Robert Hassell III has encountered bumps in the road, but he’s confident that he’s finally heading in the right direction. Health and a better understanding of his left-handed stroke are two reasons why. Added to the Washington Nationals’ 40-man roster over the offseason, the 2020 first-rounder — he went eighth overall to the San Diego Padres — is also still just 23 years old. While his path to the big leagues has been anything but smooth, Hassell is far from over the hill in terms of prospect status.
Injuries have hampered his progress. Since turning pro, Hassell has incurred a pair of wrist injuries, including a broken hamate bone, and strained a groin muscle. As a result, he’s played in just 428 games over four seasons. Seldom at full strength for an extended period of time, he’s slashed an uninspiring .260/.350/.385 with 36 home runs and a 105 wRC+.
Hassell didn’t want to dwell on his past injury issues when I spoke to him during the Arizona Fall League season, although he did acknowledge that he “needs to be healthy and on the field” in order to allow his true talent to play. And he definitely has talent. While power has never been part of his profile, Hassell’s combination of bat-to-ball skills, speed, and outfield defense helped make him a primary piece in the multi-player trade that sent Juan Soto from Washington to San Diego in August 2022.
The conversation I had with Hassell in Arizona centered on his development as a hitter — something he views as a work-in-progress in need of nuance, not one that requires an overhaul.
“I’m looking at it like, ‘This is who I am, so let’s continue to grow on it,’” explained Hassell, who excelled in the AFL to the tune of .281/.360/.517 with five home runs in 100 plate appearances. “You go through times where it’s like, ‘Oh, I should change this, I should change that,’ but I have less and less of that now. It’s become more, ‘Okay, that was a bad day. Let’s break things down and see why.’ Baseball is going to happen to you, regardless.”
Which brings us to a nuanced change he made in the desert. Working with Nic Wilson, his hitting coach with the Salt River Rafters, Hassell began focusing on staying more on his backside and letting the ball come to him.
“How late can I catch the ball but still be lightning quick? That’s been a key for me out here,” said Hassell, whose regular season output included a 87 wRC+ and four home runs across three levels (High-A, Double-A, Triple-A). “It’s something Nic has talked to me about, and it’s kind of ‘Why haven’t I thought about it way that sooner?’ It’’s little keys like that, little light bulbs, that can help you along the way.”
Hassell went on to explain that he has really quick hands, and at times has been guilty of slowing his bat down to make contact with off-speed pitches. Sitting heater, he would leak forward and put his body in a poor position to drive the ball. He’d make contact, but the result would be a worm-killer, not the scorching low line drive he is after.
“When you’re leaking, everything is bad for you,” said Hassell. “The ball speeds up. Your swing slows down. You lose power. Anything bad you can think of is going to happen when you leak forward. What I’m learning is that I can let the ball travel, be lightning quick, lightning quick, and still pull the ball. I’ve always been a handsy type of hitter — it’s muscle memory — and that’s part of the development process that’s been hardest for me. I need to do better job of getting my lower body into it. Once I nail that down, I’ll hit a lot more balls like I want to.“
Doing so — even if not many of those balls are clearing fences — would go a long way toward his wearing a Washington Nationals uniform. Where does the young outfielder feel that he currently is, career-wise?
“I think about that often,” Hassell admitted. “I think about what my goals are, and how much I want to play in the big leagues. I think about all of these little bumps in the road I’ve gone through, and how they’ve made me realize how much I love the game. The way I’m looking at is that my career has only begun. I haven’t touched the big leagues yet, and that’s the end goal. I want to get there and play for a long time.”
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RANDOM HITTER-PITCHER MATCHUPS
Ernie Lombardi went 16 for 31 against Mace Brown.
Willie McGee went 25 for 44 against Mike Scott.
Tony Taylor went 24 for 51 against Vern Law.
Elmer Valo went 10 for 16 against Dick Starr.
Andre Dawson went 17 for 38 against John Smiley.
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Which of Corbin Carroll, Colton Cowser, Riley Greene, and Julio Rodriguez — all of whom are currently 24 years old — will put up the best offensive numbers in the coming season? I asked that question in a Twitter poll earlier this week, and as often happens, the player I would have chosen didn’t come out on top. Here were the results:
Carroll 40.6%, Rodriguez 29.1%, Greene 26.3%, Cowser 4.0%.
With all due respect to the others, my vote would go to Greene. The Detroit Tigers outfielder is coming off of a season where he slashed .262/.348/.479 with 24 home runs, a 135 wRC+, and 4.0 WAR. His 2025 ZIPS projections are in that same ballpark, but I expect his numbers to be meaningfully better. Frankly, I won’t be surprised if Greene ends up in the MVP conversation.
