Washington Nationals: Stevenson And Abreu Highlight First Week Of AFL

Here is how some of the Washington Nationals prospects did in the first week of Arizona Fall League action

While the Washington Nationals were battling it out with the Los Angeles Dodgers in the NLDS, some of their prospects began the first week playing for the Glendale Desert Dogs in the Arizona Fall League. Glendale went 2-3 this week under manager Aaron Rowand, but some of the Nats prospects had their share of good moments.

First, let’s start with outfielder Andrew Stevenson. This season, the 22-year-old didn’t drive in more than three runs in any particular game. On Wednesday night, against the Mesa Solar Sox, Stevenson hit a two-run home run in the first inning and drove in five runs in a 7-1 win.

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After that home run in the first, Stevenson drove in a run with a sacrifice fly in the third and drove in two more runs with a RBI single in the ninth. In three games this past week, Stevenson went 3-for-12 with the aforementioned home run and six RBI’s.

On Thursday night, while the Washington Nationals were playing Game 5 against the Dodgers, one of their prospects hit a walk-off for Glendale. Shortstop Osvaldo Abreu had a two-run single in the bottom of the ninth to cap off a three RBI performance.

The other Washington Nationals position player prospect playing for Glendale is third baseman Drew Ward, who had a RBI double on Saturday night against Mesa. He is 4-for-9 in his first three games.

When it comes to starting pitching, Austin Voth got the start in Glendale’s opener against Tim Tebow and the Scottsdale Scorpions. Voth went 2.2 innings, gave up five runs on five hits, struck out two, and walked one in a loss. The right-hander threw 58 pitches with 33 of them being strikes.

This past week, three Washington Nationals relievers made at least one appearance. Jake Johansen and Ryan Brinley each made one appearance and struck out two batters each. The other reliever, Nick Lee, made two appearances and had a unique outing on October 12. In that game, the 25-year-old left-hander walked two batters, but he struck out four and gave up one hit over two innings.

Next: Washington Nationals: 2016 Player Review: Lucas Giolito

Keep an eye out every week as District On Deck will be keeping you up to date on everything going on with the Washington Nationals prospects in the Arizona Fall League.

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