Washington Nationals: Treating Brock Holt like he’s Rick Short

With the season in peril the Washington Nationals need to start evaluating players for the future. Why are they giving Brock Holt the Rick Short treatment?

You remember Rick Short don’t you? Testing your memory here, think back to the 2005 inaugural Washington Nationals.

Short was a career .319 hitter in the minor leagues. Problem was, he was a career minor leaguer. His 2005 stanza with New Orleans in Triple-A, is noteworthy for the fact he flirted with hitting .400 most of the season. He would fall a little short of the milestone, ending the year with a .383 average, though his numbers were impressive enough to earn a call-up when rosters expanded in September.

To that point he had spent eleven years in the minor leagues, playing with five different organizations, without ever getting a taste of big league coffee.

The Washington Nationals were rewarding his efforts that season with a chance to play in the majors. At the time of his promotion, the Nationals were 69-65, in last place of the National League East.

Short was given the opportunity to play because the Nationals were out of playoff contention and the roster spot was available.

At 32 years-old the Nationals knew Short didn’t have a future with the team.

Brock Holt is the 2020 version of Rick Short.

Just like in 2005, the Nats are in last place in the NL East. They are playing out the year, and with Carter Kieboom and Luis Garcia already in the majors, there isn’t a prospect to take the roster spot. Enter Brock Holt.

Also at 32 years of age, Holt has been in the majors nine years, most notably with the Boston Red Sox. He’s a veteran utility infielder who, unlike Short, wasn’t tearing it up in the minors (or in Milwaukee for that matter), but was available to fill out the roster.

Just like Short, the Nationals do not see Brock Holt on the team a year from now. He’s simply a body to run out there to hopefully make the games look respectable.

Short hit .400 with four extra base hits in just fifth-teen at bats during his time in Washington. We can only hope Holt puts up those types of numbers while he’s in town. The four hit game last night sure helped.