Washington Nationals news & notes: Mike Rizzo on player development; coaching; and a winning culture…

At the end of the Nationals’ 55-107 finish in 2022, Washington GM Mike Rizzo said his manager Davey Martinez and the club’s coaching staff continued to build on the team-initiated reboot. We talked about how we evaluated the work we did on occasion. At the 2021 trading deadline.

“I think he’s doing a good job,” Rizzo said during the final weekend of the ’22 season.

“I think we’ve seen what they’ve done with some of our young players. I think we’re going to see progress with some of our young guys. [Luis] with Garcia [CJ] Abrams, Keevert [Ruiz] I think we saw a lot of progress from our pitchers before he got hurt. In particular, our bullpen took some unproven pitchers, some pitchers who were dumped by other organizations, and really made them succeed. I think we’re looking at big-league talent we can count on, and teams that play hard for 27 outs. Sometimes it’s not pretty, but the effort is there and I think it’s all down to the coaching staff and Davey.

As for how Martinez and his staff evaluated the work done to develop all of the young talent the organization had amassed so far, Rizzo said it was pretty straightforward.

Photo by John McDonnell/Washington Post via Getty Images

“For me, you value how managers treat teams and organizations,” the GM said. “I think he was the same guy from when we won the world championship to when we lost over 100 games this year.”

No one at DC wants to go through a 100-loss season again anytime soon.

When the club resumed work in West Palm Beach, Fla., this spring, Rizzo once again spoke about why he thought Martinez was right for the job of returning the Nationals to true contenders.

“Davie is the manager of the world championships,” Lizzo told reporters.

“He’s been through a rebuild and he’s got a championship-winning veteran team. He’s been through a rebuild. I think he’s doing a great job. I don’t see any questions about things, he’ll just pretend to be him and do what he does and this is a group of seasoned coaches and they work very hard. It’s a driven business and I think you’ll see how the players play — I think we saw extra work put into Abrams and Garcia last year for the final months of the season. There is a combination in the middle of the infield and now [Jake] Als and Lane Thomas are swapping positions in the corners off center field, so I think that puts extra work on them. “

Of course, there is still much work to be done and the young club needs guidance to establish itself at the big league level.

“A good group of young pitchers will come here and compete to stay and pitch in the big leagues,” Rizzo continued. I am looking for a coach to coach the players as they are good young arms. They work very hard, communicate well and improve step by step. “

Going forward, how will Rizzo judge the work that the skipper and staff of the Knots are doing to develop the talent the club has amassed?

“The barometer is to be judged by wins and losses,” he explained. “This is all about it, so that will be my barometer. I want to win. need to play better and we want them to improve.I think the competitive factors we put into spring training will be key. We’ll see what the rebuilding team does to get better.

“Do your history. I was able to see how well we were doing and see how we could stay well for a long time. And that’s what we’re seeing this year.”

The starting rotation could include young pitchers like Josiah Gray (25), Mackenzie Gore (24) and Cade Cavalli (24) alongside veterans Patrick Corbin (33) and Trevor Williams (30). It is highly sexual, and Lizzo said there was a response. A young arm the club assembled for the run that began in 2012.

“They’re young enough, they’re talented enough. Now they need a big-league-level rep to improve,” he said of the pitcher’s young core. I went through the same thing with Zimmerman and Steven Strasberg, two guys who were drafted and grew up locally, then to take the next step and get to a point where I was consistently ready to win You can mix and match with

What he wants to see in the development of pitchers and position players is consistency.

“Get into consistency and routine, get into consistent routine,” he said. “Availability is a great tool. I would love to see them play every day and have 155-162 games under their belt. I have [to have] Middle of the infield consistently available. Back to the playoff team we had. It’s no coincidence that Ian Desmond never left the game, and Trea Turner never left the game. [he] Played half a season with a broken finger. These players — for managers who know your shortstop, second baseman, core players play every day, the value they carry is invaluable, and that’s the next step in their progress. I think. An everyday player in the big leagues. “

One thing that doesn’t need rebuilding, rebooting, resetting, etc. is the culture of the nation’s capital.

“We still have the same culture that we had in ’19,” said Rizzo. “This is a winning culture. ¹⁄₂ For years we have taken a winning stance here. We are a bright and positive group. The players know what they’re getting from me every day, they know what they’re getting from Davey every day. I think that’s important. The name of the locker has changed, but the culture is the same. I think it will be clear as we get closer to our goal of winning the championship again. “

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