Speedy Young burst onto scene, thrusting himself into 2024 mix

PLAYER REVIEW: JACOB YOUNG

Age on Opening Day 2024: 24

How acquired: Seventh-round pick, 2021 Draft

MLB service time: 37 days

2023 salary: $720,000

Contract status: Under club control, arbitration-eligible in 2027, free agent in 2030

2023 stats: 33 G, 121 PA, 107 AB, 9 R, 27 H, 7 2B, 1 3B, 0 HR, 12 RBI, 13 SB, 0 CS, 10 BB, 22 SO, .252 AVG, .322 OBP, .336 SLG, .658 OPS, 84 OPS+, 0 DRS, 0.6 bWAR, 0.7 fWAR

Quotable: “It’s not something I think was even going through my head. I just wanted to have a good, full season, put it all together, get better and grow as a player. The opportunity just kind of came that way. I’ve been blessed to have that opportunity. I’m just trying to take advantage of it.” – Jacob Young, asked if he could’ve imagined reaching the big leagues when the season began

2023 analysis: Young was among the organization’s minor league award winners who were invited to come to Nationals Park in September 2022 and be honored prior to a home game. Little could he (or the team, for that matter) have envisioned him playing on that same field for the home team one year later.

Young opened his 2023 campaign at Single-A Wilmington, where over the course of 56 games he batted .307/.383/.401 with 22 stolen bases. That earned him a promotion to Double-A Harrisburg, where over the course of 52 games he batted .304/.374/.431 with 17 stolen bases. That earned him a promotion to Triple-A Rochester, where he didn’t last long. Only four games into his stint at the highest level of the minors, Young was on his way to Miami to join the big league roster for the first time.

It took him a few games to get comfortable, but Young made his presence known in an Aug. 29 win at Toronto, recording his first hit, his first stolen base and his first outfield assist (a jaw-dropping throw from center field to the plate for a critical eighth-inning double play). Young quickly established himself as a quality outfielder and baserunner, but his offensive game was hit-or-miss. He did finish strong, batting .293/.356/.390 over his final 12 games while starting in center field every game down the stretch.

2024 outlook: With no shortage of big-name outfield prospects in the Nationals system, it was easy to gloss over Young. A seventh-round pick in 2021 out of the University of Florida, he’s not an imposing presence at 5-foot-11, 180 pounds. Club officials, though, have liked him all along, and by the end of the 2023 season it was easy to see why.

Though it was a limited sample at the big league level, Young certainly looked capable of playing a quality center field against the toughest competition in the world. And his speed and instincts on the bases are legit. The only real question is whether he can hit enough to stick in the majors.

That will be the No. 1 question facing Young when he reports for spring training. He’s going to be playing alongside several of those bigger-name outfield prospects in Dylan Crews, James Wood and Robert Hassell III, and it will only be natural to compare his performance to theirs. Young will need to embrace the player he is and not try to be someone he’s not. He needs to continue to show he’s got the defensive and baserunning skills to outplay anybody, then show he can be productive enough as a hitter.

Barring a huge spring, it’s unlikely any of those other prospects are going to make the Opening Day roster. That could provide an opening for Young. If Victor Robles doesn’t recapture his job – and at this point, who knows how that’s going to play out – Young should have the inside track to at least begin the season as the Nats’ top center fielder. It’ll then be up to him to hold control of that job, even when those bigger names are ready to burst onto the scene sometime during the season.