Catcher Jakson Reetz learns to strengthen swing following left wrist injury

Catcher Jakson Reetz hurt his left wrist during the season, so when he arrived at instructional league in October, the staff had him work on his swing in a unique way.

Reetz was able to play 36 games for short-season Single-A Auburn before being shut down. His last game of the season was Aug. 13.

But Reetz, the third-round selection from 2014, was still invited to instructional league in Viera, Fla. Nationals hitting coordinator Troy Gingrich and the club's coaching staff worked with Reetz at the team's facility.

"He hurt his wrist towards the end of Auburn," Gingrich said. "He wasn't able to swing. But he was down at instructs. We got to work stuff with his top hand. It's his bottom hand that is hurt. He's such an intense, strong individual, really works hard and tries hard at everything."

Gingrich said that the 19-year-old Reetz was able to focus on what his top hand was doing during the swing.

"Actually, with his bottom hand hurt, (it) allowed him to finally feel his top hand," Gingrich said. "It helped how he got to position because he would always come up out of his legs when he would swing. The biggest thing we are trying to do is to get him in position and keep him in his legs when he swings.

"He would kind of swing a little bit uphill. So when you swing uphill, you come up out of your legs and your bottom hand takes over. Well, just having him work on his top hand kind of helped him get the feeling of how he stays in his legs throughout his swing."

Gingrich said Reetz kept in contact with him during November to give him an update on how he was doing as he returned to baseball-related activities in his home state of Nebraska.

"Now that he has gone back home, he's been cleared to start swinging," Gingrich said. "He sent me some video of stuff and it looks a lot better on video. He's right on line with his age and where he progresses. He just needs at-bats in games to keep climbing. He's going to work his butt off to get to the big leagues."

Gingrich said the scouting department deserves another hat tip for finding high school talent that could someday grow into a major league prospect for the Nationals.

"Our last three years of high school drafts, I couldn't really be more excited about the kids we got early with Drew Ward, Jakson Reetz and Blake Perkins," he said.