October baseball is here in two different forms for the Nationals organization: the Arizona Fall League is getting started, and a new prospect camp is about to open in West Palm Beach.
The Fall League is a familiar October stop for young players, but this year brings a different wrinkle for Washington. Next Saturday marks the start of “Strength Camp” at West Palm Beach for selected lower minor league top prospects, and it will run for six weeks.
According to the source, the early part of the camp will center on workouts and strength training, while the last two weeks will shift to work on the field. A source says the camp begins on October 10 and is part of Paul Toboni’s player development group at the West Palm Beach facility.
That makes this something new for the Nats, who would traditionally be bringing prospects in for Fall Instructs. This version is more specialized and is scheduled to wrap up right before Thanksgiving.
The camp is meant to give players an early start on their offseason routines, along with time spent on their individualized Powerpoints.
Meanwhile, MLB Pipeline has released its final Top-100 prospect list of the year, and the Nationals landed four players on it. But two names missing from that list stand out: Devin Fitz-Gerald and Ronny Cruz.
Fitz-Gerald’s omission is especially notable after the finish he put together at Double-A. He started the year at High-A Wilmington and posted a .903 OPS there, then took off after the All-Star break by hitting .296 with an .859 OPS.
His Double-A line was split sharply in two: he hit just .159 with a .436 OPS in his first 27 games at that level before finding another gear later on. Fitz-Gerald is a younger 21-year-old, with an August birthday, and the age gap matters here.
He is 3.6 years younger than the average Double-A player.
Cruz also had a strong case. He crushed Single-A Fredericksburg with a 1.088 OPS, earned a promotion to High-A, and then ran into the kind of adjustment period many right-handed hitters face there.
Even so, he closed with a 1.034 OPS in his final nine games for Wilmington. Overall, his time there was uneven, but he was only 19 for most of the season and turned 20 at the end of August.
He is 3.0 years younger than the average High-A player.
The age context matters for both players. Fitz-Gerald was, until Eli Willits arrived in Harrisburg at the end of the season, the youngest player on the roster by two years. The source also notes that Nationals affiliates tend to play in lower-altitude cities than many prospects out west, and that Harrisburg looked more hitter-friendly this year because of the quality of players.
As for the Arizona Fall League itself, the six-team circuit opens with all six clubs in action. Each team represents five MLB organizations, though there is some crossover this year because a few teams did not send enough players. The Nationals are part of the Salt River Rafters with the Diamondbacks, Rockies, Twins and Yankees, and the club is managed by Ted Tom, who also manages High-A Wilmington.
Washington is sending one Top-30 prospect to the AFL: pitcher Jarlin Susana. He will be joined by left-handers Noah Dean and Nolan Hughes, right-handers Owen Puk and R.J.
Sales, outfielders Teo Banks and Jorgelys Mota, and catcher Kevin Bazzell. The original list appears to have grown by two more Nationals.
With the Nats out of the postseason, there will still be plenty of prospects to track into November. Play ball!
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