We’re less than a week into Spring Training, but that doesn’t mean we can’t make some observations. There are a few trends I’ve noticed through the first five games of Spring Training. With the Nats at the top of the Grapefruit League, things have been good for the most part, but it hasn’t been perfect.
The boys win ball games:
The first takeaway from the start of Spring Training is that the Nats are winning! They are 4-0-1 in their first five games and are the only undefeated team in the Grapefruit League. These games obviously don’t count, so it doesn’t matter much. But I like the way the boys fought.
Building a new culture is a big part of this spring. It is a new regime with new ideas. We want to see that new philosophy manifest on the field. While these games don’t count, we see some promising signs.
For years, the Nats have been overly aggressive at the plate. They haven’t let pitchers work, and starters can often get through six innings in 75 pitches or less. The Nats, however, are second in the competition in walks so far this spring. This probably doesn’t mean anything since it’s just spring training, but I’m going to keep an eye on this as we get into the real season.
Reducing the chase and being a nasty lineup should be a goal for the Nats this year. You don’t have to be an Aaron Judge level talent to be a tough opponent. If the Nats just become an annoying lineup, they could find a way to get close to an average offense this year. With James Wood, CJ Abrams, Daylen Lile and other young players, this lineup is not devoid of talent. They just haven’t had a great approach as a team. Hopefully that will change this year.
Nats say no to fastballs:
In my opinion, the most consistent storyline from Spring Training so far is the Nats pitchers moving away from fastballs. We went into this in more detail recently, but I want to revisit it here.
Last season, the Nats were near the top of the league in fastball usage, despite not really having many pitchers with dominant heaters. Mitchell Parker and Jake Irvin, two guys without great speed, threw their heater more than half the time. If the start of this spring gives us any hint, the Nats will be throwing a lot fewer heaters. Heading into last night, the Nats were throwing fastballs at the third-lowest rate of any team this spring.
This is something I like to see. I’ve been calling for this for a while. We saw what happened when Kyle Finnegan stopped his fastball usage when he went to Detroit. He became a much better pitcher, striking out batters at a significantly higher rate. Reducing fastball usage has been low-hanging fruit for smart organizations for years. It’s nice to see the Nats joining the party.
Last season it was so frustrating to watch Nats pitchers try to establish their mediocre fastballs. Pounding off fastballs was an example of the Nats outdated philosophy. It’s not a magic elixir, but throwing your best pitches more often will be a useful strategy for Nats pitchers.
This is a trend that I’m sure will continue into the regular season. Paul Toboni came from the Red Sox, who have been as aggressive as anyone in cutting back on fastball usage. It looks like he’s bringing that trend to DC and I’m happy to see it.
Defense is still a work in progress:
While it was a very strong start to Spring Training, things weren’t perfect. Last season the Nats defense was very poor and that still seems to be a problem. The Nats recently committed four errors in a game against the Phillies and were error-prone early this spring.
One thing I noticed is that the pitchers didn’t fill their positions well. It’s still early spring, so I’m ready to extend grace. However, the Nats will have to clean this up as we get deeper into camp and approach the regular season.
Defense has been a major focus in the camp so far. There have been many videos of Nats players working on their fundamentals and playing ground balls. Yesterday I saw a video of the Nats working on defensive and situational plays in the main stadium.
You cannot accuse the new regime of not trying to improve defense, but these changes do not happen overnight. Guys are also shaking off rust and haven’t been in game action in a long time. Mistakes will be inevitable, but I hope the Nats will play cleaner baseball come March.
Overall, I was impressed with the Nats early this spring. They compete hard and seem to have bought into the new vision. These players have a lot to prove in Spring Training, so I’m not surprised they’re coming out of the gate so excited. These are just a few games that don’t count in February, but this week I’m looking forward to the start of the season, which is now only a month away.
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