four strikeouts. He still needs to find the power stroke that made him so coveted coming out of high school, but there’s plenty of time for that to develop.

The Nationals are most impressed with House’s development in the field, having fully made the transition from shortstop to third base.

“He’s come a long way since I’ve seen him,” Martinez said. “He’s bigger, he’s getting stronger. Just continue to develop, continue to work at-bats. Be in a position to hit every pitch hard. And don’t give in any at-bats. Again, he’s 21 years old and he’s already playing Triple-A. That’s pretty awesome.”

Paul DeJong is going to open the season as the Nationals’ third baseman, with either Amed Rosario or Jose Tena filling in when he’s not in the lineup. But none of those guys is a long-term solution. They are holding down the fort until House proves he’s ready.

Will that happen in May? July? September? It’s up to House to force the issue.

Same for Hassell. If both of these prospects keep performing the way they did all spring, they’ll be knocking on the door soon enough.

And the Nationals will be one step closer to completing the rebuild they began 3 1/2 years ago.