The Nationals announced that they have selected a third coach Homes in Brady to Triple-A Rochester. That creates a viable roster opening, which they will reportedly fill tomorrow by recalling the #2 first choice Dylan Crews.
It’s a surprising demotion, as House has started 38 of Washington’s 48 games this year. He was in tonight’s extra inning loss to the Mets and still hit third in the lineup against Blake Buta. Despite continuing to hit him in the middle of the order, the Nats now decided to send House down for his first stint against Triple-A pitching since his MLB debut last June.
House, the #11 overall pick in the 2022 draft, connected on a .234/.252/.322 line over 73 games as a rookie. This year’s prices are better but still average. House carries a .227/.282/.399 mark in 177 trips to the plate. He is striking out at a minuscule 7.3% clip against a 28% strikeout rate. He ranks in the bottom 15 among hitters (minimum 150 plate appearances) in strikeout rate.
The hitting streak is still a work in progress, but House’s seven home runs are tied for him Daylen Lee third in the group behind James Wood again CJ Abrams. He has connected on three of those homers this month, albeit with a .224 average and .264 on-base percentage entering tonight’s game. The house is not well balanced defensively, it is binding Little Caminero for the lead among third basemen with eight errors. Both Defensive Runs Saved and Outs Above Average put him in the bottom five in the area.
Washington’s infield defense probably won’t improve much with a combination of Jorbit Vivas again José Tena which includes the third base. Curtis Mead He has hit well off the bench and could get a look as well, although the Nationals seem to prefer him as a first baseman. That will open up the bats for Wood and Lile, as Crews will be in the lineup every day. Jacob Young he is the team’s best outfielder; day-to-day after taking a fastball to the ribs this evening, though Butera said x-rays were negative (via Mark Zuckerman of the Nats Journal).
House entered the season with 105 days of MLB service. He needs to be on the big league roster 67 days this year to surpass the one-hit limit before the end of the season. He’s less than two weeks into that right now, but there’s plenty of time for him to play his way back to the active roster in the summer.
