Washington Nationals news & notes: Andrés Chaparro hits three doubles in MLB debut…

Notes and quotes on the Nationals’ 25-year-old Andrés Chaparro making his MLB debut…

CHAPARRO’S TIME UP HERE:

“We traded for Dylan Floro at — what time was the deadline? 6:00 PM [EDT], so our was at 3:00 [MST], so at 2:57, 2:58, we hadn’t had the deal done,” Diamondbacks’ Executive Vice President & General Manager Mike Hazen told the Baseball Isn’t Boring podcast last week.

“So we go back and forth with the Nats over multiple players, we didn’t get a physical done — so that’s always, that’s never good.”

Without time for physicals, did whatever due diligence on Floro’s healthy they could, but it came down to trust. “You got to trust the Nats, and the Nats have to trust us.”

Moments before the deadline, Washington’s GM and President of Baseball Ops Mike Rizzo got the player he wanted and sent Floro to Arizona for 25-year-old Andrés Chaparro, who signed with the New York Yankees as a non-drafted free agent in 2015, and spent, “his first six professional seasons (2017-23) in the New York Yankees’ system,” before signing on with the Diamondbacks this winter and putting up a .332/.403/.564 line in 95 games in which he hit 26 doubles and 19 HRs for the Triple-A Reno Aces in the Pacific Coast League.

Would his power in the hitter-friendly PCL translate to Rochester, and eventually the majors if he got the opportunity?

“It’s a good question, but if you’ve seen him swing the bat, you can see this guy has got big-time power,” Rizzo told reporters once the deadline passed last month.

“We thought … the reward really outweighed the risk. He’s 25 years old, he’s got big pop and can drive in runs and has been a really good minor league player that we think with a few tweaks can translate into the big league level.”

Chaparro put up a .286/.419/.657 line, one double, four home runs, 10 RBIs, eight walks, and seven runs in 10 games for the Nationals’ top minor league affiliate, and got the call Tuesday afternoon for the series opener with the Baltimore Orioles in Oriole Park at Camden Yards.

“We got Chaparro with us, we got him from the Diamondbacks for Floro, he’s having a really good year,” manager Davey Martinez said before the first of two with the O’s.

“We wanted to give him a chance to get up here, get some at-bats, see what he can do.”

Though he spent the majority of games at third base in the minors (433), Martinez said he wanted to use him at first base (147), and DH, and let him get comfortable at one spot.

“Right now I just want to get him comfortable playing first and [DHing]. Like I said, the big thing he’s hitting the ball really well, so we want to get him some at-bats here.”

His MLB debut was a long time coming, and Chaparro made the most of it, going 3 for 4 in a 9-3 Nationals’ win over the Orioles, with all three hits doubles.

Martinez liked Chaparro’s swing.

“Short. He’s got a nice, short swing. He’s got a leg kick, but that foot gets down in time, and he’s got a nice, short swing to the ball.”

Chaparro hit a first-pitch changeup from lefty Trevor Rogers to center for an out the first time up, then lined an 0-2 fastball, up in the zone from the Orioles’ starter to left moving James Wood to third after a leadoff single. Both runners eventually scored.

He hit a first-pitch slider up in the zone from reliever Bryan Baker to left-center for a ground-rule double to lead off the sixth, scoring on an Ildemaro Vargas’ single, then doubled for the third time to drive Wood in after a leadoff double by Wood in the eighth.

“People think he’s fast, but he hit the ball in the gap,” Martinez joked after the win.

“But he had good at-bats all day. I loved it. He loves to play. You can see it in his eyes. It was a good day for him.”

Asked if there was any sign of nerves from Chaparro at any point, Martinez said, “No.”

“He was good. He was ready to play. I think his first at-bat he was a little bit anxious, then he kind of settled in and he waited for the ball a little bit better and then he put some good at-bats together.”

To see all the work in the minors, all those minor league at-bats, finally pay off?

“We talked to him a little bit and we talked to some of the Arizona guys — he learned a lot about who he is and what he can do. Like he doesn’t really try to pull the ball, he just stays on the ball and tries to use the whole field, and when he does that you can see his approach is really good. I watched him in BP, and I watched him just hitting line drives the other way. And then the last round, he was just cranking them, but really staying in the middle of the field. His at-bats were good today. If he can stay like that consistently, he’ll hit.”

“I’m not going to lie and say I’ve never dreamed of this day, and how it would go,” Chaparro told reporters, as quoted by MASN’s Mark Zuckerman.

“As well as it went today, I couldn’t have dreamt a better dream. Especially because I was able to contribute the way I did to help the team win.”