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Jake Alu

Nationals Outright Jake Alu

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The Nationals announced this afternoon that infielder/outfielder Jake Alu has cleared outright waivers and been assigned to Triple-A Rochester.

Alu, 27, was selected by the Nats in the 24th round of the 2019 draft and made his big league debut with the club last season. He struggled in 51 games last year, hitting just .226/.282/.289 with five extra-base hits in 175 trips to the plate. While Alu contributed minimal value with the bat last year, he was nonetheless an interesting bench piece for the club thanks to his versatility. Alu played left field as well as both second and third base for the Nationals last year at the major league level and has even received brief cameos at shortstop and first base in the minor leagues.

That versatility wasn’t enough to earn Alu a spot on the Nationals bench entering the season, however, and the utilityman was sent to Triple-A Rochester to open the 2024 campaign. He thrived at the level in 74 games last year, slashing a solid .298/.360/.428 in 330 trips to the plate, but struggled in a return to the level this year as he posted a tepid .190/.262/.276 slash line in 65 trips to the plate. Those struggles were enough for Washington to decide to risk losing Alu on waivers last week, when the club designated him for assignment to open up a roster spot for right-hander Jacob Barnes.

Fortunately for the Nationals, Alu cleared waivers and will instead report to Rochester as a non-roster depth option for the club going forward. As an optionable hitter with plenty of defensive versatility, Alu could be a useful piece to have on hand in the event of an injury that compromises the depth of the big league club. At Triple-A, Alu figures to compete with the likes of Juan Yepez, Carter Kieboom, and Stone Garrett as potential depth options for the Nationals going forward.

Nationals Select Jacob Barnes, Designate Jake Alu

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The Nationals announced today that they have select the contract of right-hander Jacob Barnes. He will take the active roster spot of left-hander Robert Garcia, who has been placed on the 15-day injured list due to influenza, retroactive to April 21. To open a 40-man spot for Barnes, infielder/outfielder Jake Alu has been designated for assignment. Mark Zuckerman of MASNsports.com noted that Barnes was in the clubhouse prior to the official announcement.

It would appear that an influenza virus is spreading around the Nats’ clubhouse. Catcher Keibert Ruiz came down with the illness and also landed on the IL, last appearing in a game back on April 8. Over the weekend, he told Spencer Nusbaum of The Washington Post that he was feeling better but had lost 18 to 20 pounds because of his illness. Garcia last appeared on Saturday and it seems he is unwell, so the club will let him rest up for the next little while.

To take his spot in the bullpen, they have tapped a veteran journeyman in Barnes. They 34-year-old has appeared in the past eight major league seasons and will make in nine in a row once the Nats send him out to the mound. He has suited up for the Brewers, Royals, Angels, Mets, Blue Jays, Tigers, Yankees and Cardinals in that time, and will now add the Nationals to that list.

He has a 4.76 earned run average over his 265 appearances, but with much better numbers earlier in his career. He tossed 147 1/3 innings with the Brewers from 2016 to 2018 with a 3.54 ERA, 24.4% strikeout rate and 9.9% walk rate. Since then, he has a 6.32 ERA while punching out just 20.8% of hitters, corresponding with the nomadic phase of his career.

He finished last season with the Cardinals but they outrighted him off the roster in October, allowing him to elect free agency. He signed a minor league deal with the Nats and has been in good form of late, having tossed eight scoreless innings for their Triple-A club, striking out ten opponents while giving out just two walks. He’s out of options so the club won’t be able to send him back down to the minors at a future date. Even if they were to pass him through waivers, he would have the right to reject an outright assignment and elect free agency.

To add that veteran arm to their pen, the Nats are risking losing Alu. A 24th-round pick in 2019, Alu overcame that modest draft selection to get onto Washington’s 40-man roster in November of 2022, as the club hoped to keep him out of the Rule 5 draft. He had hit .299/.365/.506 in the minors that year for a wRC+ of 131.

Since Alu already offered a bit of speed and some defensive versatility, the Nats were hoping that the improved offense was a good sign of things to come. Unfortunately, he’s hit just .226/.282/.289 in the majors thus far and just .277/.341/.397 in the minors since the start of 2023, the latter line translating to a wRC+ of 88.

The Nats will now have a week to trade Alu or pass him through waivers. The lack of offense will tamp down the interest somewhat but he still has a couple of options and has played all four infield positions, as well as left field.

Nationals Notes: Dickerson, Kuhl, Kieboom

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The Nationals announced today that they reinstated outfielder Corey Dickerson from the injured list with fellow outfielder Jake Alu optioned to Triple-A Rochester in a corresponding move.

