Notes and quotes from West Palm Beach, FL…
CREWS ARRIVES IN WEST PALM:
Davey Martinez’s advice for Dylan Crews going into his first big league Spring Training was simple.
“Be a sponge, learn as much as he can,” the manager said.
“We’re excited to have him. It was good to see him today. He looks good.”
Crews, who’ll turn 22 on the 26th of this month, arrived in West Palm Beach, FL on Sunday.
“He’s going to get an opportunity to go out there and play a little bit in Spring Training,” the skipper said.
“But I want him to go out there and just fit in, be with the guys and learn as much as he possibly can. He’s going to help us. I don’t know when. It could be sooner than later.
“But he’s definitely going to help us, and help us win a lot of games here.”
Crews told reporters he felt like he fit in already.
“Super excited, super excited, ready to get going here,” Crews told reporters, as quoted by MLB.com’s Jessica Camerato on Sunday:
“I feel like I belong in this locker room right now. [I am] ready to get going with these guys and get acclimated with them.”
The No. 2 overall pick in the 2023 Draft, the No. 1 prospect in the Nationals’ system, and the No. 6 overall prospect in baseball, according to Baseball America, worked his way up to AA in his first taste of pro ball last year, with a combined .292/.377/.467 line, nine doubles, and five home runs in three stops on the way up.
everyone say gm, dylan@__dc4__ pic.twitter.com/9UconORdT5
— Washington Nationals (@Nationals) February 18, 2024
GM Mike Rizzo was asked this winter what he learned about Crews he didn’t know before he was part of the organization.
“Not much that we didn’t know,” he said.
“But the stuff that we did know, he kind of reinforced. He’s big on being where his feet are, that’s his big line. I think you saw that through his progression through the minor leagues and that type of thing, and to play the grueling, stressful season that he did, and have the success he did in college and then to come to the pro game and grind out those last couple months, I think that was important for him to finish that season in Double-A.”
Martinez said on Sunday he’s learned plenty about Crews in the short period of time he’s been part of things.
“The thing about him that I’ve learned in a short period of time, he understands who he is,” Martinez said.
“He knows where he’s at, and he knows what he needs to do. He’s quiet, but yet he has a sense of leadership and you can see that.
“I watched all his college games, and what he’s done, he’s got a great idea of what he wants to do.
“I’m excited. I’m excited to watch him work, see him in the outfield, see him hitting…”
BULLPEN DEPTH:
Davey Martinez leaned on Kyle Finnegan and Hunter Harvey (when healthy) for 67 and 57 appearances, respectively, in 2023, with Finnegan throwing 69 1⁄3 IP and Harvey 60 2⁄3 IP overall.
The innings totals were career highs for both, and they both set career highs in saves with Finnegan finishing off 28 and Harvey, who’d never saved a game in the majors before last season, saving 10 total.
By the end of the year, both relievers were wiped out.
“They’re on fumes,” manager Davey Martinez acknowledged over the final weekend of the regular season.
“They both pitched some big innings for us. They did really well. Finnegan, a career high for him in saves, and he did a great job closing it out there for us. Much-needed rest for him this winter, for sure. I joked with Harvey, and said, ‘You’re going to go to winter ball,’ and he started laughing.”
Harvey, in particular, has a long injury history, and he missed time with a right elbow strain, so the club has handled him carefully, and going into the winter, they wanted to be sure to bolster their relief corps with late-inning options for the Nationals’ skipper.
Talking about what they were looking for this winter, GM Mike Rizzo said they were in the market for, “good, capable, major league relievers that we can count on, and not to have such a split with our A-group and our B-group.”
Martinez said he wanted options so he wouldn’t have to lean on Finnegan and Harvey quite as much as he did last season.
Photo by Rich Storry/Getty Images
With the addition of veteran Dylan Floro, the return of Tanner Rainey (from Tommy John surgery), and a number of pitchers signed to minor league deals and invited to join the Nationals in Spring Training, Martinez said this past week he thinks they’ll have the arms they need to put together a deeper, more reliable ‘pen.
“We definitely wanted to make sure — we added guys that can pitch at the back of the bullpen,” he told reporters in West Palm Beach, FL.
“The biggest thing is not getting Finnegan into the game 3-4 days in a row, and Harvey.
“Especially Harvey, when he’s been hurt. And even having Rainey now, and he’s just coming off Tommy John.
“So we tried to get some guys where, hey, if Finnegan needs a day off, Harvey can close, or vice versa. Floro has closed before.
“If Rainey is pounding the strike zone, throwing strikes, and is healthy, he’s another guy who can pitch at the back end of the bullpen.”
Having multiple late-inning options he trusts, Martinez said, was a key offseason goal he thinks they achieved.
“Definitely, we were trying to get guys who can pitch in high-leverage situations, and get guys out in big moments.”
OPPORTUNITY:
Davey Martinez delivered a brief message to the prospects in big league Spring Training, and the non-roster invitees in camp fighting for spots on the Opening Day roster in D.C.
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Fight for those spots.
“I want them to come in here and compete, and fight,” Martinez said.
“You know, hey, there is nothing really set in stone. There really isn’t.”
“You just got to go out there,” he said, “… and we’re looking for guys that can help us win as many games as we can possibly win.
“I want those guys to come in here and fight for a job.”
Will any long-shots fight their way to a spot this spring?