There's a lot going on when it comes to the infield situation for the Washington Nationals .
For starters, they were preparing to move their star shortstop CJ Abrams to second base . That was met with some resistance from the two-time All-Star, but he said he was willing to make the shift for the betterment of the team. However, before he had logged some innings there, he suffered an ankle injury that might delay his debut at his new position .
In the meantime, top prospect Seaver King is tearing up the Triple-A ranks. The Nationals are hesitant to call him up , but the former first-round pick is putting tons of pressure on the organization to promote him for his major league debut.
Those aren't the only noteworthy things taking place that features Washington's infield, though. Trey Lipscomb , a former top prospect in his own right, has been incredible this season. And that could cause him to be a sneaky late-season callup.
Washington Nationals infielder Trey Lipscomb | USA TODAY Sports via Reuters Connect
On Aug. 20, Lipscomb launched a home run with Triple-A Rochester in the top of the eighth inning. That was his 26th longball of the year, which continues to add to a career-high after his previous season-best mark was the 14 combined homers he had across the High-A and Double-A levels back during the 2023 campaign.
This power surge has been remarkable for Lipscomb, as the 26-year-old is slugging .554 through 107 games with Rochester, which is the first time he's ever eclipsed the .500 slugging percentage marker. But he hasn't just sold out for power. He's hitting .297 with an on-base percentage of .333, which has turned him into one of the most productive hitters in Triple-A.
Naturally, the conversation about Lipscomb goes to if he could become an impactful big league player this time around after his 64 combined games in 2024 and 2025 yielded a slash line of .206/.272/.237 with just one home run, three doubles and 10 RBIs.
Washington Nationals infielder Trey Lipscomb | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect
It wouldn't be surprising if the Nationals called the 2022 third-round pick back up the majors when rosters expand on Sept. 1. But it's also not a given that his success with Rochester is going to translate against MLB pitchers based on some underlying metrics.
Per TJStats, Lipscomb is chasing 43% of the time in Triple-A. That is in the first percentile and is a huge red flag. He's also whiffing 30.7% of the time with a strikeout rate of 25.4% and a walk rate of 5.7%, which puts those numbers in the 17th, 23rd and first percentiles, respectively.
Sure, he's crushing the ball when he does make contact with a 46.7% hard-hit rate and an average exit velocity of 90 mph that puts him in the 85th percentile. But his swing decisions have been poor, which makes it hard to trust that what he's done is transferable when facing major league pitching.
Still, how Lipscomb has performed this year is nothing to ignore. He might get a look in The Show to close out the season. However, it doesn't seem like he's going to walk in and be an impact player based on what the advanced statistics say about his profile.
This article was originally published on www.si.com/mlb/nationals/onsi as Forgotten Nationals Prospect Trey Lipscomb Has Been Sensational This Year .
