In late August, reflecting on the season as a whole, Washington Nationals GM and Director of Baseball Operations Mike Rizzo told Audacity’s Sports Junkies that the continued growth of the club’s pitchers has led to the Washington Nationals’ He said this is one of the biggest positives for the 2024 season.
“You could see a scenario where you get four major league starters in the same season, but that doesn’t happen very often,” Rizzo said of Mackenzie Gore (25), Jake Irvin (27) and Mitchell. He spoke, citing. Parker (24) and DJ Hurts (23) have been on the mound all summer (or close to it) in the Major League rotation. “I think that’s the biggest pro for me. Whether it’s at the major league level, the upper minor league level, the lower minor league level, our pitching has never been better, it’s never been more blossoming. Ta.
“We’ve never had as much depth as we do now.”
“We’re in a good position with our young starters and the players coming in,” coach Davey Martinez said of the state of the organization in the final weekend of the regular season.
“With Cade [Cavalli] I hope you stay healthy in spring training next year. [after Tommy John surgery in 2023).
“We had this guy [Brad] Lord, you did a really good job. [Travis] Sykora, as you know, pitched very well. [Jarlin] Susanna is growing really well. We’re really excited about our starting pitcher. ”
As Rizzo told Junkies, it’s not just his pitching that he’s excited about, but his talent on the field is also growing along with his organizational skills.
“If you add [James] wood and [the Nationals’ top prospect Dylan] Crew — Five, six and seven players are being considered for the team’s core group in the near future. ”
Rizzo was speaking to Junkies about the pros and cons of fielding a young team, which the Nationals did late in the game, and in one of his responses he said the hard part is getting prospects to learn the game in the majors. admitted that there is.
“The downside is growing pains,” Rizzo told Junkies. “All these young players don’t grow and blossom at the same time, so there are bumps in the road.
“Like I said, development is not linear, there are bumps in the road and you have to live and die through the season…
“The inconsistency and sometimes the lack of fundamentals is definitely the biggest flaw I’ve seen all season and it’s something we have to work on.”
In order to take the next step and compete again, will the Nationals’ front office supplement key players with free agency or trade acquisitions this offseason?
“I say this all the time,” Martinez said the final weekend of the season. “At the end of the year, we have so many conversations. For me, that’s something. [Rizzo] and [Nats’] determining ownership. Yeah, we’d like to get some veteran players, but give us 26 players and we’ll do our best. I told the coaching staff every day, “No matter what, we’ve got to make these guys play hard every day,” and we did that.
“But I will say this: I believe we are really close, we really are, and there were some pieces that were going to be really good.
“Like I said, I think a lot of them have the potential to be All-Stars in the future, so I’m really looking forward to it.”
And when he says he thinks they’re close, where does his mind go to justify that thought?
“It’s about watching them grow,” Martinez said. “We talked about where that power comes from. I think some of these guys will eventually develop it. Once again, you met James. [Wood] At a crucial moment, he hit the ball into the left field seats and hit a home run. I think we’ll see more of him when he gets a little older. I think it’s my right fielder. [Crews] I’m going to drive the ball, catcher. [Keibert Ruiz] We’re going to drive the ball. acquired a shortstop [CJ Abrams] He’s back, and as you can see, he did really well. [first] half. I think it’s only a matter of time before he puts it all together throughout the year. So it works. Now, if they decide we need a few more bats in our lineup, that would be great. So let’s take a look. ”
