One could imagine that, after retiring all 12 batters he faced last Saturday, Cole Henry wanted to see a 13th, then a 14th, then a 15th. Or that when the 22-year-old struck out five batters in three innings on April 10 — and again on April 22 — he may have wanted to push for double digits. Or that pitching four dominant innings at a time is making him antsy, even if the Washington Nationals explained this plan at the beginning of spring training.
The goal, put simply, is to have Henry pitch first full minor league season. After he was drafted in the second round in 2020, there were no minor league games to pitch in because of the coronavirus pandemic. Last year, elbow soreness limited him to 47 innings across 11 appearances. So now Washington is spoon-feeding him innings, feeling that’s better than giving him five- or six-inning starts only to shut him down in August.
Henry recently rested for 15 days between outings with the Class AA Harrisburg Senators. Generally viewed as the second-best pitching prospect in the Nationals’ system, Henry has a 0.76 ERA through 23⅔ innings (seven starts). He has struck out 28 batters and walked nine, mixing a four-seam fastball, sinker, curve and change-up. And if you ask around the organization about Henry and Cade Cavalli — the Nationals’ top prospect and first-round pick in 2020 — many believe that, at the moment, Henry is the more polished pitcher.
Cavalli was a two-way player until he dropped his bat as a junior at the University of Oklahoma. Henry, by contrast, started 11 games as a freshman at LSU before elbow issues kept him to four starts as a sophomore. He’s solely focused on pitching for longer than Cavalli, intriguing members of Washington’s front office and evaluators from other teams. Yet a key difference is that while Cavalli’s with the Class AAA Rochester Red Wings, knocking for a chance, Henry’s being inched along. Cavalli, 23, is a year older and pushed ahead by throwing 123 1/3 innings in 2021.
“We’ve had guys who have been on innings limits in the past, and it’s crazy that when you put a number on a guy it really comes up faster than you would think just through the normal starts," minor league pitching coordinator Sam Narron said. " So we want Cole to be able to finish the year and make all of his starts. It’s going to be a gradual progression, building him through the end of the year where he can continue to pitch finish the year as opposed to maybe having to stop him at a certain point because he has run out of innings.
"So we want to be judicious early so that he can be strong late.”
After last summer, Henry went to the Arizona Fall League and impressed against top prospects from around the league. But because of the plan to measure out his innings, the Nationals chose to not put Henry in major league camp for a second straight spring. Meanwhile, Cavalli and Jackson Rutledge, another young righty, had lockers near catchers Keibert Ruiz and Riley Adams. Without proper context, it seemed as if Henry had fallen behind.
That was far from the case, though. The decision was rooted more in the Nationals’ interest in Henry than some loose pecking order. Rutledge, 23 and slowed by injuries again, is trying to find his rhythm with the low-Class A Fredericksburg Nationals. Cavalli threw seven scoreless innings against the Syracuse Chiefs on Saturday, further burying a blowup on May 17. And Henry sits between them, staying patient with his carefully plotted workload.
None of Henry’s seven starts have exceeded four innings. On May 5, he walked five batters, his worth showing of the year, and was hooked after 2 2/3. But it is still worth noting that, until his command slipped, he had pitched 13 innings and not allowed a run. Henry’s 15-day layoff included some throwing and a good bit of rest. The Nationals are considering a similar break for 25-year-old righty Jake Irvin, who is coming off Tommy John surgery and has a 1.73 ERA in 26 innings for Harrisburg.
“You’re up front with the kid because they want to make it to the major leagues and make an impact,” Narron said. “When those competitive juices get going, of course Cole wants to pitch. We want that. But back in spring we told him, ‘Look, there are going to be starts that are shorter than you want. Trust us. This is for your benefit in the long run.’ ”
Some other updates from the Nationals’ system:
Sammy Infante: The 20-year-old infielder leads the low-A Carolina League with 12 homers through 35 games. The next closest players entered Tuesday with seven. And while his 6-foot-1, 185-pound frame doesn’t scream power, his peripheral statistics suggest this pop isn’t a total mirage. Infante has also found a defensive home in the early going, playing third while top prospect Brady House fills shortstop for Fredericksburg. Infante was drafted as a shortstop in the second round of the 2020 draft. But Washington likes to select middle infielder and then moved them around the diamond, which always seemed possible for Infante.
Jackson Cluff: After shining defensively at the Arizona Fall League in November, Cluff is struggling at the plate for Harrisburg, entering Tuesday with a batting average/on-base percentage/slugging percentage slash line of .142/.208/.225. Batting lefty, Cluff is just 2 for 23 with 11 strikeouts against left-handed pitchers. The Nationals invited the 25-year-old to major league camp this spring, liking his glove and strong arm up the middle. But he has to have a sharp turnaround at the plate to get in their rebuild plans.
Left-handed relievers: Ike Schlabach and Jose Ferrer each earned promotions at the end of last week. Schlabach, 25, went from the high-A Wilmington Blue Rocks to Harrisburg, replacing lefty reliever Matt Cronin after he was bumped to Rochester. Ferrer moved from Fredericksburg to Wilmington, filling Schlabach’s spot. Schlabach, originally drafted by the Pittsburgh Pirates, yielded two earned runs and had a solid strikeout rate in 16 2/3 innings with Wilmington. Ferrer, signed by Washington out of the Dominican Republic in 2017, struck out 11.25 batters per nine innings with Fredericksburg (logging 20 innings, only one walk and home run allowed). His fastball is sitting in the mid-90s and has jumped to 98/99.
May 31, 2022 at 08:30PM
https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/2022/05/31/little-by-little-nats-want-prospect-cole-henry-pitch-full-season/
Little by little, Nats want prospect Cole Henry to pitch for full season - The Washington Post
https://news.google.com/search?q=little&hl=en-US&gl=US&ceid=US:en
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