Dylan Crews’ return from the 60-day injury roster tonight was a major development for the Nationals, and his performance over the next six weeks was one of the team’s most important storylines, an incredibly frustrating season.
But in some ways, the other side of today's crew returns has the same plot. Someone has to be removed from NAT's active roster, and the deal might say a lot about the performance and future expectations of a group of players who will be affected by that decision.
We have known for several years that the Nationals will eventually face difficulties in the outfield, with a more promising prospect than available positions. They managed to insist on making any major decisions there due to injuries to the crew's leaning, which kept him in nearly three months.
But it's time to decide which three young outfielders will get most of the game for the rest of the season. Or maybe these four young outfielders will allocate time between three positions. Or maybe, if the Nath will try to find a way to turn all five at the same time.
We know so much: James Wood will continue to play every day. Aside from occasional rest days, the 22-year-old Slugger will play as many of the rosters as possible in the roster, whether in the left field or sometimes as a designated batsman.
Suppose the staff will be playing every day, if not every day, close to everything left. The 23-year-old still has only 76 major league experience. Despite his offensive performance to date (with .629 OPS in 305 sets), he remains an important part of the Nationals’ long-term plan, which is expected to continue to develop into an all-around star who contributes on the plate, on the court and on the base.
So, what did Jacob Young, Daylen Lile and Robert Hassell III become?
Young has 274 games and 934 sets in the past three seasons, making it the biggest major league experience for the trio. And he is still an elite defensive center fielder and should be the finalist of the Golden Gloves Award again this year. But his already limited offensive game has been reduced, with a base rate of 0.292 and a hit rate of .263. He succeeded in only 22 stolen base attempts.
There is a case to make the young man the fourth outfielder, he uses him occasionally as a starter against lefty, a late defensive replacement and pinch. There is also a case where the 26-year-old Triple-A Rochester is the lowest-productive batsman in the current outfield mix.
Lile has been sent to Triple-A earlier this summer after a rough opening mission at DC, but the 22-year-old has taken off since returning in June. He hit .339 with seven additional hits in his last 17 games in the game winning at Kansas City on Wednesday. After the game, interim manager Miguel Cairo roughly borrowed Lile, calling him the team's most progressive player.
Cons: Lile's defense in the right area is surprisingly poor. He often struggles to bend the ball around the corner, or chases shallow balls, and his 13 defense runs very efficiently and will surpass the average six times.
Hassell had fewer chances to play, struggling with a .497 operation in his first game and involved a 21-1 strikeout ratio. But the 24-year-old outfielder scored better in his second game on Friday, hitting .346 (9-26 for 26, a quad-double, a home run and five RBIs). He looked comfortable over the past two days, robbed home runs on the wall and went into diving on the sinking lining.
Does Lile and Hassell have room for left-handed bats? Or can the organization be better served, sending one of them back to Rochester for more stable game time?
In some cases, the Nationals could keep all five outfielders at the expense of Jose Tena, who has barely played (four games, eight games) as he was recalled 2 1/2 weeks after the Amed Rosario trade. Paul Dejong has supported three infield positions. TENA is really only used as insurance in case something happens to another infielder.
But it's already a challenge for Cairo to find enough bats for four young outfielders. How will he do five?
After several months, we finally got the answer later today.