CJ Abrams' Growth and Nationals' Promising Prospects

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00:00Uh, C. J. Abrams had some issues last year. Obviously some maturity question marks seems

00:06to have come into camp, though, with a little bit more body mass, a little bit more muscle,

00:10which is good because it's a long season. And I think it seems like maybe he has kind

00:15of realized maybe the folly of his ways. But at the same time, you've got some emerging

00:19stars here with the Washington Nationals. You got James Wood, who looks like an absolute

00:24stud to me. I think this guy is the real deal. Dylan Cruz, not far behind him. So this is

00:29a duo, and you've got to go back and respect. This is the same Washington Nationals organization

00:34and scouting that brought you Bryce Harper and Juan Soto, and they know what they're

00:38doing when it comes to finding these great young position players. They know how to get

00:42it done. You look at some teams that can't get out of their own way in the draft. It's

00:46not the Nats. The Nats sometimes lose too much, but they make the most of those early

00:51draft picks, and they're doing it again. I look at this rotation to that's getting better.

00:55I think as the years go on, I think Mackenzie Gore last year, a big leap forward for him.

01:01You got Jake Irvin there. I don't expect much from Soroka. There's actually a picture I'm

01:06way more excited about. DJ Hurts, who I think is going to be a left-handed stud, strikeout

01:11artist guy. I think he's going to make that rotation. He's not projected to be there yet.

01:14And I want to emphasize yet because that dude's the real deal, and he's one of my breakouts

01:20in the Black Book this year because of it. So don't sleep on the Washington Nationals.

01:24I think that win total, Sammy, was it 71.5? I think it was. I think it's an over. And

01:30I think that despite the fact this very competitive National League East division is going to

01:35be in front of them, I think the Nats are going to be plucky. I'd be looking for the

01:39Nats to cover a lot of games, maybe not win as many as you think, but definitely cover

01:44and be more competitive. I like the Nats, Matt.

01:46Yeah, no, we started to play them that way last year on the run line, and losing Lane

01:50Thomas was an issue, and he goes over to Cleveland. But look, the kids are going to

01:55be fun in isolation and be all over the woods and cruised, you know, individual total base

01:59props and things like that. I like the glue guys, the guys that I'm not really going to

02:03take in fantasy. Nathaniel Lowe, I think, is a good guy. Wow, Lowe, yeah, that one.

02:09And like Juan Yepes. These are not these sexy names, but that's a good baseball man, and

02:13that's the glue that holds this team together. So I really like this Nationals team. And

02:17also, you mentioned all the pitching. Let's not forget about Mitchell Parker as well.

02:20So I just think this team is going to be really, really good. A young team, a fun team

02:24upon which to wager. They will join this next team. Now, a bit more public, are the Cincinnati

02:29Reds. Elie Delacruz is a star. That's the headline. That's what's in the show sheet.

02:34That's where we begin. Hunter Green taking a step forward. Matt McClain returning. But

02:39Tito Francona coming in to be the manager for that team, and a bullpen that is better

02:44than most people think. And don't sleep on guys like Nick Lodolo, and don't think sleep

02:48on guys like Andrew Abbott. This team can be really, really disruptive in the Central

02:53Drill. Talking about the Reds. Yeah, we've only scratched the surface of how good Elie

02:58Delacruz is going to be. We see the power. We see the speed. But this is a young man

03:01who has not gone into the frame yet. And when he does, look out. We're talking about one

03:05of the best players in baseball. He already was electric last season. Hunter Green, though,

03:10I want to talk about him. He cut his home run rate in half last year. That's a big deal

03:14for Hunter Green, because he's been susceptible to giving up a lot of homers, which has really

03:18killed some of his outings. Went from 1.53 to .72 year over year. The strikeout rate

03:24came down a little bit, but it was still very high by strikeout rate standard. Over 10K

03:29per nine, the walk rate came down. You saw a better version of Hunter Green. And he's

03:34only 25 years old. So we get a little spoiled with some of these guys. And Nick Lodolo,

03:38another guy, too, a young left-handed starter that is still very young. We still haven't

03:43seen the best of. A couple of years ago, a lot of us thought Lodolo might even be better

03:46than Green. And there's still time to figure that out. Brady Singer, another nice rotation

03:51addition. And the big addition is also the return of Matt McClain. Now, McClain missed

03:56last year with an injury with a shoulder. He did play in the AFL. The power came back

04:00a little bit. He needs reps. So this is a guy you want to see go out there in spring,

04:05have a good spring training, get his reps in, start to make some good contact, because

04:10not that long ago, Matt McClain was in that conversation for Rookie of the Year. And that's

04:14the kind of talent they need back in this lineup to help protect Eli De La Cruz. So

04:18keep an eye on the Reds. And as you mentioned, Francona, a guy who knows how to win and knows

04:22how to teach a winning culture, especially to a young team. So I'm very excited about

04:26that combination, that manager with these young players.

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