Nationals: Carter Kieboom is not the hitting equivalent of Trevor Rosenthal

There was a game during the Trevor Rosenthal experiment when a fan made a comment saying, “Come on guys, Trevor needs us right now.” The crowd produced a faint cheer and the fans received their intended result. A quick look to baseball-reference.com makes me think the game was June 21st when Rosenthal retired the lone batter he faced helping the Washington Nationals to a win over the Atlanta Braves.

Rosenthal entered the contest with a 19.50 ERA after ten games (after having an ERA of infinity for the first four) and needed something positive to help get him back on track. Unfortunately, in his next appearance Rosenthal walked all three batters he faced, and each came around to score. That would be the last time he’d wear a Nationals uniform and he left town with a WHIP higher than most pitcher’s ERA.

I believe we’ve reached the point where Nationals fans everywhere are collectively saying, “Come on, Carter needs us right now.”

Former Nationals prospect Carter Kieboom made his 2021 Triple-A debut and distanced himself further from returning to the Majors.

What would have to happen for Carter Kieboom to make his way back to the Majors (barring half the team landing on the COVID protocol list again)? If Josh Harrison struggles to hit, does he get bumped-moving Starlin Castro back to second base, creating a vacancy at third base for Kieboom?If Carter tore the cover off the baseball for a month at Triple-A, would that get him promoted?

Well, Harrison has been one to the hottest hitters in the lineup this year, and base running problems aside, has a lock on his position for the foreseeable future. And, Kieboom’s start to the 2021 season didn’t go as anyone had hoped.

In the Rochester Red Wings opener against the Lehigh Valley IronPigs, Kieboom was 0-5 at the plate with four strikeouts. Nothing like starting the year with a Golden Sombrero. Especially when he is trying to turn a corner and work his way back to the big club.

Flashback to Nationals Opening Day, when Kieboom drew an eight pitch walk to begin his rebound tour. Almost as if all Nationals fans were willing those pitches to be off the plate. We want this kid to succeed. We want this kid to shake the baggage and avoid the title of first round bust.

That one Triple-A game, we’ll forget about it. We’ll tell ourselves baseball is a marathon not a sprint. We’ll continue to hope Kieboom gets better. Will the Nationals brass forget? Everyone stands to benefit from him curing what ails him. Whether it be for the Nationals benefit in the win/loss column, or to increase his trade value. Kieboom is not Rosenthal.

Trevor Rosenthal may have left town with an ERA of 22.74, but I refuse to believe Carter Kieboom leaves town with a .180 career batting average.