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Left on the cutting-room floor from Wednesday’s interview with George Lombard Jr were his thoughts on his paternal grandmother’s legacy. Posy Lombard, who died in a car accident when George Lombard Sr was nine years old, was a civil rights activist who marched with Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. When I spoke with the 19-year-old New York Yankees infield prospect this past summer, I mentioned how Peter Gammons has always spoken well about his family.
“Peter is awesome,” Lombard relied. “I’ve known Peter for a long time, really since I can remember. But yes, some of the stuff my dad has done over the last couple of years to kind of bring my grandmother’s story into light… not many people know about it. It’s really cool to know how great of a person she was, and the sacrifices she made for the people around her.”
Does the the highly-regarded prospect see himself speaking out for human rights as he goes forward in his career?
“I mean, it’s obviously an important issue around the world,” Lombard said. “I can’t tell you right now what my future holds, but I’d like to hold up the legacy, hold up the family’s name.”
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A quiz:
Which player to have performed in the Super Bowl-era NFL has the most MLB hits?
The answer can be found below.
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NEWS NOTES
The Miami Marlins announced yesterday that they are launching a Legends Hall of Fame. The inaugural class will comprise Luis Castillo, Jeff Conine, Jim Leyland, and Jack McKeon.
Jack McMullen was announced as the new lead radio play-by-play voice for the Marlins. A graduate of Syracuse University’s Newhouse School of Public Communications, the Chicago native spent the last three seasons with the Triple-A Indianapolis Indians.
The Chicago Cubs announced that Alex Cohen will serve as the full-time backup for Jon Sciambi on the team’s TV broadcasts. A Philadelphia native, Cohen has excelled as the radio voice of the Triple-A Iowa Cubs.
Rich Dauer, a slick-fielding infielder who spent his entire 10-year career with the Baltimore Orioles, died earlier week at age 72. Later a big-league coach and minor-league manager, Dauer was inducted into the Orioles Hall of Fame in 2012.
Don Secrist, a southpaw who appeared in 28 games for the Chicago White Sox across the 1969-1979 seasons, died on January 30 at age 80. He lost his only decision, to the Orioles. Baltimore’s Brooks Robinson, Boog Powell, and Mark Belanger went a combined 13-for-19 with three home runs versus Secrist.
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The answer to the quiz is Brian Jordan, who recorded 1,454 hits while playing for four MLB teams from 1992-2006. Jordan was a defensive back with the NFL’s Atlanta Falcons from 1989-1991. If you guessed Bo Jackson or Deion Sanders, they had 598 and 558 hits respectively.
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Jhostynxon Garcia is making a name for himself in the Red Sox system. Signed by Boston out of Venezuela in 2019, the 22-year-old outfielder is coming off of a 2024 season where he slashed .288/.356/.536 with 23 home runs and a 151 wRC+ in 459 plate appearances across Low-A Salem, High-A Greenville, and Double-A Portland. Moreover, the right-handed slugger’s breakout campaign included a 21.6% strikeout rate, down from 25.5% the previous campaign.
Like most hitters, Garcia worked on honing his swing over the offseason. He also worked on pitch recognition, hitting against a mixed array delivered by a Trajekt. An ability to hammer off-speed is already one of his attributes, in part because he doesn’t go up to the plate simply hunting heaters.
“I’m sitting on breaking pitches, because I know that pitchers are going to throw me a lot of breaking stuff,” Garcia told me last month when the Red Sox held their annual rookie development camp at Fenway Park. When I subsequently asked if that’s because of his plus power, his response came with a smile. “It might be,” said Garcia. “It might be.”
Eric Longenhagen’s July 2024 report on Garcia suggest as much. In the words of our lead prospect analyst, the promising youngster has “big-time all-fields juice.”
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FOREIGN AFFAIRS
The Dominican Republic beat Mexico 1-0 on Friday night to capture this year’s Caribbean Series championship. Esmil Rogers and three relievers combined to allow just one hit, while the game’s lone run came on a double-play ball in the third inning.
Yunior Marte has reportedly signed with NPB’s Chunichii Dragons. The 30-year-old right-hander out of Santo Domingo appeared in 63 games for the Philadelphia Phillies across the past two seasons. He took the mound 39 times for the San Francisco Giants in 2022.
