May 21: Nats GM Mike Rizzo confirmed in an appearance on the Sports Junkies radio show this morning that Hassell is being promoted today (hat tip to TalkNats). He did not specify whether Crews or Young would be placed on the injured list.
May 20: The Nationals are recalling outfielder Robert Hassell III for his MLB debut, as first reported by Chase Ford of MiLB Central. The Nats are dealing with a pair of injuries in their outfield. Jacob Young has been day-to-day with shoulder soreness since crashing into a wall on Saturday. More alarmingly, Dylan Crews exited tonight’s win over Atlanta with left side discomfort after a swing. Manager Dave Martinez said postgame that Crews would go for imaging tomorrow (via Mark Zuckerman of MASNsports.com).
Hassell becomes the fourth young player of the 2022 Juan Soto trade to suit up for the Nats. James Wood, MacKenzie Gore and CJ Abrams all look like foundational pieces. (Veteran first baseman Luke Voit also played in 53 games down the stretch that year.) MLBTR’s Steve Adams looked back at the massive haul in a post for Front Office subscribers earlier this month.
Hassell was the #8 overall pick out of high school in 2020. He was batting .299 in High-A during his second full minor league season when he was traded. The 23-year-old’s prospect stock has dropped over the past few years. Hassell posted an OPS below .650 in consecutive seasons in 2023-24. He hit below .250 in each year with single-digit home run totals. He still ranked 12th among Washington prospects at Baseball America over the winter, but he’d been as high as #2 in the organization immediately after the trade.
Hassell is hitting .277/.327/.384 through 171 plate appearances this season with Triple-A Rochester. It’s his highest batting average since his 2021 season in the low minors, but there’s still an overall lack of impact. Hassell has four homers with a 7% walk rate. The average International League hitter owns a .251/.340/.402 batting line. Hassell is below that in both on-base percentage and slugging. To his credit, he has heated up since the calendar flipped to May. The lefty hitter has mashed at a .339/.381/.559 clip this month after putting up a .242/.296/.286 line through the end of April.
That hot streak combined with the Nats’ outfield injuries to get Hassell his first big league call. He’s already on the 40-man roster, as the Nats selected his contract last November to keep him out of the Rule 5 draft. He’s the only center fielder who is on the 40-man and on optional assignment, making him a logical choice to come up. The Nats are holding out hope that Young will avoid the injured list, but a Crews IL stay seems likely.
