Speaking to a handful of reporters from the DMV area, Nationals manager Davey Martinez said he expected Carter Kieboom To be third baseman, Mark Zuckerman of MASN and Todd Dybas of NBC Sports were among those who reported. It’s a surprising revelation from Martinez, as the last time we heard, Kieboom wasn’t even sure he was on the opening day list. At the same time, most projections had the 22-year-old making his move to the hot corner in August, surely, so it could be that not much has changed in terms of organizational perspective. More about this and the other events around Nats’ camp …
- A change that could however, they have affected the Nats’ plan for Kieboom Ryan Zimmerman opting for the season. Without Zimmerman, it seems like there are plenty of at-bats to surround the remaining veteran contingent of Nationals infielders. First base must fall into a strict platoon between Howie Kendrick and Eric Thameswhile first baseman outside the day is also likely to divide time in DH with Asdrubal Cabrera. Starlin castroHe would then run second base full time while occasionally spelled Cabrera or Kendrick. The Nationals tend to let their prospects play full time, so if Kieboom holds the lead role on Opening Day, he’ll likely get more or less the full list of 60 games to prove he deserves it.
- Updating some numbers for us, Jesse Dougherty of the Washington Post mentions that the Nationals have around 49-50 boys in camp at this time out of the 58 currently named for the player group. That said, the Nats are expected to add first-round pick. Cade Cavalli to their 60-man player pool coming soon, according to Nats Talk. The Nats have some open spots on their roster now that multiple players have opted in for the season (Ryan Zimmerman, Joe Ross, Welington Castle)
- As the Cavalli addition presupposes, the Nats have chosen to include the majority of the organization’s most respected prospects in the 60-man player pool. That group would have included Mason Denaburgif he wasn’t out of season recovering from off-season surgery, according to Nats Talk’s Stephen G. Mears. The former 6’4 ″ catcher ranks eighth on the Nats’ best prospect list for Baseball America. It was the Nats’ first draft pick in 2018, though he’s only managed 20 1/3 professional innings since then.