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A random obscure former player snapshot:
Pid Purdy had the distinction of playing in both MLB and the NFL. A native of Beatrice, Nebraska, Purdy — his given name was Everett Virgil — took the field with the Chicago White Sox in 1926, the Cincinnati Reds from 1927-1929, and also with the Curly Lambeau-led Green Bay Packers in 1926 and 1927. On the gridiron, he kicked three field goals, 15 extra points, threw for a touchdown, and ran for another. On the diamond, he batted .293 with a pair of home runs over 569 plate appearances. Purdy also played in the minors, seeing action with teams including the Lincoln Links and Omaha Robin Hoods.
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“Which pitcher you’ve faced has most had you thinking, ‘’Man, that dude is nasty.’” I’ve asked that question to a number of prospects, but just recently I posed it to someone who hasn’t swung a bat in professional baseball for a full decade. Now the director of player development for the Seattle Mariners, Justin Toole played in the Cleveland system from 2009-2015.
“This will make me feel old, but Yordano Ventura,” the 38-year-old erstwhile infielder told me. “When he was coming up with Kansas City, I faced him in Wilmington, with the Blue Rocks. This was in High-A [in 2012]. I think he was 102 or 103 [mph] with a couple of the fastballs I saw. It was electric stuff out of his hand. Obviously, his career finished way too soon, but he was a guy I vividly remember getting into the box against and being like, ‘Wow, this is different.’ It’s the hardest velo I saw in my career.”
Ventura pitched for the Royals from 2013-2016 before dying tragically in a car accident in the Dominican Republic in January 2017. Toole topped out in Triple-A before becoming a hitting coach, and subsequently Seattle’s farm director.
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LINKS YOU’LL LIKE
The Score’s Travis Sawchik wrote about four players who could outperform expectations this year, and four more who are candidates to underperform.
MLB.com’s Sarah Langs looked at 10 players who will be vying for the record books in 2025.
Brew Crew Ball’s Paul Dietrich ranked the best trades in Milwaukee Brewers history.
Andscape’s Clinton Yates wrote about how CC Sabathia is hip-hop’s first baseball Hall of Famer.
Jim Edmonds won’t be returning to the Cardinals’ broadcast booth this year, and he had a lot to say about that decision in a radio interview. Dan Caesar has the story at The St. Louis Post-Dispatch.
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RANDOM FACTS AND STATS
Teams in the 1941 Interstate League included the Lancaster Red Roses and Reading Brooks. Carl Furillo, who went on to play 15 seasons with the Brooklyn/Los Angeles Dodgers batted .311 for the Brooks.
Frank Robinson hit 19 of his 586 home runs with the Dodgers.
George Brett had 1,596 RBIs. Mike Schmidt had 1,595 RBIs.
Wade Boggs batted .332/.416/.425 with 34 doubles against the Cleveland Indians. He batted .332/.418/.426 with 34 doubles against the Kansas City Royals.
The Cleveland Indians signed Ron Kittle as a free agent on today’s date in 1988. Named AL Rookie of the Year in 1983 after slugging 35 home runs for the Chicago White Sox, Kittle went deep 18 times over 254 plate appearances in his lone Cleveland season.
The Brooklyn Robins signed Jack Quinn on (or about) today’s date in 1931. A native of Stefurov, Slovakia, the right-hander went on to make his final appearance two years later, six days after celebrating what is believed to have been his 50th birthday. All told, Quinn played 23 MLB seasons and went 247-218 with 114 ERA+. His closest statistical comps, Red Faber and Waite Hoyt, are both in the Hall of Fame. Quinn is not.
Players born on today’s date include Robert Eenhoorn, a native of Rotterdam, the Netherlands who appeared in 37 games while playing for the New York Yankees and California/Anaheim Angels from 1994-1997. An infielder during his playing days, Eenhorn went on to manage his homeland’s national team and be elected to the Dutch Baseball Hall of Fame.
Also born on today’s date was Julie Wera, whose relatively brief big-league career included his playing in 38 games for the legendary 1927 New York Yankees. A native of Winona, Minnesota, Wera — his given name was Julian Valentine — had 15 MLB hits, including one home run. The dinger came in a July 4 double-header that saw the Bronx Bombers outscore the Washington Senators 33-2.
Moses Yellow Horse — one of a handful of players known as “Chief” during his bygone era — went 8-4 with a 3.93 ERA over 126 innings for the Pittsburgh Pirates across the 1921-1922 seasons. The pitcher from Pawnee, Oklahoma is believed to have been the first full-blooded Native American to play in MLB.
Bill Eagle went 4-for-13 in a brief big-league career in which he appeared in four games for the National League’s Washington Senators in 1898. The Rockville, Maryland native’s given name was William Lycurgus.
Content Source: blogs.fangraphs.com