2026 is an important year for the development of Brady House. He enters the season as the undisputed starter at third base. For that to be the case again next year, he will have to make major improvements with the bat. His first Spring Training game was a big statement, with the 22-year-old hitting two home runs.
That strength is great to see in House, and it’s something that was missing in his first foray into the MLB. He just hit 4 home runs in 73 games last year, and two of those came in one game against the Brewers. That’s not what you want to see from someone who is supposed to be a power hitter. House’s pursuit and scent problems will limit his base numbers, so he’ll have to snail.
Anyone who has followed House knows that he is capable of seizing power. Are output speeds in Triple-A were elite last season and he even hit the ball pretty hard in the majors. The former first-round pick translated that into playing power in AAA last year. He hit He hit 13 home runs in 65 Triple-A games and had a slugging percentage above .500.
With his strong defense at third base, House doesn’t have to be an elite hitter, but he does have to be much better than last year. A .574 OPS simply won’t cut it at the MLB level. I think hitting for more power is the best way for him to improve. His approach will also have to improve, but I don’t see House suddenly developing a strong eye for the plate.
That’s one of those skills that is more innate. Tapping into more playing power is something you can coach, especially if the player has the raw power. Hopefully today marks the start of a big year for House. His first home run actually came off former Cy Young Sandy Alcantara, so at least one of his bombs came from the big leagues as well.
So how can the Brady House consistently rise to power? We know he has the horsepower to be a 25 home run. Well, he’ll have to get the ball in the air more consistently. Last season, House’s ground ball speed was higher than average at 46.3%. He will have to develop into a line drive and flyball hitter to make it at the MLB level.
The scent and the chase give him a smaller margin for error when it comes to the quality of his contact. His well-hit balls will need to be elevated if House wants to find success in the big league. Another thing I’d like to see, but isn’t as necessary, is House pulling the ball into the air more. Last season, his air pull percentage was well below average at just 10.6%. For context, the league average is 16.7%.
House has enough raw power to hit balls to all fields. Both of his home runs actually went to right center yesterday. If House doesn’t feel comfortable selling aerial strikes, he can limit himself to hitting line drives and flyballs all over the yard. However, pulling the ball into the air is the easiest way to build extra base hit damage. House has plenty of juice where he just needs to level up to be successful.
We saw that yesterday at the exhibition. Hopefully this can continue deeper into Spring Training and into the regular season. If House can be even an average hitter this season, that would change a lot for the Nats. It would make the line-up a lot deeper and more powerful.
One thing about Brady House is that he tends to get better in his second try at a new level. In 2024, House struggled in AAA after a mid-season promotion. While he hit .250, he only posted a .655 OPS due to a lack of plate discipline and an inability to translate his raw power into games. That should sound familiar to Nats fans, because that’s what we saw from House last year.
However, he did some important work in the offseason and was ready for the 2025 season. He hit .304 with an .872 OPS in AAA last season. That earned him a call-up to the big league, but just like in 2024, he struggled at the new level. Hopefully this first taste of the big leagues was a learning experience and House can look much better.
Despite his scent and pursuit issues, House has always been able to post higher batting averages than you would expect in the minors. He hits the ball so hard that he can sneak in a lot of hits. Even during his disastrous debut in the big league, his average was not terrible at .234. However, that average must be fairly high, because he will not be walking much.
My dream outcome for House is for him to hit around .260-.265 with 25 home runs, a .310 OBP and an OPS in the mid .700s. With his defense he would be an excellent player. However, it takes quite a bit of projection to get to that point. The biggest goal for House this year should be to find a way to turn his immense raw power into good playing power. Hitting two home runs in your first game of the spring isn’t a bad start to achieving that goal.
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