The kids are all right.
Two of Washington’s top prospects made their major league debuts over the past week at Nationals Park, with outfielders Robert Hassell III and Daylen Lile both making strong first impressions. The duo gets its first taste of the road when the Nationals open a six-game trip Tuesday at the Seattle Mariners.
Hassell went 2-for-5 and scored the winning run in the 10th inning on Thursday in an 8-7 victory against Atlanta. Lile was 2-for-5 over his first two games Friday and Saturday against San Francisco, making a diving catch to secure a 3-0 victory against the Giants in the latter.
“It’s awesome,” Nationals manager Dave Martinez told MASN. “We talked about the other day how athletic we’ve become with those two guys in our lineup. They can do a lot of different things, not only on defense, but running the bases and things of that nature. But they’ve been really good. I’ve seen these guys for years now with us, and I know they both can play the outfield and play it well.”
Hassell, the eighth overall pick in the 2020 draft by San Diego, was acquired as part of the trade for Juan Soto on Aug. 2, 2022. Lile was the Nationals’ second-round pick in 2021.
Hassell and Lile were called up from Triple-A Rochester due to injuries to Dylan Crews (left oblique strain) and Jacob Young (sprained left shoulder).
The 22-year-old Lile began his season at Double-A Harrisburg before earning a promotion after just 21 games.
“(I was) just staying true to myself, staying consistent, staying on my routine, knowing that I could possibly make my debut at some point this season,” Lile said. “Everywhere I went, my feet were there, and I tried not to rush anything. But it came a lot quicker than I thought.”
Hassell became the first player in the franchise’s modern-day history (since 2005) to have multiple hits and a stolen base in his MLB debut.
“It felt great,” Hassell said. “Truly, the most important thing is that we got the dub. It feels amazing to win.”
The Nationals have won six of their past eight games despite dropping two of three to San Francisco over the weekend.
The American League West-leading Mariners return home after going 6-4 on a 10-game trip to San Diego, Chicago (to face the White Sox) and Houston. They won five of their first six before losing three of four to the Astros to see their division lead trimmed to 1 1/2 games.
Houston won the series finale 5-3 Sunday on Christian Walker’s tiebreaking two-run homer in the bottom of the ninth.
“Always tough to get walked off. But don’t want that to overshadow a good road trip here by our guys,” said Mariners manager Dan Wilson. “It was a long trip and they played well throughout the entire trip. I thought today was just a tough way to end it.”
Wilson was ejected for the first time in his career — either as a player or manager — for arguing balls and strikes with home-plate umpire Laz Diaz in the ninth.
Tuesday’s series opener is scheduled to feature Nationals left-hander Mitchell Parker (4-3, 4.39 ERA) taking the mound against Seattle rookie right-hander Logan Evans (2-1, 3.33).
Parker, who has yet to face Seattle, scattered three runs and six hits over 5 1/3 innings in a win over Atlanta last Tuesday. Evans will make his sixth career appearance and has gone six innings in consecutive starts.
–Field Level Media