Dickerson, 34 next week, was signed in the offseason to a one-year deal worth $2.25MM plus incentives. Unfortunately, he only got into two games before landing on the injured list due to a calf strain that ultimately kept him away from the club for about six weeks.

He’s been roughly a league average hitter in the past few seasons but has been better with the platoon advantage. Going back to the start of 2020, he’s hit .279/.326/.417 against righties for a wRC+ of 105 but just .192/.244/.320 against lefties for a 53 wRC+. Manager Dave Martinez tells Mark Zuckerman of MASNsports.com that Dickerson will start in left field against righties while Stone Garrett will take the short side of the platoon. Given that the rebuilding Nats are unlikely to be in contention this summer, Dickerson’s status as a veteran on a one-year deal would make him a natural trade candidate if he’s healthy and playing well.

In the rotation, the Nats have been dealing with a few absences this year, including Stephen Strasburg’s ongoing issues and Cade Cavalli’s Tommy John surgery. In addition, righty Chad Kuhl landed on the IL a couple of weeks ago due to a sprain of the big toe on his right foot. He seems to be getting close to a return, as Zuckerman relays that Kuhl threw 65 pitches over four innings in a sim game today.

Kuhl wasn’t especially effective prior to the injury, posting a 9.41 ERA in five starts. However, he’s been a serviceable backend starter in his career, with a 4.92 ERA in a larger sample of 598 2/3 innings. The Nats have received some decent work from their current rotation of Patrick Corbin, Josiah Gray, MacKenzie Gore, Trevor Williams and Jake Irvin, as all five of them have an ERA below 5.00. Irvin, however, has just three career starts, allowing just one earned run over the first two but six in his most recent outing. Once Kuhl is ready to return, the club will likely have to decide if they want Irvin to stick in the big leagues or continue his development in the minors.

Looking to the farm, infielder Carter Kieboom didn’t play this weekend due to some lat soreness. Zuckerman relays word from Martinez that Kieboom underwent an MRI, though the results haven’t come through yet. Once one of the top prospects in the sport, Kieboom struggled in his first cracks at the majors, hitting .197/.304/.285 in 106 games over the 2019-2021 period. He then missed all of 2022 due to Tommy John surgery and dealt with shoulder soreness this spring. He began the year on the injured list with a shoulder impingement and was recently optioned to Triple-A after completing his rehab assignment. The results of the imaging will hopefully shed more light on the issue for Kieboom but the fact that something seems to be lingering in his shoulder is somewhat concerning.

Nationals To Place Victor Robles On 10-Day Injured List

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6:52PM: Nats manager Davey Martinez told MASNsports.com’s Mark Zuckerman and other reporters that Robles was indeed heading to the 10-day IL with back spasms, and that Alu was being called up as the roster replacement.

5:38PM: Victor Robles suffered a back injury while trying to steal second base in the third inning of Saturday’s game, which led to Robles’ removal from the game.  The Nationals didn’t include Robles in today’s lineup, and it now appears a longer absence is in store, as Jesse Dougherty of The Washington Post (Twitter link) reports that Robles is expected to be placed on the 10-day injured list.

Utilityman Jake Alu is expected to be called up from Triple-A Rochester to replace Robles on the active roster, as Alu is on his way to join the Nationals for the start of their series in San Francisco on Monday.  The 26-year-old Alu is already on the Nationals’ 40-man roster, as D.C. added him back in November in advance of the Rule 5 Draft.

It’s an unfortunate setback for Robles, whose solid start has now been interrupted by injury.  Robles is hitting .292/.388/.360 over his first 107 plate appearances, with eight steals in nine chances.  Robles’ 113 wRC+ marks his highest total since the 2018 season, though naturally both a small sample size and some battled-ball luck (a .347 BABIP) might indicate that some regression is coming.  Still, Robles’ speed allows him to turn some of those borderline balls in play into hits, and he has considerably improved both his walk and strikeout rates.  After a 23.9% strikeout rate in his first six MLB seasons, Robles has a 13.1 K% in 2023, ranking in the 90th percentile of all batters.

On the flip side, Robles’ once-elite defense has taken a notable step back.  Over just 258 innings in center field, Robles already has -8 Defensive Runs Saved as well as -2 Outs Above Average and a -15.8 UZR/150.  This would certainly give rival teams pause in considering Robles as a trade deadline pickup, since the rebuilding Nationals will likely be open for business on any veteran player.  Robles signed a short-term contract extension in February that gave the Nats a $3.3MM club option on his services for 2024, though Washington has arbitration control over Robles even if the option is declined.  This bit of extra control could be an interesting factor in any trade talks, but naturally the first order of business is to get Robles healed up and back in the Nats’ lineup.

