The Washington Nationals Player Development System Is In Their Healthiest Spot EVER!

0:00This is the Lockdown Podcast Network celebrating 10 years of your team every day. Today's episode is brought to you by the Dell XPS. I'm Wes Goldberg from Lockdown NBA Daily and Lockdown Heat. So what does it feel like to have a better laptop like the Dell XPS powered by Intel Core? With a premium design that's thin and light, it feels smooth. With a responsive touch screen, it feels fast and precise. And with long lasting battery life, it feels like non-stop energy with a laptop that can keep up. Built for those who want better, the Dell XPS. Built for you. The National's player development is in its healthiest position than it's ever been in. You are Lockdown Nationals. Your Daily Washington Nationals Podcast.

1:01Part of the Lockdown Podcast Network. Your team every day. Welcome in Lockdown Nationals. I am your host, Ryan Clarian. Today's episode is brought to you by Fandool. College football Saturdays are already packed with reasons to get excited. And this season, Fandool is giving fans even more ways to get in on every matchup. And all the action at Fandool.com. And the Nationals have got their tallest task yet against the LA Dodgers. We'll preview that later on in the show today. And in the Nationals, while the bullpen has not been good in 2026, they do have a legitimate bullpen pipeline in 2027. I'll tell you what that means later on in the show. But the Washington Nationals player development system is in its healthiest, probably part. And I would say well over a decade, but I'm going to go as far as it's in the healthiest spot that it has ever been in for the Washington Nationals. And I think that right now, this new front office and what they've been able to do in the

2:06minor league side of things and really just player development as a whole up in the majors down in the minors, down in the rookie ball. Like you can go at every single level and the Nationals have been able to develop talent. I have always said that the downfall of microzo was not the fact that they weren't spending in free agency. It was the fact that they were not able to develop talent and they were not able to develop consistent talent. And I think that over the years, they've had guys who are talented in the system, but they have not really been able to get the most out of them. That is what a good player development system looks like. And if you look at this regime and what they've been able to do, well, the proof is in the pudding, they have actually been able to develop talent, not just at the major league level, but really more importantly down at the minor league level. According to baseball America, the Washington Nationals now have the seventh strongest farm system in baseball.

3:07And of course, when you have a pretty high draft pick with Chris Copian, you had a couple of prep guys in this past years draft. Yes, you add more talent through the system. You make trades and trade away a guy like Luis Garcia Jr. for a couple of different arms. You make a trade for foster grip and get a couple of arms in return. And that's obviously going to strengthen the system. But really what they kind of honed in on was the investment that the Nationals have made into player development. And this is kind of part of the piece that baseball America put out. Here's how the story went. Naturally, such an upscaled investment in player development came in a significant cost. But it was one with which ownership was aligned. The Boney's vision of a player development giant, one capable of turning out quality big league regulars year after year, got it start with investment in tech and equipment. The organization purchased multiple trajectory pitching machines capable of replicating any pitcher's pitch shapes to help hit his train. The upgraded ball tracking systems at their Palm Beach headquarters and across their affiliates.

4:10They purchased other training aids like plyo, plyo balls and water bags that weren't in line with the previous regime's philosophy. This group has been able to tap in with ownership, get the new fancy technology within the Nationals infrastructure and are ultimately helped them develop some minor league talent. I would be interested to know with the past regime, like, where was this? Because this is not like some Odyssey amongst baseball. Every organization now has these traject arc machines almost at every single level. And using plyo balls and water bags and having a true media outlets where you can look up your numbers and dive in a stack cast and whatever is. They have been able to do this across baseball. But for whatever reason, under microzone, the Nationals were not doing that. And we still don't really know what the case was, like was it ownership not willing to

5:12spend? Was it that Paul Toboni said before I take this job, I'm going to have to have these things and you're going to have to invest in these things if you're not going to invest in free agency? We don't know how this really became, but I can tell you this right now that it is obviously clearly helped the Nationals player development. And they are in its healthiest position yet. And before this season, baseball America had the Washington Nationals as the 16th ranked farm system in the game before this season on opening day. Now of course, they've added a ton of talent, but where they ranked now, they are now the seventh best farm system in baseball, according to baseball America. What is a massive leap to make in what? Five months at this point that the Nationals have been able to climb inside the top 10. They've been able to put people on track of developing different talent and you now have some legitimate blue chip talents coming up through the Nationals farm system.

