The time is now for Dylan Crews to join the Washington Nationals. One of the best prospects in baseball has been on a heater recently, and the kid is ready to join the Nats. Also, while you're thinking about young prospects... lower your expectations for the Nats in 2024 and here's why. We then talk about the dreadful DBacks series cause... yeah it was bad.
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It's the lockdown podcast network, your team every day. The Nat just got absolutely pummeled against the Arizona Diamondbacks, but let me tell you this, it could be Dylan Cruz time and the reason why that is, well, I'll tell you after this. And thank you all for making lockdown nationals, your first list in every single day as we are free and available wherever you get your podcasts. And of course, I'm your host Ryan Cleary, you can catch me over on Twitter @RyanClery11 and as well as our show page @ello_nationals. For our latest nationals and news notes, make sure to check us out over on Twitter and of course, while you're at it, make sure to search up lockdown nationals wherever you get your podcasts, including over on YouTube again, just search lockdown nationals, hit that subscriber button, drop a thumbs up or a thumbs down, whatever you want. I am happy with later on in today's show, we'll be discussing the Arizona Diamondbacks series as nationals just got their teeth kicked in by the Dbacks. What was that? We're going to end on a negative note here because it's August. It's the dog days of summer. It's also the dog days of baseball season right after they have going to be trade deadline. So let's have a little bit of a miserable Thursday here. Why not? Also, second segment of today's show, I'm just going to warn you, if you haven't really seen lower your expectations, lower your expectations for this nat scene, but you look towards to the future and we'll discuss that in the second segment because there is stuff to look forward to and there are stuff to root for, but it's not going to be wins. I can tell you that in the second segment of today's show, but if you haven't been aware, we are creeping towards Dylan Cruz time. You heard that correctly. The national's number one prospect could be making his major league debut, maybe even as soon as this weekend. We'll discuss that, but of course, today's episode is brought to you by Game Time. Down the game time app, create an account and use code locked on MLB for $20 off your first purchase, again, $20 off use code locked on MLB for your first purchase. Of course, terms do apply. Speaking of terms, applying Dylan Cruz, inserting him into this national's lineup. What kind of juice would that bring? Well, there's a lot of different things. Number one, what Dylan Cruz would provide for this offense right here and right now is number one, a little glimpse of the future. You have James Wood already up, who by the way added a few hits to a season in the yesterday's game against the Dbacks. James Wood is one of those guys where we all kind of know the hype around him. We've seen the results in triple A. He's had his up and downs in the majors, but he has still looked pretty good. If you can now see Dylan Cruz and James Wood up in the same lineup together, number one, it puts a lot of pressure on opposing teams and Major League Baseball because you couldn't make an argument that there is no better one to punch as far as prospects go in baseball other than James Wood and Dylan Cruz at this moment in time. We're also talking about it. The reason why James Wood, or really not James Wood, but Dylan Cruz should be up in the majors here pretty soon is I've talked about this a lot. I truly do believe that Dylan Cruz and where this outfield stands as far as the future goes went into play as far as trading Lane Thomas. I was always under the belief that the national's would trade Lane Thomas no matter what at this year's deadline because think of it. I'm not good at math, but I can do this math. You've got your James Wood. He's going to be in the starting lineup for hope for the next seven plus years. You've got Dylan Cruz knocking on the door of the major leagues should be up here relatively soon. You've also got Jacob Young, a very cheap kind of the minimum kind of guy, which who is a again, a very cheap option for the steam right now, who plays very good in center field. You've also got other guys. You've got your Robert Hassel III, who's still coming back from injury, but he's still part of this future as well. You've got even guys who are further down the line, Seaver King. Maybe he's up in the majors by this time next year, if he flies through the system. The nationals have options and also even by the way, you'll haunt him or else someone who's in double A who hit a home run in his first big league or first minor league rehab assignment, come back from his injury back in May. They have out outfield options at this point. I think going forward now, you have to consider Dylan Cruz to be a big leaker here soon. You have to. And the reason why that is, we all know the numbers across double A and triple A aren't really all that impressive. He's above league average, but still you would like to see more of someone who is a top 10 prospect in all of baseball. We can all admit that. But what Dylan Cruz has been doing here recently, number one has been hitting for power. Number two, his exit velocities are way up and also he's not striking out as much. Over his last 16 games, and really ever since the futures game, even a little bit before that, but over the month of July, it is August 1st already, which by the way, oh my God, only two more months until the national season is over. That sucks, but whatever. Over Dylan