So who haven't we talked about?

Given that the Nats have been very bad all year - and in the years leading up to this year - we haven't had much to talk about in terms of the season as it stands.  Who cares about their wins or their schedule or how other teams are doing? I can bring it up occasionally of course but it's more of interest in a competitive year.  

The Nats don't have many young prospects but we talk about them as much as we can - Ruiz, Gray, Garcia... we go over the minors occasionally and all the young players. I'll do it again at the ASB. 

And of course we talk about Soto. And how bad Corbin is. And Bell being good. 

And then we fill in other stuff - Can Cruz be traded?  Escobar stinks! Lane Thomas isn't good! Fedde isn't good either! What's up with Robles? Sometimes it feels like we've talked about everything but I guess we haven't exactly so today let's talk about some guys we haven't. 

Cesar Hernandez - Cesar is just a guy but from 2016 to 2021 he's been healthy (missed some games in 2017) and decent (OPS+ of 98). The idea was to bring him in, have him crank out another average year, then send him out for some low A 24yo lottery ticket. Maybe even get lucky and have him be hot through the trade deadline - he did have an unusually high 21 homers last year. He hasn't held up his end of the bargain. After a decent April and May, Cesar has been dreadful - hitting .168 / .243 / .219 since the start of June. He also has no homers for the year. Zero. That dramatic loss of power is what's keeping his value down more than anything.  Can he be traded? Maybe. Stats still suggest he's a decent bat from the right side and he can man 2B ok. I can think of worse players to man the last spot on the bench. For anything? No. This isn't lottery ticket territory anymore. It's going through discarded scratch-offs hoping someone missed something. A 24yo in low A? Yep, but this one has never been good. 

Maikel Franco - I have talked about Maikel just a little but he's here for the same reason Cesar is - come in, do well enough to deal, maybe luckily really well, trade. He also hasn't lived up to those very modest expectations. To be fair to Maikel it's not on him. This is totally on the Nats taking a chance on a guy who has been awful every other year starting in 2017. This year is different for Maikel where as before he was what he was, this year he looks bad. K's are up. BBs are down. No power. Swinging at everything. He looks like a guy one short 2023 stint away from forced retirement. I can't think of a reason any team would want him. 

Ehire Adrianza - We haven't talked about a recent addition to the Nats team in Ehire because there isn't much to say. He's a defensively versatile guy but he doesn't hit.  He Ks way too much, he doesn't have power. And since he was starting at "bad" instead of Franco's "maybe sometimes good" this means he has the potential to hit terribly. Which he is now. I don't think he'll be in baseball after he's done with the Nats. 

Erasmo Ramirez - Brought in to be the "longer" reliever* he had some decent seasons, and last year pitched better than his stats suggest. He's older and hasn't pitched well though. He depends on keeping the ball in the park and not walking too many and too many balls have left the park this year. He's not here to be traded which is good because he wouldn't be.  He's a FA but could be back next year because prior to this year he showed some success and the Nats don't have depth. However, he'll have to have a better finish to the year as he's been very bad recently

Andres Machado - He's fine! Machado is a guy! There isn't anything he does particularly well, but not anything he does particularly poorly. The end result is a very average pitcher getting very average results.  I don't think he'd be traded because there isn't anything very enticing about him. He probably makes your pen better by replacing the last or second to last guy, but you can't count on him to hold a close lead late or something like that. And he's not a young fireballer that can strike his way out of trouble if you are lucky. Anyway I see him as a Nat for a while (under control through 2027) and he's fine. Which on this team is good actually. He'd be like 5th in ERA+ with his 99. (and like 6th in FIP - this is who he is. Average!) 

Jordan Weems - Fireballer! In his lifetime he's shown flashes of being unhittable or being hard to homer off of. As he's always walked WAY too many he needs to do both of these to be any good. He hasn't really been able too. You can see why multiple teams took chances on him but at 29 you have to produce.  He's org depth that's up because someone has to be.... well ok ok he was decent in AAA. but a 3.60 ERA in AAA isn't anything to get excited about

Hunter Harvey - Fireballer! Less of everything than Jordan, fewer Ks but fewer walks, and younger. He's a fireballer who's more of a "hard to hit" than "strike them out" guy. Squint and maybe something is there? Maybe the combo works out? Or maybe something starts to stand out? There's just too little major league IP to really say though. the minor league stats are all over the place.  I'd say he's worth a look in the majors - which he's getting. He's probably worth holding for a minor league deal for a year - maybe Baltimore was just bad at developing pitching. Then again - the Nats aren't great here either. Seems like a guy that might hit his stride... for a Dodgers or Yankees or Braves in 2024.

*There is no long relief anymore for some reason. Guys don't come in and go 2-3. They come in and MAYBE go 2 if they are cruising.