Perhaps the biggest question that the Nationals had to answer in the second half of 2025 was which the young outfielder would roam the grass with James Wood and Dylan benben’s beans in 2026. Among those who compete for the latter place, Jacob Young, who excels in defense but not on the plate, a blinds and Robert Hass.
Although Young can be a job to look at occasionally, he is generally a net positive for the Nationals thanks to his combination of speed and defense. Although he missed a part of the season due to an injury, he still ranks 98th percentile in OAA (outs above the average) among central field players, making hard catches routinely easy and impossible. His speed also makes him a threat on the basic paths, an area where he could recover because he was caught 10 times and 14 bags was stolen compared to last season, where he was caught 10 times and 33 bags of stable.
The issue for Young is and will probably remain the bat, because he places career low figures across the board, including a 69 WRC+ and .287 SLG. I have said it in the past, and I will continue to say it: Jacob Young is the perfect 4th outfielder, and the fan base will appreciate him much more when that will be his role instead of the daily Middelverder who seems to believe the current coaching staff.
Then there is Daylen Lile, a 22-year-old corner outfielder who, after he is ice cold to start his career in the big league, has been found only and has been placing a 114 WRC+ since 1 July and a 132 WRC+ since 1 August. He has shown the plate discipline far beyond his years, with above-average pursuit and grasping rates, and has a talent to touch it where the defense is not. The expected figures also backup the eye test, with its .335 XWOBA ranking list above much-praised batters such as Pete Crow-Armstrong and Mookie Betts.
The biggest problem for Lile has been his defense because he is in the 7th percentile in OAA with -7 and 12th percentile in arm value at -2. He was improved from June, when he had a disastrous -5 OAA, to post only slightly below -1 -1 oaa in July and August, but it is an area that he must progress in 2026.
That leaves us with Robert Hassell, who, after his 2nd main class -started a tear, came back to the earth and placed a 45 WRC+ since 10 August. He debuted a new leg kick in his return, something that helped him to drill more power and to take more walks, but also raised his strikeout rate and did not improve his total figures.
Hassell avoids chasing pitches outside the zone pretty well, but apart from that there are not many positive points in his attacking profile, because he does not make much hard contact and whiffs at a fast pace. He plays solid defense in the middle and right field and has a solid speed, but he is surpassed in both categories by Jacob Young, where the bat is not that much better to take the 4th outfielder role of him.
So with Daylen Lile in the 3rd Outfield spot and Jacob Young on the couch as the 4th outfielder, where does that Robert Hassell III leave behind? They can continue with the 5 outfield rotation they have now, but his place is superfluous because Young is the better field player and baseunner, and it limits flexibility in other positions on the schedule, in particular middle infield. They could also send or exchange Jacob Young to make room for Hassell, but that would harm the schedule more than anything, because all Hassell performs better than young in the record (somewhat) and in years of control.
This leaves us the most realistic option and those who probably have to happen to one of the young Nat outfiters, namely to trade it. Although the return for a player of Hassell’s caliber would not be huge, he could return a player of a similar character to the other side of the ball, such as a young starting pitcher who used to be a top perspective but their stock dip. A few names that make sense to me would be Daniel Espino from the Guardians, Brandon Pfaadt from the Diamondbacks, or Max Meyer from the Marlins, but the packages for each of those players can vary.
By acting Hassell not only allows the NATS to add to their positions of weakness, but it also offers the opportunity for other young outfielders such as Christian Franklin and Andrew Pinckney to be the next man in the case of an injury. In the case of Franklin, he will soon make his main class debut, because he is already 25 years old and has proven that he can hit Triple-a pitching. Whatever the choice of subjects make to sort out their outfield logjam, the most important thing is that they have found a strong foundation to build in the future with James Wood, Dylan Crews and now Daylen Lile.
0 Comments
#room #Robert #Hassell #III #Washington #Nationals