Sunday afternoon was my first opportunity to view the 2016 Washington Nationals and the team did not disappoint, defeating St. Louis 5-2. Because this was an early spring training road game, the Nationals did not send many of their veterans, allowing several youngsters and minor league free agents the rare opportunity at game action. Watching this game got my baseball mind racing with early musings on the Nationals.
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Several weeks ago the Nationals signed Burke Badenhop to a minor league contract with an invitation to spring training. Like many teams the Nationals have several veterans competing for a possible spot in spring training, so this signing slipped under my radar. However after further contemplation, I believe I have overlooked this acquisition, as Badenhop stands a solid chance of making the 25-man roster.
The 33-year-old Badenhop has been a consistent reliever the past several seasons, throwing 62+ innings seven seasons in a row with positive results. He does not generate many strikeouts, but has proven to be an asset against right-handed hitters, allowing only a career .645 OPS against in his career. Furthermore, he produces a strong ground ball percentage (career 54.4%) and allows few walks, only 2.69 per 9 innings. Of note, Badenhop lost some velocity on his sinker last season, sitting nearly 89mph most of the season. Any loss of velocity is concerning, especially for a mid-30s relief pitcher with 512 career major league innings.
Badenhop is a nice gamble for the Nationals and provides them with a possible valuable weapon against righties in the 6th and 7th innings. Considering the youth and inconsistency surrounding fellow righties Trevor Gott and Blake Treinen, Badenhop’s experience and reliability might be a quality addition to Washington’s bullpen. If he is healthy and can regain his lost velocity from 2015, the Nationals may have stumbled into a solid addition to their relief corps this season.
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Blake Treinen served as the Nationals starting pitcher on Sunday and held the Cardinals scoreless in his two innings. He is focused on improving his changeup to help combat left-handed hitters this spring and the early results were solid as he held all four lefties he faced hitless. Results aside, Treinen struggled with his fastball command, his feel for his slider was poor, and there were several well-struck balls off him. However, those issues are easily explainable due to it being early March and should resolve themselves as opening day approaches. On the other hand, Treinen showed confidence throwing his changeup and induced two swings-and-misses with the offering.
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The team seems to be using Treinen as a starter this spring, perhaps in an effort to help him improve his off-speed pitches. Perhaps the Nationals believe with an improved changeup Treinen profiles better in the starting rotation. Considering the number of options the Nationals have in middle relief, the team might be wise to have Treinen begin 2016 in the minors to guarantee him innings.
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Late last week Wilson Ramos underwent LASIK eye surgery, after a spring physical showed an abnormality with his eyesight. All (poor) jokes aside, there were several times last season when I questioned Ramos’ vision, as he often swung over fastballs in the strike zone and struggled receiving throws from the outfield.
My major musing on this subject is that this procedure has to benefit Ramos and his production this season, either because his eyesight is indeed better, or, like a placebo, he thinks his vision has improved. In addition, Ramos had plenty of bad luck offensively in 2015. If he can avoid the disabled list, I feel rather confident in a rebound season for Ramos this final season as he enters free agency.
Scouting Numbers
During Trea Turner’s first at-bat Sunday, I timed him at 4.03 seconds home to first in beating out a routine ground ball to second base. Surprisingly the official scorer ruled the play an error, as his speed allowed him to simply beat the throw. Perhaps even more impressively, in the next at-bat Turner posted a 4.14 second time home to first on a near lineout in which he flinched out of the batter’s box, thinking the infielder caught the ball on the fly. He has elite speed and will collect plenty of infield hits this season on otherwise routine ground outs.
In the 3rd inning catcher Jose Lobaton showed his defensive ability, posting a 2.06 pop time to second base. Lobaton handled a low pitch and fired a strike to second base, gunning out the opposing runner by multiple steps.