With confidence boost, Pinckney working on timing in first major league camp

The Nationals are used to having a trio of young, promising outfielders in spring training. James Wood, Dylan Crews and Robert Hassell III drew a lot of attention during their first camp together last year. And this year, they are back in the major league clubhouse at CACTI Park of the Palm Beaches, with Wood and Crews expected to make the Opening Day roster and Hassell due for his big league debut sometime this season.

But further down the row of lockers occupied by those now spring training regulars sits Andrew Pinckney, another young, promising outfielder getting his first taste of big league camp as a non-roster invitee and one of the Nats’ top prospects.

“I feel great. It's super cool,” Pinckney said. “You don't really expect to get the invite, you know? But I got it and I'm excited to be here. Just trying to see pitches well and trying to put my best swing on them. So yeah, I'm having a great time.”

Pinckney was a fourth-round pick in the 2023 MLB Draft, selected three rounds after Crews, who was drafted No. 2 overall. The two were rivals in the SEC as Pinckney’s Alabama Crimson Tide watched Crews’ LSU Tigers win the national championship just weeks before the draft.

Now the two are sharing a clubhouse in West Palm Beach. And Pinckney is working to get to where Crews has already established himself: the major leagues.

The 24-year-old is already on a good developmental pace to do so. After being drafted, his experienced college bat helped him rise through four different minor league levels in the following months. And during his first full professional season last year, he played 114 games at Double-A Harrisburg and earned a promotion to Triple-A Rochester in late August.

The mixed results were what you would expect from a young player adjusting to life as a professional ballplayer. His .258 average, .690 OPS and 27 stolen bases across both levels were positive signs. His 167 strikeouts (second-most in the Nats system behind only Elijah Green), 34 extra-base hits and .362 slugging percentage were not.

“My last year, being my first full season, it's kind of like a litmus test,” he said. “I got to see where I need to get better. What the good guys are doing that I'm not doing. And so just trying to be as observant as I can and be as self-critical as I can and be open to try new things. Getting better at the things that I'm not so good at and making my strengths even stronger. So just seeing what everybody else is doing and trying to better myself because of it.”

What did he observe when he looked back at his year during the offseason?

“I think I had a tough time just being more consistent and being on time,” he said. “So at the end of the day, timing is pretty much everything with hitting. So if I wasn't on time consistently, which I was kind of last year, it didn't lead to consistent results. Or at least a consistent plan at the plate. It all kind of starts with timing. So all offseason, I just worked on getting to the same spot every time, and then being able to take that into the game and sync that up with the pitcher, so that there's no room for guesswork there. It's just about getting a good pitch and hitting it.”

The Nats’ No. 26 prospect, per MLB Pipeline’s latest rankings, has used that offseason work to get off to a solid start this spring.

In 16 Grapefruit League games, Pinckney is 7-for-31 (.226) with one triple, one home run, four RBIs and a stolen base. His slugging percentage was up to .400, though he has struck out 12 times to just two walks.

Pinckney isn’t going to break camp with the Nationals, but the organization remains high on his potential. The 6-foot-4, 215-pound outfielder is one of the most athletic players in the system. While spending time in all three outfield spots, he has made some incredible defensive plays already this spring without committing an error.

The Nationals refer to Pinckney as “toolsy” because four of his five tools are rated above average, per MLB Pipeline scouts, and that’s evident on the field. The team uses that term as a compliment. Pinckney uses it as motivation.

“'Toolsy' is a funny word to me because I feel like that's kind of the cop out word for ‘not refined,’” he said with a laugh. “I think definitely the tools that kind of stand out, like when I hit the ball, it's usually hit pretty hard. And then on defense, I feel like I can help a team get a lot of outs, whether it's running and catching or throwing somebody out. So I like that part of my game. And obviously I'm working on everything else. The hit tool is probably the biggest one. But yeah, I mean, we got areas to work on everywhere and refine those tools and put together a pretty complete product.”

While he admits he has more development to do, Pinckney is also using this time in spring training to foresee himself on the same echelon as the established veterans and big names around him.

“I think the main thing is just understanding that everybody else – the big names or the small names or the veterans or whatever – they're pretty much all just people, right?” he said. “And it's no different. It's no different baseball. They're not doing anything crazy. They're just trying to throw strikes and hit strikes like I am, right? So just understanding that these people aren't aliens and freaks of nature. I'm right there with them. I can compete and I can get a hit. That's probably the biggest thing for me.”

Despite what he accomplishes on the field, that might be the biggest confidence boost for this young prospect trying to reach his full potential.

“Absolutely,” Pinckney said. “I mean, … we played the Mets and I hit a single to Juan Soto in right field. And so, when you look at the bigger picture there, that's crazy. You know what I mean? Like, that's Juan Soto. This guy's making a bajillion dollars. So just being able to understand like, alright, he's just a person. He had to field that ground ball just like I had to field that ground ball. He's trying to get hits just like I'm trying to get hits. So when you look at it with that perspective, it just kind of gives you that calming presence of like, alright, we're all people just trying to get hits.”