Cruz July season, he batted 269, a 380 OBP, a 463 slug, which is a very important number in my opinion. It kind of goes to show you how he's really kind of ramping up here and added 842 OPS. A lot of doubles, had two home runs, seven RBIs, 11 walks to 11 strikeouts, and also had a triple in there. Dylan Cruz is major league ready in my opinion. I don't need to see more from this guy. I think if Dylan Cruz were to be put in this lineup today, at this moment in time, he's a top three hitter and it's not even close. You've got CJ Abrams who, with Jesse Winker and Lane Thomas now out the window, James Wood is up there with CJ Abrams as your two best hitters, and then you have Dylan Cruz. Wanya Pez, he's obviously in the fold as well, the way that he's been mashing the baseball so far with the nationals over the last few weeks here, but is that sustainable? That's probably a better question than we can tackle down the road. But as far as your future goes, this is one of your goals for 2024. The rest of this season, the nats have weighed the white flag. They weighed that white flag probably two weeks ago for being honest. When you trade Hunter Harvey, when you trade Jesse Winker, when you trade Lane Thomas, when you have kind of that sale that we all anticipated so far this season, that's the national saying, so long 2024, here's our white flag we're done with. That's now time to tank, and that's not a bad thing by the way, tanking is such like a crazy word to some people, but in reality of it, the reason why the nationals have a Dylan Cruz, the reason why they had Bryce Harper, the reason why they had Steven Strasburg, why they had Anthony Rendon was because they weren't that good, and you got a high pick. The nationals are going to be in play for a very high pick in this year's draft, and the exciting part of it is that we know they really won't be as bad as their record indicates. You can see that this team isn't an upward trajectory. Losing a few more games over the next two months, I do not care a single thing about it. What I do care about though, is seeing Dylan Cruz up in the majors, alongside James Wood, alongside CJ Abrams, and alongside all the younger core pieces, that is what I care about in seeing what they can do together, because that's what the future is. That is where we stand, sitting here today on August 1, 2024, we're looking towards the future, and the future is not that far away. It started with CJ Abrams, and Mackenzie Gore, then James Wood, Keebert Wies, Josiah, all the other young pieces here. That is where this starts. So now going forward, I'm going to be expecting not all that many wins, but it starts with Dylan Cruz, and this guy is ready to make the jump. Barnon, Davey Martinez, Mike Rizzo, call him up, the time is now. And also, let me just drop this, then that's right home for basically the next week and a half, starting this Friday, against Milwaukee Brewers. You don't think they want to showcase one of their top prospects in all of baseball, for a homestam that lasts over a week, here in D.C., in the middle of August where you just sold the deadline, not much to root for. They can give you one thing to root for, it's Dylan Cruz. Thank you all for making lockdown nationals your first list in every single day as we are free, and available wherever you get your podcast. And of course, check us out over on YouTube, or wherever you get your podcast. Again, just search lockdown nationals while you're at it. Make sure to find me over on Twitter @RionClaire11, and as well as our show page @ello_nationals. That's where you'll find Twitter, if you want to. It doesn't matter, because you know what does matter, the second half of the season. But here's the thing, lower your expectations. I'll explain why you should lower your expectations after we tell you guys about some of our new friends, over at Liquid, I-V, and guys. You may not know about Liquid I-V, but I can tell you this, when you're taking in America's pastime, which is baseball, you can never forget to hydrate with Liquid I-V's popsicle firecracker flavor, a sure fire summer hit, and maybe you're working out in the summer heat. As we all know, it is hot, sticky, and humid here in DC. You can get hydrated with electrolytes, essential vitamins, and clinically tested nutrients from the number one powdered hydration brand in America, because baseball and summer go together like Liquid I-V, an indulgent hydration. And of course, I always work out every single morning, and when I do, I pour a little bit of Liquid I-V in there, it gives me a nice little sports drink right before I go work out. And then even after it to replenish myself, I do Liquid I-V, and of course, you can have faster hydration with our friends at Liquid I-V, and of course, the benefits of them, it just makes you feel good, it makes you hydrated, and of course, also more importantly, it just tastes good. So blast off with iconic summer flavor, a popsicle firecracker, a festive blend of citrid-fueled lemon lime tart cherry, and raspberry flavors. Find all your favorite flavors on their website from Asai, very in lemon lime tapina, colada, and of course, you can tear, of course, if you want to, tear it, pour it in your drink, and of course, there is no more thirsty thumbers, the summers when you indulge in hydration with Liquid I-V, get 20% off your first order of Liquid I-V when you go to liquidiv.com and use code MLB at checkout, that's 20% off your first order when you shop better hydration today using promo code MLB at liquidiv.com. Now let me tell you guys about some of our older friends at Supply House, and of course, get supplies from the site that's made for the skilled trade, supplyhouse.com, supplyhouse.com's