Federal Baseball

It did not take long for the Nats to agree on a deal with 11th overall pick Chris Hacopian. The Nats signed the former Texas A&M and Maryland star to a $5.7 million deal. This is notable because it is about $430,000 under the $6.13 million slot value of the 11th pick. Those savings will be important, especially for the Nats to sign their third and fourth round picks. High schoolers Luke Williams and Cooper Harris are likely to take over slot deals to buy them out of their college commitments.

While CJ Abrams, James Wood and the rest of the National League hitters could not get anything going last night, we did get to see Foster Griffin at his best. The Nats southpaw threw a 1-2-3 inning with two strikeouts to continue his magical season. Baseball fans got a taste of what Nats fans have seen all year long out of the lefty. Griffin came in for the 5th inning, and made quick work of three of the AL’s most underrated hitters.

In a season full of great stories on the offensive side of the ball, the emergence of Curtis Mead has been one of the best ones. The Nats traded a 6th round senior sign for Mead, who had just been DFA’d by the White Sox. It has proven to be a great deal, as Mead has 17 homers and has been arguably the most clutch hitter on the team. The Curtis Mead story is a good example of how a second chance and a change of scenery can benefit a player’s career.

James Wood has been fantastic all season, but so far in July he is hitting at a level that should be impossible. After a slow month of June by his lofty standards, Wood has hit the after burners in the lead up to the All-Star Break. In 10 games, Wood is hitting .441 with a 1.788 OPS, which is hard to do on easy mode in a video game. The numbers keep getting crazier as you go through them. Wood has homered in 7 of the 10 games this month while pitchers have been trying to pitch around him.

Paul Toboni and his front office have officially completed their first draft class for the Washington Nationals, and while it will be years before we know if it was truly successful or not, my initial reaction is that they did a fantastic job of accumulating both talent and depth in the class. Let’s take a look at the class as a whole, and what each prospect is bringing to the table for the Nats. Round One: 2B Chris Hacopian Texas A&M Starting with the big fish, Hacopian can flat-out hit.

If you told me at the beginning of the season that the Nationals would be 48-49 at the All-Star break, I would have been thrilled. Don’t get it twisted, this has been a successful first half given the expectations. There have been so many standout performers in the lineup and even in the rotation. However, it could have been so much better with a real bullpen. This Nationals bullpen has just been the ultimate vibe killer this season.

After back to back bullpen meltdowns, the Nats look to get off the mat yet again and try to avoid the sweep. Staying above .500 going into the All-Star Break feels big for the morale of this team. On paper, this pitching matchup should be favorable as well. The Nats are going with a lefty heavy lineup against righty Will Warren who historically has lefty issues. Dylan Crews is the only true righty in the lineup. Abimelec Ortiz will be making his MLB debut and hitting third.

The first piece of the MacKenzie Gore trade is coming to the show. Abimelec Ortiz is getting called up, and will be hitting third today against the Yankees. As the Nats look to add some lefty thump against right hander Will Warren, they turned to Ortiz who was already on the 40-man. It would not be overly shocking if Ortiz were sent down after this game honestly.

After taking two fairly safe college bats, Paul Toboni and the Nats took a swing for the fences in the third round. Luke Williams is arguably the freakiest athlete in the entire draft. The Pennsylvania high schooler has plus-plus speed and arm strength. However, he is still a bit rough around the edges, but at 18 he has plenty of time to iron things out. Despite not being the biggest guy at 6 foot 180 pounds, Williams has elite bat speed and potentially above average power.

With the second pick of the Paul Toboni era, the Nats took another college bat in Chase Brunson. The TCU star is another well rounded hitter who has a nice blend of hitting ability and power. It is not to the same level as Hacopian, but Brunson is a good athlete who could play a solid center field or a very good corner. As we get deeper in this draft, we are learning more about this new regime’s draft philosophy. Clearly they value college bats who can make contact while also having solid power.