Yasmany Tomas was signed to a minor league contract by the Washington Nationals in hopes they could catch lightning in a bottle. The last time he had meaningful contributions to a Major League team was 2017, yet if Tomas could hit for the power now he did back then, they would have quite a steal.
The odds were stacked against him from the beginning of camp. There were a handful of thirty something year-olds looking to earn a spot on the big club, joining Tomas as non-roster invitees. While the Nationals had needs in the bullpen, and question marks on the infield, the outfield was pretty much set, and that was where Tomas why trying to crack the team.
A long shot to say the least, he contrived memories of what Mark Reynolds was able to do when he was taken off the scrap head by the Nationals.
Yasmany Tomas was unable to get back to the majors with the Nationals and now faces a future without affiliated baseball.
For a guy who has accumulated six at-bats the past three years, though comes with a track record of hitting home runs, Tomas needed to flash some power in order have an outside chance of making the team.
His numbers during spring training were very pedestrian. Seven hits in thirty official trips to the plate, all singles. Hardly enough to keep him in camp until the final week of the season. Tomas was more healthy than Gerardo Parra, not as clutch as Yadiel Hernandez. Nothing about his performance stood out, or warranted the Nationals to carry him any further.
They didn’t. They officially released him from his minor league contract in a flurry of moves.
Tomas signed a 6 YR/$68.5M contract in 2014 with the Arizona Diamondbacks, the only organization he knew, before signing with he Nationals this offseason. He suffered a groin injury in 2017, spent a year and a half in the minors, and didn’t play at all in the pandemic season of 2020.
He is a long ways from the 31 home run season he had in 2016 and now may be at the end of his career. Tomas is a power hitter only, and if he can’t hit for power, there is not a place for him on a major league roster.
We may have seen the last of Yasmany Tomas.