reliable way to order plumbing, HVAC, and electrical products online, they're easy to use website is packed with helpful resources, and the latest product info to help you get the job done. Right, shop complete inventory of over 200,000 parts from over 400 top brands, and get your order delivered right to your door with fast shipping from coast to coast. Need help in order? Get expert support industry-leading service from the friendliest folks in the business and talk to a person every time. Pros and the skilled trades can get a competitive edge by joining supplyhouse.com's free trade master program, every trade master gets access to a dedicated phone line, free shipping, and discounts on every order. Join the thousands of trade pros already benefiting from their free membership at supplyhouse.com/TM in order plumbing, HVAC, and electrical supplies from anywhere with just a few clicks at supplyhouse.com. Thank you all for making lockdown nationals your first list in every single day, we are free and available wherever you get your podcast. As we are saying, "Nationals fans, I'm warning you, lower your expectations." What I mean by that, let's just be blunt here, we're friends, we can talk about this, lower your expectations. You're not going to be making a wildcard team, you're not going to be making any sort of post-season run, if you haven't realized that, I'm sorry to break it to you, this team ain't going to the playoffs, this team isn't going to be sniffing the playoffs, sorry, that's just where we are today. Here's where you can look forward to though, and here's what I will be watching, because you should not just stop watching, this is the exciting part. But with that said though, there's going to be a learning curve for these younger guys. And of course it all starts, in my opinion, with what we just talked about, with Dylan Cruz, James Wood, those two young guys are at the forefront of this. You want to see what they do down the road, and whenever Dylan Cruz is called up to the majors, that's when we will actually really be looking forward to this. But you have to lower your expectations. I see people in the YouTube comment section, which by the way, always appreciated if you comment over on YouTube, leave your comment and your thoughts, your opinions, whatever it is, it's always much appreciated, I always try to reply to all of them. So, leave a comment there. But I saw someone say that James Wood, he hasn't been impressive. If you really look across baseball right now, I use Jackson Holiday as an example. Jackson Holiday is a better prospect than James Wood. He's probably the only one out there, if we're just being honest. He finally hit his first home run yesterday. But it is hard to make the jump from AAA to the majors, especially as a hitter. And really as a pitcher as well, it's tough, it is hard. Guys that are throwing 99 down to the minors, it's a lot different than you're facing in manual class A or name that reliever Edwin Diaz, the New York Mets. It is just different. Major League Baseball in AAA, you cannot compare the two. You just simply cannot. You have to lower your expectations for these younger prospects. James Wood is not going to look like an all-star from day one. It doesn't matter how good he is. Look at Ellie Dayla Cruz, one of the better prospects over the last few years who came up. He struggled a ton last year. Jackson Holiday struggled, got like two hits over his first 10 or so games, got sent back down and struggled even in AAA and has since come up and has looked better starting yesterday. Right now the trend across baseball is these younger prospects who do come up. It just simply takes some more time. They need to adjust. James Wood is 21 years old. The kid was just in high school. He was sitting in a classroom desk nearly three years ago at this time, three, four years ago. That's a lot to ask for and now he's going up against Paul Skeens and guys like that, who hasn't faced Paul Skeens yet, but he probably will at some point, you get the gist. It's going to take some time, but more importantly from you and myself, it's going to take some patience and with that patience will come better results. Now you may be thinking, what are the better results? They're not going to come in wins and if it's all about these young guys, if the young guys are playing well, wouldn't you think that would come in wins? It's not necessarily about that. In fact, not going to lie to you, losing some games here over the next two months wouldn't be that bad. Am I rooting for the team to lose? Hell no. But on the other hand, it gives you one last crack potentially at a lottery pick that you could pick number one overall with the way that the new rules work. Just saying, then that's have a chance at that, but as we say lower your expectations, it doesn't mean that you should just quit on the season and quit on your younger guys. Things that I want to see are, I'm going to take CJAms away from this conversation. One of my main things that I really want to see is key better ways. What can he do over the next two months? Can he turn his season around? He has had a better month here recently, but has still been an overwhelmingly disappointing season for completely from offense to defense. His highlight was getting in jerks and pro far's face. What I need to see from key better ways is power, consistency, better defense, better everything. That is one of the main things that I really need to see. We can get into starting pitching, but ultimately, the starting pitching has been good. You need to look back at the guy behind the dish who just got an extension last year in spring training and say, "This guy needs to be better, because he just has to be." No