Wood and Hassell display great eyes against Alcantara

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. – The Automated Balls and Strikes system won’t be used in Major League Baseball during the regular season. But it’s getting a good look during spring training.

The Nationals don’t have access to the technology at the CACTI Park of the Palm Beaches. It’s only available at spring training stadiums that house full-season minor league teams. The Nats and Astros only have their Florida Complex League teams playing on the back fields of the complex.

But the Nats get a chance to test the system when they visit Roger Dean Chevrolet Stadium in Jupiter or Clover Park in Port St. Lucie. And it provided two interesting moments in yesterday’s 8-7 win over the Marlins.

A Nats lineup filled with regulars got to face former Cy Young Award winner Sandy Alcantara as he works his way back from October 2023 Tommy John surgery. Some for the very first time. The Miami right-hander was efficient over his 2 ⅔ innings, but his only mishaps came while using his ABS challenges.

Budding Nats stars James Wood and Robert Hassell III – both of the blockbuster Juan Soto trade in 2022 – displayed impressive eyes at the plate against one of the league’s best pitchers.

In the first inning, Wood (who also played the outfield for the first time since having right quad tendinitis and only had one ball hit to him) took a low 1-2 sinker for ball two. But Alcantara quickly tapped his head to initiate a challenge.

After review, the ball call was confirmed – by less than a half inch.

“Even if it caught the zone by that much, I would have still felt good about the take,” Wood said. “With guys like him, you really got to be picky, especially early in the count. And yeah, I think if it was a strike or ball, I felt good about the take.”

Wood finished the at-bat with a groundout to second, but the display at the plate was impressive enough.

Leading off the third inning, Hassell laid off a 1-1 changeup just below the zone, nearly the same spot Alcantara hit against Wood. The Marlins starter again tapped his head for a challenge and again was proven wrong as the ball call stood – also by less than a half inch.

Hassell won a seven-pitch battle to draw a walk off Alcantara, so that call proved crucial.

“It's really good. It's something that we really are focusing on this whole spring,” manager Davey Martinez said of his two young outfielders’ eyes at the plate. “We try to get the ball up against him. He's got a really good changeup, a really good slider. Just get the ball up. Let's stay on the fastball. And they did a really good job with that.”

Facing a former Cy Young Award winner is no match for these two impressive young players.

“I don't really think about that,” Wood said of stepping in against Alcantara. “I know he's got a good fastball and I know he's got a good change. And I saw the slider, too. All the stuff is really good. So you just gotta be really dialed in (to get) a good pitch to hit, because it's hard to hit 90 (mph) and his changeup when it's out of the zone.”