6:16And that's even without even talking about guys like Alejandro Rosario, who was back with that McKenzie Gore deal. And at the time, a lot of people thought Rosario was probably the premier guy of that trade. Well, you've seen a guy like Gavin Feene, who's kind of had a position change, moved into the outfield a little bit, and he's starting to take off a little bit down in low a Fredericksburg. You see a guy like Devon Fitzgerald, who's had a monster of a season down in the miners, and we've seen the potential of him being a power-hitting lefty bat. Those are just some examples here. And Aburate is in the quick success that he had in AAA and of course up in the majors as well. Alejandro Rosario is a guy that just for example here is someone that is still going to come up through this system. He had Tommy John in the spring and you'll probably see him at some point next summer. And he'll be a pretty quick riser through this system. What this group has been able to do, developing talent down in the miners, and also not

7:18even a mention up in the majors, it has been something that we have not seen in DC since the 2010s. And of course the Nationals' party eclipse their win total. And of course that the Nationals there, I thought they would win 63 games this season. That was my projection. And they have blown that away at this point in time. And it's not because of what they did in free agency, even though they made some really impressive moves. The Nationals have been able to develop talent, a guy like Luis Garcia Jr. Use him for an example up in the majors. We've talked about the miners, let's talk about the majors and what they've been able to do. Luis Garcia Jr. was like this career inconsistent hitter. And we all kind of realized like yeah, the Nationals are probably going to move off of him this past off season. They'd probably just non-tender him, he'll hit free agency and see what happens with this career. But the Nationals decided to tend to earn him a contract and he had a career year, you

8:21trade him to the New York Yankees and you get a couple of really talented arms and return for him. Curtis Mead. Curtis Mead you got for Boston Smith at this past year to right during opening day, right before opening day I believe. Curtis Mead turned into an elite bat who then trade wise, turned into Connolly Early, who has been, he's obviously been injured here with the Nationals, but he is still an arm that you're going to project to be a part of this rotation for hopefully the next five plus seasons. That is a big win of a move that the Nationals were not able to do in years past. Guys like Kibera Weez, hand up, I wrote him off this off season, I said I do not want to see him. We talked a little bit about it yesterday with Harry Ford and what I wanted to see from him. But Kibera Weez has taken off, he even looks better defensively after being the worst defensive catcher in the sport. CJ Abrams, while CJ has already been an all star previously in our microzo, this season

9:22he tapped into another gear. Dailyen Lyle, you're seeing him start to really turn it on again in the second half here for the Nats. You have seen player development at every single level. And what this group has been able to do is take these tools and really utilize them in the best way possible. This player development group is probably the most important thing for the Washington Nationals future and yes you heard that right. You can be the New York Betts and you can try to spend all the money in the world, but they're fifth in the NL East. I have always been a big believer in that you have to have the player development side before you can be able to spend in free agency. I've always been that way. Now both things going to winning a world series is the Nationals in 2019 and a top 10 payroll and they also developed their own talent, Anthony Rendon, Juan Soto, Victor Robles, Steven

10:24Strasberg, and they got outside Maxures or in 2015. You make all these different moves which of course everything goes into that big picture to try to win a world series. And the Nationals have my opinion, they have now got the biggest thing done which is getting this player development system back on track and seeing them now rank back in the top 10 after being 16 in their farm system rankings before this season, jumping up nine spots to get into that number seven spot has the Nationals set up for future success in player development and it's still just going to get better from here. I'm willing to bet right now that by next summer you will definitely see that the Nationals will have a top five farm system baseball. That is the kind of projection that I think is very realistic for the Washington Nationals and I think that they're going to have this major pipeline going forward that will help supplement some wins over these next five, 10 years and you'll hopefully say a consistent