Though Alex Call and Lane Thomas have gotten the bulk of starts as Washington’s corner outfielders, Call and Thomas are the likeliest candidates to step into center field duty with Robles sidelined.  This could open up more playing time for Stone Garrett and Ildemaro Vargas in the outfield, and Alu will likely also get some looks during his first taste of Major League action.

A 24th-round pick for the Nationals in the 2019 draft, Alu posted quality numbers in 2021-22, and MLB Pipeline ranked him 27th on their list of the Nats’ top 30 prospects, Alu began this year on the injured list with a knee injury and doesn’t seem to have really gotten on track, with only a .240/.318/.333 slash line in 86 PA with Triple-A Rochester.

However, Alu’s multi-positional versatility might be more important than his bat in the Nationals’ view, with Robles out of action and Jeimer Candelario also missing a pair of games due to dehydration.  Alu has played mostly third base this season and might chip in at the hot corner if Candelario needs more recovery time, but Alu has also seen a lot of time as a second baseman and a handful of minor league games as a left fielder and first baseman.

Speaking of third base, the Nationals announced that Carter Kieboom was reinstated from the 10-day injured list and returned from his rehab assignment, then optioned to Triple-A.  The former top prospect hit only .197/.304/.285 over 414 plate appearances with the Nats from 2019-21, but he missed all of 2022 while recovering from Tommy John surgery.  A shoulder injury then set Kieboom back during Spring Training, resulting in his season-opening IL stint.  Kieboom has played in only three Double-A games during his rehab assignment, so Washington will give him a longer ramp-up time in Rochester before considering a return to the big league roster.

Nationals To Make Several Roster Moves

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3:07pm: In addition to the moves below, the Nats added left-hander Jose Ferrer and right-hander Jake Irvin. To create roster space, they designated right-hander Tommy Romero for assignment while outfielder Yadiel Hernandez, lefty Evan Lee and righty Jackson Tetreault cleared outright waivers and were assigned to Triple-A Rochester. Additionally, the club avoided arbitration with infielder Ildemaro Vargas by agreeing to a one-year deal. Vargas will make $975K, reports Andrew Golden of the Washington Post (Twitter link). That’s a touch below his $1.1MM arbitration projection.

3:00pm: Talk Nats adds that Alu has indeed been added. 26 in April, Alu is an infielder who had a great year at the plate. Between Double-A and Triple-A, he hit .299/.365/.506 for a wRC+ of 132.

11:57am: The deadline for MLB teams to add players to their 40-man roster in order to protect them from selection in the Rule 5 draft is tonight at 5pm Central. The Nationals are set to add at least three players, according to Talk Nats. They are right-hander Jackson Rutledge, left-hander Matt Cronin and outfielder Jeremy De La Rosa. It’s possible more moves are still coming, with Talk Nats identifying Jake Alu and Jose Ferrer as possibilities.

Rutledge, 24 in April, was the club’s first round selection in 2019, going 17th overall. He got some work in affiliated ball after that draft but then saw the minor leagues get wiped out by the pandemic in 2020. Shoulder tightness and recurring blisters then limited his workload and effectiveness in 2021. He got things back on track somewhat here in 2022 by making 20 starts, but they were in Single-A and he only posted a 4.90 ERA. His peripherals were much stronger though, with a high BABIP and low strand rate likely pushing his ERA higher than deserved, as indicated by his 3.89 FIP and 3.93 xFIP.

He has yet to reach Double-A and is still likely not close to making his major league debut. Still, based on his previous prospect stock and ability to hit triple-digits with his heater, the Nats have decided they don’t want to risk losing him in next month’s draft. With the big league club mired in rebuild mode anyway, there’s little harm in dedicating a roster spot to someone who is unlikely to contribute in 2023 if the club thinks he can provide future value some day. He’s currently ranked the club’s #9 prospect at Baseball America and #10 at FanGraphs.

Cronin, 25, was a fourth round pick in that same 2019 draft. He’s worked exclusively as a reliever since then, working his way up the minor league ladder. In 2022, he split his time between Double-A and Triple-A, throwing 52 combined innings. In that time, he posted a 2.42 ERA with a 26.9% strikeout rate and 10.6% walk rate. He’ll give the club a left-handed relief option that can potentially be optioned between the majors and minors for the next few years. He’s 17th on the BA list and 30th at FanGraphs.

De La Rosa, 21 in January, was signed as an international free agent in 2018. He started 2022 in Single-A and completely mashed, producing a batting line of .315/.394/.505 with 26 steals. A midseason promotion to High-A didn’t produce immediate results, as he hit just .195/.273/.271, though he did swipe another 13 bags. In the field, he played primarily in center field and could have a decent floor with his speed and defense. BA slots him in at #10 on their list while FanGraphs has him at #8.

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