Of the 10 players who made their MLB debuts with Washington in 2023 and tied the Nationals’ franchise record from the 2015 season, six were pitchers.
Coach Davey Martinez talked late last season about working with all the young players in the majors after Jackson Rutledge (2019 1st round pick), and eventually became a starter in the major leagues.
“We have some very young and talented players,” Martinez said. “Some we traded, some were in organizations we developed. [Rutledge] He’s one of our number one prospects and I’m really happy that they’re developing like this. It was a lot of fun. It was fun to bring them here. And, like I said, the ultimate goal for all of them is not just to get up here, but to get up here and stay there. That’s what we expect from them. I had a lot of fun with these guys, I really had a lot of fun. And I love teaching. So it’s going to be a lot of fun to bring young kids here again and teach them how to be pros and Major League Baseball players. ”
Nationals GM Mike Rizzo also spoke at the end of the regular season about Rutledge and other young pitchers forming the core of the rotation in the nation’s capital for the next few seasons.
“We’re excited about it [Josiah] Grey,” Rizzo said.[MacKenzie] Goa, [Jake] In the big leagues, you have Irvin, and Rutledge and Cole Henry, and [Jake] Bennett [since injured]and [Cade] Cavalli [recovering from Tommy John surgery] And this is a group of players who will all be in the big leagues in the near future. ”
When asked about the possibility of signing free agent pitchers or adding veterans this winter, Martinez talked about all of the young pitchers getting a second chance in 2024.Except for Patrick Corbin and Trevor Williams.) joins the mix along with all of the young starters.
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Photo by Brandon Sloter/Image Of Sport/Getty Images
Coach Martinez said, “I want to see young pitchers pitch.” “Some of them have been through a year, some have been through three-quarters of a year.
“I want to see what they can do from spring training.
“But I want to see them grow. I want to see them compete. A lot of them pitched a lot, so this for me is just to see how they bounce back from last year. It’s going to be an interesting spring training. We’ve had some players get injured before, but they got through last year. So this is going to be a big year.
“But yeah, we’ll always take a quality starter.”
