The Washington Nationals prospects squared off with the Mets farmhands in the Spring Breakout game. These showcases are a very fun idea that the MLB has come up with. It allows fans to see prospects they normally don’t have a chance to see. Here are some things I saw from the game today.
The Nationals starter Alex Clemmey looked very good. His stuff looked crisp with a fastball that was in the 95-97 MPH range and he mixed in some nasty breaking balls. The left hander struck out six in his three innings of work. It looked like he featured two different breaking balls, with a curve in the low to mid 80’s and a slider in the mid to upper 80’s. He threw a couple changeups, but they weren’t very good.
Clemmey was the biggest piece the Nationals received in the Lane Thomas trade. He is still raw and could use some work on his strike throwing. However, he is still only 19 and the stuff is excellent. After giving up a homer to Boston Baro, he got out of a jam with two big strikeouts.
2024 fourth rounder Jackson Kent followed him on the mound. Things started out promising, with a 93-96 MPH heater and some nice changeups. However, he got into some trouble and things began to unravel.
2024 14th rounder Yoel Tejada pitched as well. He actually looked quite good. The right hander got a lot of whiffs with his sweeping slider.
The Nationals bats were mostly kept in check, as the one run would indicate. However, there were some positive things I saw. 10th overall pick Seaver King put together some nice at bats and had two hits. One was an infield single, but the other was a clean single between the first and second baseman. King also looked smooth over at shortstop.
Elijah Green played today as well. While he didn’t get any hits, I saw some good things. He struck out in his second at bat and was clearly frustrated. However, he bounced back and worked a walk after falling behind 1-2. I saw him choke up with two strikes as well, which could help him solve some of his strikeout woes.
Overall, the game was a lot of fun and it was great to see some of these guys live in the flesh. I hadn’t seen most of these guys play live before, so it was nice to see them and how they look on the diamond. It was a fun experience, and cool to see the Nationals young talent.