Nats instructional league wrap-up: catchers and an outfielder

Here is a list of the catchers who attended Nats instructional league: Adalberto Carrillo, Tyler Cropley, Geraldi Diaz, Alex Dunlap, Alejandro Flores, Israel Pineda, Wilmer Perez, Jakson Reetz and Onix Vega.

Reetz played 69 games for high Single-A Potomac this past season, hitting .224 with a .324 on-base percentage. He smacked eight doubles and five homers with 27 RBIs.

Cropley, an eighth-round selection out of Iowa, split time between the Rookie-level Gulf Coast League and short-season Single-A Auburn for a total of 14 games. He hit a combined .310 and had a .453 on-base percentage.

Nationals hitting coordinator Troy Gingrich updated us on Dunlap, Diaz, Vega and Perez:

"We actually have quite a few young ones," said Gingrich. "Dunlap played at Hagerstown and filled in at Triple-A for a week. He had a nice season. His catching is coming along. He has a very simple swing. Showed some power here and there. Going to be fun to watch him next year.

"Vega and Perez can hit a little bit. They are working on catching. Then a young kid from the Dominican Summer League, Geraldi Diaz, first time coming over to the states. He is a young kid that, hopefully, comes over and plays Gulf Coast League for us. He had a nice year last year in the Dominican Summer League."

Gingrich said that Arizona State outfielder Gage Canning was recovering from a late-season injury while attending the instructional league workouts. Canning hit .223 with a .294 on-base percentage for low Single-A Hagerstown. He hit .315 with a .373 on-base percentage at short-season Single-A Auburn.

"It was fun getting to know him," Gingrich said. "Unfortunately, he hurt himself too when he dove for a ball in Hagerstown at the end of the year. So he really didn't do too much. At the end of instructs, the last two weeks, he started swinging the bat again with me and our rehab guy there. He did a lot of baserunning, defensive stuff, but didn't do a lot offensively.

"Short swing, has a little pull-side power. So it'd be fun to just kind of talk to him during the offseason and see how everything's progressing."