11:24winner maybe starting in 2027 but speaking of 2027, I think the Nationals actually have a really good pipeline for this Nationals bull pet. I'll tell you who and what that is right after this. College football Saturdays already packed with reasons to get excited and this season Fandals giving fans even more ways to get in on every match up back your favorite team, build the same game Parlay, bet team props or make your picks on the biggest games of the weekend and throughout the season. Keep an eye on the Fandals for even more ways to get rewarded and with a full slate of College football every Saturday, there are plenty of opportunities to follow the games and find the new ways to get involved and of course for me it's having games on all day and finding different ways to stay engaged with this slate. Fandals gives me options whether I'm watching my team following a big match up or looking at a same game Parlay and I have got my eyes on LSU versus Clemson this weekend.

12:27LSU is obviously in the news for the worst reasons possible but I'm going to take Clemson on the spread plus 7.5 right now and with that Fandals slate it is going to feel incredible to have College football back in action. So again all you have to do is visit Fandal.com to get started again that is Fandal.com to get started. We're back in here on Lockdown Nationals and the Nationals have got a clear path forward with this bullpen if you are looking at it right now. Let's talk about the guy that I think amongst these bullpen guys aren't really he isn't really talked about enough in my opinion. Joe Glacier has been like a young candidate for the Washington Nationals bullpen so far. He has appeared in 11 games so far for Harrisburg actually I'm sorry 10 games for Harrisburg so far for the Washington Nationals and in those 11 innings pitch that Joe Glacier

13:29is gone. He is allowed I'm sorry one hit for the Washington Nationals through 11 innings pitch. He has walked one batter and he has struck out 12 batters for the Washington Nationals in 11 innings. Joe Glacier was an undrafted reliever by the Baltimore Orioles dominated this season really dominated the past two years for the Baltimore Orioles and now in 41 in 2 thirds innings pitch he has struck out 65 batters and has only walked 9 so far. Joe Glacier has a 91st percentile strikeout percentage a 99th percentile walk rate down in the minors and then of course if you look at his strike percentage he is in the 98th percentile. For a reliever that is strictly a reliever like this is not a starting pitcher Joe Glacier will be able to help this bullpen easily by next summer and again I think that he's probably elevated a triple A just because the double A level for him is way too simple

14:32at this point in time. I want to see him just get up in the triple A and see what he can do against better talent and I think that will give us a general idea of just how good of a pitcher Joe Glacier could be a fastball that rides up into the upper 90s he sits up there pretty consistently good breaking pitches. I think Glacier is someone that will be able to help this bullpen be a late inning reliever like maybe a setup guy in the majors and I think that he is on that trajectory to be a legitimate help for the Washington nationals bullpen and it doesn't just end there because there are guys throughout this farm system now and this player development group is being able to address their biggest need yet which is think about it the bullpen the nationals are about to set the single season record for the most blown saves as a team and you have now got guys in the higher level of your minor leagues that are able to help you like today

15:34and even then a guy like Yvonne Cruz so we've already seen Yvonne Cruz did not look great in the majors I get that. But if you're throwing 101 miles per hour with a 92 mile power slider at 26 years old I'm going to take a gamble on you. And Yvonne Cruz is a guy that I am willing to gamble on every single day in this nationals bullpen. I would have liked to see him still up in the majors and kind of figure it out up here because I do think the potential is still there and the nationals did not see the best results from him. But I believe in stuff and I think this group is able to work with someone who's got stuff like Yvonne Cruz. He might have the best stuff of any of these guys and even then he was not able to command a lot of his pitches especially as fastball there early on and a slider kind of got hit around when you lose track your fastball you're going to hang a slider down the middle and that's kind of what we saw. But this player development group can do what they have done with the hitting so far.

16:37Talk to what they're going to be able to do with Yvonne Cruz. Those are two guys right there that Joe Glassy and Yvonne Cruz the two that in my opinion are probably the highest upside of any of these guys. Those are the two guys who get most excited about to help this nationals team in 2027. And again address one of their biggest needs. You could make the case that the nationals would be definitely in the wild card hunt if they were able to win ball games with their bullpen. But that has been one of the biggest weaknesses of this group so far. And again you are now seeing multiple guys we haven't even gotten into the rest of them and another guy who I think is a very very highly touted prospect in this nationals pen. These are guys that are going to be able to help you in a big way moving forward. Another guy is Ben Grable who in my opinion is again already in AAA. I think he's someone that will easily be able to help you win in 2027.

