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When the Nationals face the Braves tonight following Wednesday’s rainout, Robert Hassell III will take the field for the first time as a big leaguer. When he looks to his right from his outfield position, he’ll see James Wood. When he looks in toward the middle infield, he’ll see CJ Abrams. And watching from the dugout will be MacKenzie Gore, who on Friday night will take the mound to start the series opener against the Giants.
Those four players have long been connected, four of the five prospects the Nats acquired from the Padres in the August 2022 Juan Soto/Josh Bell trade. Nearly three years later, they’re all in the big leagues together. (Right-hander Jarlin Susana, the fifth prospect, is currently on the injured list after making five starts for Double-A Harrisburg to begin the season.)
“It’s awesome,” Hassell said. “I think that’s the best-case scenario in a lot of people’s eyes. It was a big trade, and everybody had high expectations for us. I’m glad to be in the same place, in ‘The Show.’”
Abrams was first to arrive, shortly after the trade. Gore was injured but made his Nationals debut in April 2023. Wood made it in July 2024. All three are now playing at an All-Star level, with Abrams ranking eighth in the majors with a .940 OPS, Wood tied for fifth in the National League with 12 homers and Gore leading the entire sport with 84 strikeouts.
Hassell, believe it or not, was just as highly regarded as any of them at the time of the deal, maybe more so. He boasted an .846 OPS in high Single-A upon getting traded and ranked anywhere from the 26th to the 37th best prospect in baseball.
The outfielder just hit a few road blocks on his path to D.C.
It began when he fractured the hamate bone in his right wrist during the Arizona Fall League in 2022. He continued to be bothered by the injury in 2023 and finished with a mere .645 OPS between Single-A Fredericksburg and Double-A Harrisburg. A new hand injury plagued him in 2024, and in a 17-game tryout at Triple-A Rochester to end the season he batted just .125 while slugging a meager .156.
Hassell finally felt 100 percent healthy when he reported to West Palm Beach this spring, though, and the results showed it. In 21 Grapefruit League games, he batted a robust .370 with a .951 OPS, making an outside case for a spot on the Opening Day roster but ultimately sent back to Rochester to begin the season.
After a sluggish start to the year, Hassell took off once the calendar flipped to May. In 16 games, he batted .365 with three doubles, four homers, 16 RBIs and a 1.006 OPS.
“Going back to spring training and times before, I was in a little bit of a groove, and then I hit a little rut that I was in at the start at Triple-A,” he said. “But I really didn’t let it affect me. I knew that it was coming and stuck with the same thing I’ve been doing.
“I think that’s different than years past. The second something doesn’t go right, I want to change. It’s for the right reasons, but sometimes that’s not always the best thing. I just stuck true to what I know, and I think it’s helped me.”
The Nationals intended to keep Hassell in Rochester a while longer, but when Dylan Crews aggravated his left oblique on a check-swing Tuesday night and had to be placed on the 10-day injured list, Hassell was the obvious choice for the promotion.
It remains to be seen if he’s here for good, or if he’ll head back to Triple-A once Crews is ready to return. For now, though, manager Davey Martinez says Hassell will start most days, either in center or right field depending on Jacob Young’s status.
Which means there should be plenty of opportunities for three – and when Gore pitches, four – of the vaunted prospects acquired in the Soto deal to play together in the big leagues at long last.
“Watching these guys grow and come up,” Martinez said, “I know we had a couple already up here, but to see Hassell finally make it up here and see that he worked really hard to get here, that’s awesome.”
