Rejuvenated Hassell once again out to prove he’s ready for the big leagues

The past six months must have felt like déjà vu for Robert Hassell III.

After his regular season was hampered by injury, he reported to the Arizona Fall League. Then he reported to West Palm Beach in February looking to prove he’s healthy and still a top prospect in the Nationals farm system.

Unfortunately, that has been a repeating cycle for the 23-year-old outfielder ever since he came over as one of the five prospects returned to the Nats in the 2022 blockbuster Juan Soto trade with the Padres.

So here he is once again: Back at Nationals spring training, trying to show he’s healthy, trying to prove his worth.

But before we get to what Hassell is doing this year, let’s go back to last spring training.

The young outfielder had a strong start to major league camp, which was a good sign because he was coming off a solid AFL season in 2023. But then a groin injury limited him to 12 Grapefruit League games. He wasn’t expected to make the 2024 Opening Day roster, but still. Another opportunity lost due to injury.

Then he started hot out the gate at Double-A Harrisburg, all signs pointing to a breakout season. But then he landed on the injured list in June with another issue with his right hand/wrist area, originally stemming from the broken hamate bone he suffered early in the 2022 AFL season. He didn’t return to game action until early August and finally earned a promotion to Triple-A Rochester before the minor league season ended.

With just 85 games and 362 plate appearances across three minor league levels, Hassell was once again on his way to Arizona to get more playing time before the offseason.

In his short stint in Triple-A, Hassell struggled to a .125 average and .345 OPS while collecting only eight hits (two doubles), three RBIs, three stolen bases and five walks to 17 strikeouts. Some of that was a byproduct of inexperience and some his injury. They actually may go hand-in-hand.

But Hassell tore up the AFL this past fall, slashing .281/.360/.517 with an .877 OPS, seven doubles, one triple, four home runs, 19 RBIs, five stolen bases and eight walks while helping the Salt River Rafters win the championship.

“It was good,” Hassell said earlier in spring training of his third time playing in the AFL. “Just personally, we won the whole thing. That was the goal. I think we definitely had the team to do that. But personally, especially coming off the (injury) and then Triple-A, where I felt like I should have been killing that league and I wasn't, it was good for me to come in and see OPS and stuff was up. I was getting doubles, I was hitting some homers. I was doing everything. Playing defense, staying healthy. Just the whole thing. So I was glad that that was the end of my season, instead of what I did in Triple-A. Again, like last year, it definitely rolled some momentum over into spring training for me.”

That momentum has rolled into another hot start in Grapefruit League action for Hassell. In 14 games this spring, he is slashing .400/.447/.600 with a 1.047 OPS, four doubles, one homer, five RBIs, two stolen bases and three walks to six strikeouts.

Of the guys who aren’t projected to make the Opening Day roster, Hassell has been the standout.

“Sometimes it's not as much as you got to get back into it swing-wise and mechanical-wise and all that. Sometimes it really just is missing competing every day,” Hassell said of missing the competitive part while sidelined with an injury. “Even when I was down, hurt I guess, I was still around every day, and I would try to put myself in the game and compete as much as I could, even though I couldn't play. But it's tough. It definitely is tough. But getting back into things and feeling healthy, I'm like, man, I don't want to ever be hurt again. Just because competing – it's easy to wake up every day knowing that I can compete with another team, or whatever it is.”

What has been the difference on the field from last year to this year? Not a whole lot, per the outfielder. But he has taken to heart some advice from Nationals hitting coach Darnell Coles, assistant hitting coach Chris Johnson and shortstop CJ Abrams, who also came to Washington in the Soto deal.

“Just one little swing up, keep my hands inside the ball and swing up the white line,” said Hassell. “There's that white line in the batter's box. Just swinging up the white line. I haven't done too much else with it. I've tried to keep it simple.

“But that to me, I saw CJ come in last year and he was swinging up. He was like, 'Hass, I'm telling you, this is it, man.' And then he went on to have an All-Star year, and I'm like, there's no coincidence there. So just taking that little bit of info, that's what's helped me the most and that's what I've been focusing on every day. Like I said, I'm not trying to make it any more than that. I think that's really helped me so far. I think it's gonna help me pull the ball in the air, get the ball in the air more. So I'm just gonna nail that out. And it's been the biggest thing.

“I feel like the idea for me is just to swing as if the ball is going to be on the inside corner, so I can cover everything. And once again, I think that not only has that helped mechanically, but I think confidence-wise, it's definitely given me some. Because I know it's going to work.”

The fact Hassell is back in camp with this much confidence is impressive in and of itself. Many young players would lose motivation to keep playing with an injury history like Hassell’s. The frustration builds and boils over.

For Hassell, the injuries have only rejuvenated his love for the game.
“I know some guys, it's tough for them to even have one bad week. And that used to be me, because I just wasn't used to it, to struggling,” he explained. “But struggling for a year or two years, it could have gone one of two ways. And I feel like definitely, for me, my love for the game has gone up tremendously and I've cared more than I ever have. I'm more intentional about everything. I feel like I'm more of a pro than I've ever been.

“But yeah, definitely could have gone two ways. And I've loved the game even more, and that makes me realize – my pops, I talk to my dad a lot, he said there are parts of just growing up that you might not even know what that is until you face adversity. That was a step that I needed, honestly, was to struggle to make me realize, look, this is what I'm supposed to be doing, and I do love this game.”

Although placed on the 40-man roster over the offseason to protect him from the Rule 5 Draft, there doesn’t seem to be a spot for Hassell on this year’s Opening Day roster. Just playing well at Triple-A and possibly making his major league debut sometime this summer would be good progress.

But his strong spring has maybe forced the issue as we get closer to Opening Day, much like Trey Lipscomb last year. And with Alex Call, the presumed fourth outfielder, departing yesterday afternoon’s game in the second inning with back spasms, a spot may have opened.

If healthy – which is still a major key with him – Hassell believes this is his year to break out. Shake off the “Forgotten Prospect” label and burst onto the scene.

“Yeah, I do. I do,” he said with confidence burning in his eyes. ‘I've been taking care of my body as much as I can. I've been really, really on the injury-prevention side of it, just because I don't have any doubt about me as a player if I am healthy. And that's another part of growing up. Just making sure I'm in the tubs every day, warming up my wrist, anything I can. Just listen to my body. I've done that this year more than I have ever.”