17:38Maybe even at some point later on this fall here later on in September because he's already been promoted to AAA from the nationals. And I think that someone like him coming over from the New York Yankees. If you look at what the Yankees have done best over the years, it is develop pitching. Ben Grable is just another one of those results of that Yankees system being able to develop some back-end bullpen arms. He is the number 21 prospect according to MLB pipeline right now. And in 42 appearances across four different teams between Hyay and for the New York Yankees and Somerset and AA, Harrisburg and AA. And of course he is now in AAA Rochester. In three and a third inning's pitch, he has struck out two batters and walked three but still is allowed no earn runs to date. But so far this season, someone being drafted in the 11th round back in 2025. Ben Grable has a fastball that rides up into the upper 90s.

18:41Is a slider that's around a 55 grade for according to MLB pipeline. And even then I think that I could probably get that up to like a 60 maybe even a 65 grade someday. A lot of people project him to be a closer. I would not be surprised if he is a national's closer starting next season, but I think the national's would probably try to ease their way into it. But just as an example here, you see these three guys who are both very highly touted prospects. And even then we have even mentioned a guy like Will Dion and there's two other guys that I think have been starters could probably transition into the bullpen to help this team as well. You have got this majorly pipeline now of guys going from the bullpen down in the minors up into the majors. They are there to get swings and misses. They are there to close out games. And again, this national team while a lot of people say they did sell, which they did, but they also got guys are going to be able to help them in 2027 and beyond.

19:44And that is a key part for what the nationals did this deadline. They were not just going out there for 17 year old lottery ticket prospects, what I call where yeah, maybe they're a big hit swing and you get a big hit, but also could be a big swing and a miss. The nationals got pretty established guys and tried to help out one of their biggest weaknesses, which is not having those bullpen pieces come up through the minors. And you just simply have not seen that from the nationals over this year. Like they have not been able to call up guys to help this bullpen group all season long. They've kind of had like this yo yo effect with like eddie gene and different guys like that. You've tried to work out different guys, you've claimed guys, you defaid guys, you've made so many different moves and the nationals have not really been able to have sustained success from their bullpen just yet. But I think next season, you will be able to see a much better group overall because let's be honest, it can only get better. Seriously, it can only get better from what this group has showed this season.

20:47And I think that closing out games and not having all these blown saves will be a huge, huge win for the Washington nationals. And if they can do what they've been able to do with their hitting and make that transition with the player development into the bullpen, you're going to see guys like Joe glassy, Ben Grable, Yovani Cruz will deon that will absolutely help this bullpen close out games in win ball games. Another two guys to watch that I think will definitely be able to help this national bullpen as well. DJ Hurts. I don't know what the future holds for him. Is he a starter? I like to think that he is going to be a starter for the nationals, but even if he doesn't work out, then I think he has that like Brad Lord type of role where he eats up a couple of innings out of the bullpen. And I think that DJ Hurts and the change up that he has is one of the best pitches that the nationals have in their system. At least that's what he showed before having Tommy John surgery. So I really like what DJ Hurts brings to the table.

21:49And even then another guy, another left hand at pitcher Alex Clemmie. Alex Clemmie has really turned it on in AA over the second half. And he's been a starter so far, but I think with some of his command issues that kind of screams bullpen guy to come out, throw a nasty upper 90s fastball with a good change up, good field for his secondary pitches. Watch out for those guys to help this nationals bullpen because I think that a group like that, they'll be able to set themselves up to have themselves a pipeline in a lengthy career, especially for a guy like DJ Hurts who's already had Tommy John surgery. So if you want to limit some of his innings, that can kind of potentially come if you throw him in the back end of the bullpen. And who knows what he does there? Because I think he is someone who is certainly very talented that can absolutely help the Washington nationals win some games. So while the nationals have been able to develop talent down and often society things, don't sleep on what they've been able to do with this bullpen as well because they have got a fresh

