The Nationals may be ready to live with a few bad-looking decisions if the payoff is a better answer down the line.
That was the lesson on display Wednesday, when Washington let debuting left-hander Jackson Kent stay in the game long enough to face Pete Crow-Armstrong for a third time. By then, Kent had already walked five batters and seen his fastball dip into the low 90s.
Under the old version of the Nationals, the book said to get him out. This version chose the harder path.
Crow-Armstrong doubled down the line, the Cubs kept coming, and Kent eventually left to a mix of MVP chants and applause from the crowd. The Nationals lost 12-6, but they also got a look at how their rookie handled the fire.
“We want to challenge these guys,” manager Blake Butera said. “If he never gets a chance to experience that, it’s hard to make adjustments next time.”
Kent didn’t sound rattled by it. He called the outing a valuable first test and said he can build from it.
“I think it’s pretty cool (to get that challenge),” Kent said. “I probably had my ‘C’ stuff, but it ended up working out.
So I don’t need to change anything. It’s just getting better from here.”
That kind of approach fits where Washington is right now. Its postseason odds sit at 1.1 percent, which gives the club room to lean into development instead of treating every inning like a must-win emergency. If a rookie gets a taste of big-league pressure now, the Nationals can at least hope it helps later.
The same idea applies to their young bats. Harry Ford, Daylen Lile and Brady House have already benefited from plenty of platoon-advantage at-bats, but Washington may need to see more of them against same-sided pitching to figure out whether they can grow into everyday players.
“It just comes out to just believe in myself,” Ford said. “I believe I’m good.
I believe I belong. I believe I can go out there and hit whether it’s a righty or lefty, so I’m just trusting that and going out there and performing.”
And it doesn’t stop with the players already on the roster. The Nationals still have room to keep testing the edges of their system, even if the promotion and demotion decisions are more complicated than a simple call-up list.
Infielder Yohandy Morales is hitting .918 OPS at Triple-A Rochester and could fit at first base, third base or designated hitter. Seaver King has an .842 OPS at Triple-A and can handle second base and shortstop. Right-hander Luis Perales has also shown enough to merit a look, even with more polishing still to do in Rochester.
The bullpen could use the same kind of examination. Washington doesn’t have many optionable arms, but there are still intriguing names to consider, including right-handers Jack Sinclair and Kyle Nicolas and left-hander Erik Tolman.
None of this is automatic, though. The Nationals have built real value around their internal metrics, and those numbers have helped sharpen their process and produce better results than they’ve had in years. The lineup’s comfort has even helped them lead MLB in runs.
Still, there’s a case for stepping outside the model when the moment calls for it. Butera saw a version of that in Tampa Bay’s farm system, where patience was preached even though the stakes were different because the Rays were regularly chasing the postseason.
Washington may be heading toward a future where the gap between the veterans and the younger players is narrow enough that the club can keep taking these chances. That could make it harder for some of its more promising but imperfect hitters and pitchers to get reps in ideal situations. It could also make nights like Wednesday matter more than the final score suggests.
Kent’s start against one of the best offenses in MLB, and against the team he grew up rooting for, was proof of that. He walked five, struck out six and worked through visible command issues, but he also showed his stuff could survive at this level.
“It was OK that he walked five batters, because he struck out six, and twirled a bit on the mound as he did so,” the broader point seemed to be. The Nationals got information.
Kent got a lesson. And he was already eager for another shot.
“I want to get back out there already,” Kent said.
If more young Nationals respond that way, Washington may be right to keep throwing them into the fire.
In Other News...
Jackson Kent Just Gave The Nationals Rotation Something To Think About
Jackson Kents first turn in a Nationals uniform came with the kind of mixed bag that can still leave a staff noticing. The left-hander made his major league debut against the Cubs, working into the fifth inning while allowing three runs on three hits and five walks, and he also showed enough swing-and-miss to finish with six strikeouts. For a rotation looking for any sign of stability, that kind of debut matters, especially from a pitcher the club has been developing rather than shopping for outside help.
Kents arrival also fit into a larger picture for Washington, which keeps cycling through arms and trying to uncover who can stick. His promotion came after the club moved on from Miles Mikolas, and Kent became the 31st pitcher developed by the Nationals to start a game for them. There is still plenty for the staff to sort through, but a debut like this at least gives them a reason to keep watching closely. [Read more 🡒]
Nationals Depth Gets Tougher As Rochester Keeps Sending Players Up
Rochester has kept doing two jobs at once for the Nationals this season, winning games in the International League while also acting as the organizations most reliable source of reinforcements. The Red Wings have stayed competitive in the standings even as Washington has dipped into that roster for help, with Dylan Crews and Andrs Chaparro among the players who have moved up after appearing in Triple-A.
For the Nationals, that kind of pipeline is useful and unavoidable, but it also comes with a cost. Every promotion thins out the depth chart a little more, especially on the pitching side and among position players, and Rochester has had to keep reloading while still trying to hold its place in the league race. [Read more 🡒]
Jacob Young Is Becoming A Nationals Development Win Nobody Saw Coming
Jacob Youngs offense has become one of the more interesting developments in Washington this season, especially for a player whose value was once built almost entirely on speed and defense. The added power has been backed up by real changes in his underlying hitting profile, with improved launch angle and bat speed showing up alongside a better overall offensive feel. It is the kind of step forward the Nationals have been trying to manufacture throughout their rebuild, and in Youngs case it has come from a mix of coaching and a more refined approach at the plate.
The broader picture matters here, too, because not every young Nationals hitter has made the same kind of leap. The article points to offensive regressions from Nasim Nunez and Daylen Lile, a reminder that development is never linear and that the clubs hitting work has not solved everything at once. Still, Youngs progress suggests Washington may have found a player who is translating those lessons more cleanly than most, and the next question is how much more he can keep adding as the season goes on. [Read more 🡒]