doubt in my mind that he maybe will, but still. It has been a brutal stretch for key better ways over this season. Thank you all for making "Lockdown Nationals" your first list in every single day as we are free and available. Wherever you get your podcast next, I guess we do have to talk about it. I've been holding it off. It has been a brutal series against Arizona and the Diamondbacks. The Nats need a much needed day off today. So let's discuss it. What happened? What's going to happen? I don't know at this point, man. It was bad. So let's talk about it, but before we do that, I'm going to tell you guys about our friends over at GameTime and guys, we've talked about GameTime before. You already know the drill. GameTime is simply the best ticket marketplace for you guys, and of course, GameTime is an authorized ticket marketplace of Major League Baseball, which makes getting tickets faster and easier, and prices on the GameTime app actually go down the closer it gets to the first pitch. And of course, with killer last minute deals all in prices, views from your seats, and their lowest price guaranteed, GameTime takes the guesswork at a buying MLB tickets. And of course, maybe we're going to the Brewer Series starting tomorrow at Nationals Park. I can tell you what I'm going to do. It's a Friday night. It's a firework Friday night too, which is always really cool. I'm going to do this, and you should follow me as well. I'm going to pick my seats as I walk up half-street from my office, which is just two blocks away from Nationals Park. When I do that, I'm going to find the views from my seats, and of course, I can find every kind of ticket in really every kind of flash zone deal that you get over with GameTime. And of course, there are last-minute deals that save up to 60% off buying last-minute for sports like the Nationals. Of course, even concerts, comedy, theater, and all of the other fun events around this DC area. So what I will do, I'm going to take the guesswork at a buying MLB tickets with our friends at GameTime. Down in the GameTime app, create an account and use code locked on MLB for $20 off your first purchase terms apply, again, create an account or a name code, L-O-C-K-E-D-O-N-MLB for $20 off. Download GameTime today, last-minute tickets, lowest price, guaranteed. You know we love talking stats here at locked-on Rockies. Here's one that's super simple to remember. Discover automatically doubles the cashback you've earned on your credit card at the end of your first year with cashback match. That means with Discover, you could turn $150 cashback to $300. That's right, you could put it towards some memorabilia you've had your eye on, or treat yourself to a premium sports network. You earn and discover doubles. See terms at discover.com/creditcard. Thank you all for making locked-on Nationals your first list in every single day as we are free and available. Wherever you get your podcast, so let's talk about it. The Nationals just got swept by the Diamondbacks. You're now at $49 and $60 on the season, Tuesdays game though, was bad, horn, scary, terrible, hideous, pathetic, however many words you want to describe, find a synonym for bad, it applies for all that game, $17 to nothing. Thank God the MLB trade deadline was here. Thank God. Because if you're in every day or out there and you listen to the show, first off thank you, second off, you probably would have known I would have lost my mind. And of course it kind of sounds a little stupid as I'm saying, lower your expectations in the show, but you can't lose $17 and nothing. The Diamondbacks have been a pretty hot team as of recent here, so I kind of knew we were walking into a little bit of a buzzsaw. But the fact is, you cannot lose to a team like that, 17 and nothing. You can't lose to any team like that. Even if this 2024 Nationals team was facing the 2008 New York Yankees, you can't lose like that. If you were facing the, I don't know, 2021 Atlanta Braves, you can't lose 17 and nothing. You just simply cannot do that. And on top of that, yesterday was just not all too great. Now there was one decent thing in game three of the series, Mackenzie Gore looked decent. But still, he's got around a four or five ERA on the season now, which I don't really look at ERA's, but still it's not great. The step up that we've kind of been hoping for hasn't really come. He had that step up earlier on this season, but he has since taken a step back in which is pretty disappointing if we're just being frank right now, but sitting here today, just probably a part of you that's saying, should we be concerned about the future, about where this team lies? That's the God's honest truth. There's not much that can go that much poorly. The one has happened over these last few days. As far as the guys go, you got to step it up. But ultimately, I don't know if that step up is going to be coming here anytime soon. So that was a really bad series. That's all I have to say about it. Like a disappointed father, I'm not mad. I'm just disappointed. Thank you all for making lockdown nationals your first list every single day. So we're free and available wherever you get your podcasts. Of course, on tomorrow's show on Friday, we have a staple. Your Nats prospect stock report. There have been some very good performances here recently from some prospects. So we'll discuss that on tomorrow's show. You will not want to miss that one. I'll catch you as on the flip side. Have a good one. Great. Enjoy the day off. The nationals need it. By the way. I'll catch you on the flip side. Have a good one. Hey Prime members, you can listen to this locked on podcast ad-free on Amazon Music. Download the Amazon Music app today. (upbeat music)