22:51pipeline to help the nationals out in 2027 and beyond. But next, let's take a look at this Dodger series tonight because, oh boy, this is going to be a tough one. We'll talk about that after this. A big thank you to our friends at Amazon for this limited break. And this back to school season spend less on your kids with Amazon. We all know how crazy the back to school shopping experience can be. It starts with a few items on the list and then suddenly you're shopping for supplies, clothes, lunch, gear, tech and about 10 other things that you didn't see coming. It adds up fast. When you look at the school supply list and wonder if you're going to be shopping for a million different things, you don't have to do that for Amazon because number one, you've got all these different stores. They never have everything in stock. The number two pencils are out of stock. The fancy mechanical pencils that your kids want. They're out of stock as well. Though with Amazon, you can see everything at the best price possible and even save on

23:51back to school shopping for your kids clothes because we all know they want to look good at this, the beginning of school year. If you look good, you feel good and you play good. And that's what I believe in with school as well. So of course, so remember, with Amazon's low back to school price, just spend less on your kids because every dollar you don't spend on them is a dollar you haven't spent on them. Shop back to school at Amazon and spend less on your kids. We're back here on Lockdown Nationals as the nationals head to LA tonight to take on the back to back World Series champions, the LA Dodgers. And tonight's match up, you've got Jackson Kent going up against Blake Snell. Oh boy, this is going to be a tough one tonight for nationals like let's just be honest here. The way that this group has been playing though, you got to give the nationals credit. They have been playing some solid baseball as of late. And dare I say, check the wildcard race here, the nationals only seven and a half games

24:55back. If you sweep the LA Dodgers, are we back? I don't know. I'm not going to say we're back. But if we are, watch out for the nationals. I'm just saying, but Blake Snell going up against the nationals tonight, that is going to be just a brutal match up. But I will say just playing the Dodgers brings back like those 2019 juices and of like the nationals going in LA, they're obviously heavy underdogs against that 2019 Dodgers team. And when you have guys like Blake Snell have won a Siong before and when you have a guy like on Saturday, you're going up against Tyler Glass now, who's also been in Siong contention for years now. And he's now with the LA Dodgers is like their number four starter. It does like, listen, the nationals have nothing to lose when they're going up against the Dodgers. Like at 67 and 75 for the Nats and 83 and 57 for the LA Dodgers, the Dodgers have kind of been in a little bit of a funk.

25:56As of late here, they dropped six of their last 10 games. They finally just won one just yesterday, but they have actually been able to not really take advantage of beating up in these smaller teams. And the nationals this season, they've always kind of played up to their talent, especially up against road teams here. So I would not be totally surprised to see the nationals really kind of hone in against some of these guys. But I think tonight going up against Blake Snow will definitely be the hardest matchup for the nationals because I'll let the bats in there with CJ and with James Wood. Like that is a really tough assignment for them. But a guy that I'm actually going to sprinkle a little bit of money on to the home run tonight is Andres Chaparo. So watch out for that. That is my guy. But on Saturday, I'm really excited to see Kate Cavali against the LA Dodgers. I mean, Kate Cavali has looked like a stud for the nationals. And going up against Tyler Glass, no, I think that's going to be a really fun Sunday.

27:00One, one, when you get to go against the LA Dodgers who will likely go back to back to back, that will end this glorious lockout for the Washington Nationals. But I will catch you guys in the flip side. Have a good one. Go Nats. The Locked On Podcast Network is brought to you by Fandall baseball fans. If you think you know who's hitting a home run today, Fandall is giving you a free chance to call your shot with daily dingers. It's easy to play. Just make your free pick for who you think will hit a home run in their game. If you're right, you'll receive a profit boost to use on your next bet for a chance at extra winnocks. Best of all, you can make a free pick every day throughout the MLBCs. Are you ready to play your game today? Join all the action at fandall.com. That's fandall.com to play daily dingers and make your free pick on who's hitting a home run. Play ball and swing for the fences on Fandall, an official partner of the MLBC. On Cowshee, you're trading against peers in a live market, meaning there's no house

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