Nationals' Brady House: Could make debut in second half
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House could take over as the Nationals' starting third baseman before the end of the season, Mark Zuckerman of MASN Sports reports.
Washington is currently deploying Trey Lipscomb at the hot corner, but the 24-year-old has just a .565 OPS through his first 159 big-league plate appearances and is likely a utility player in the long run. House is viewed as the organization's third baseman of the future, and a promotion to Triple-A Rochester in early July puts him one step away from the majors. He's gone 4-for-12 with two doubles to begin his Triple-A tenure, and if he holds his own in the International League, a promotion to the Nats' big-league roster some time in the second half seems very plausible. Even in the best-case scenario, House's call-up probably wouldn't occur until late August in order to keep his rookie status intact for 2025.
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Nationals' Brady House: Gets bump to Triple-A
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The Nationals promoted House from Double-A Harrisburg to Triple-A Rochester on Sunday.
House will get his first taste of the Triple-A level and should take over as Rochester's everyday third baseman after the Nationals called up Trey Lipscomb on Saturday to replace Nick Senzel -- who was designated for assignment -- as their primary option at the hot corner. Though the 21-year-old may not get a call to the majors before the season ends, House is likely viewed as the organization's long-term answer at third base over Lipscomb, who lacks the ideal power-hitting profile for the position. House, meanwhile, hit a modest .234 over his 306 plate appearances with Harrisburg, but he showcased plenty of pop (13 home runs, .189 ISO) while striking out at a manageable 24.5 percent clip.
House has five homers in his last 11 games at Double-A Harrisburg and is slashing .268/.364/.500 in 30 games this season.
The 20-year-old third baseman is hitting .342 with six strikeouts and five walks over that 11-game heater. House is showing as good of a combination of power, patience and contact as could have reasonably been expected, given his youth, and he remains a good bet to be the Nationals' third baseman of the future.
House was promoted to Double-A Harrisburg on Tuesday, Jesse Dougherty of The Washington Post reports.
House dropped off a lot of top-100 prospect lists following a somewhat underwhelming showing in Low-A ball last year, but he broke through to High-A Wilmington last month and is now making a swift leap to the Nationals' Double-A affiliate. The 20-year-old third baseman carries a shiny .304/.369/.512 overall minor-league batting line through 226 plate appearances this season.
House went 2-for-5 with a double and a run scored Saturday in his first game for High-A Wilmington.
The 20-year-old earned a promotion by slashing .280/.352/.476 through 37 games at Single-A Fredericksburg, improving both his strikeout and walks rates from the year before at the same level. House is a key part of the Nationals' rebuild, and while he isn't being fast-tracked to the majors, the 2021 first-round pick could start knocking on the door late in 2024 if he stays healthy.
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Nationals' Brady House: Strong start to campaign
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House is batting .333 (6-for-18) through six games with Single-A Fredericksburg with a double, a triple, two home runs, a stolen base and a 6:4 BB:K.
After posting a 12:59 BB:K in 45 games at Fredericksburg last year, the improved plate discipline might be the most noteworthy feature of House's hot start to 2023. The 2021 first-round pick won't turn 20 until early June, but if he stays healthy and keeps raking, he should receive a promotion to High-A for his birthday.
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Nationals' Brady House: Moving to third base
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House will move from shortstop to third base this season, Andrew Golden of The Washington Post reports.
The No. 11 overall pick in the 2021 MLB Draft, House never seemed likely to stick at short and the Nationals have decided to go ahead and make the move with one of their top prospects. The 19-year-old missed a large chunk of the 2022 season with back issues but is now 100 percent healthy. He was at Single-A Fredericksburg for 45 games last season and figures to either head back there to start 2023 or move up to High-A Wilmington.
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Nationals' Brady House: Ruled out for 2022
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Single-A Fredericksburg manager Jake Lowery said Monday that House (back) won't play again in 2022 but should be a full participant for spring training, Joey LoMonaco of The Fredericksburg Free Lance-Star reports.
The 19-year-old shortstop thus concludes his second professional season with a .278/.356/.375 slash line to go with three home runs and one stolen base over 202 plate appearances at Fredericksburg. Even though he's been ruled out from playing again in 2022, House could remain with Fredericksburg for the rest of the minor-league season to continue his rehab program for the back injury.
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Nationals' Brady House: May not return this season
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House (back) may not return to game action until fall instructs, Matt Weyrich of NBC Sports Washington reports.
The Nationals hope to get House back before the end of the minor-league season, but that is not a given. The No. 11 overall pick in last year's draft, House slashed .386/.463/.529 with two home runs in his first 16 games of the season at Single-A but saw his line dwindle to .208/.283/.274 with one home run over his next 29 games. This back issue may have been a big reason for his struggles after getting off to such a great start.
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Nationals' Brady House: Shut down to manage workload
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House is dealing with a back injury that has kept him sidelined since June 11. He is being held out in an effort to manage his workload, Jesse Dougherty of The Washington Post reports.
The 2021 first-round pick hasn't played for Single-A Fredericksburg since June 11, but it's all part of the Nationals' plan. "We're putting the [focus] on playing deep into the season, through the minor league season and being available beyond," Nats general manager Mike Rizzo said Friday. "Because our plan is always to play through October... I think we've kind of adapted that, kind of morphed into that being the best way to achieve the goals. The goal for player development is to develop these guys mentally, physically and emotionally to finish a full major league season." House was in a bit of a funk at the plate when he was shut down, batting .268 (11-for-41) through 11 games in June with only one extra-base hit (a double) and a 1:14 BB:K, and Rizzo indicated the 19-year-old wouldn't return to the lineup for Fredericksburg until early July.
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Nationals' Brady House: Placed on injured list
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House was placed on the 7-day minor-league injured list for an undisclosed reason Thursday, Bobby Blanco of MASNSports.com reports.
House hasn't played at Single-A Fredericksburg since June 11 and is apparently dealing with an injury that will force him to miss at least another week. The 19-year-old also dealt with an unspecified injury in May that forced him to miss two weeks, but it's not yet clear how much time he'll miss during his current IL stint.
