The Washington Nationals just announced that on Tuesday, March 26, 2024, the team will play an exhibition game at Nats Park called the Nationals Futures Game featuring top prospects. Those great Minor Leaguers will play against current Nationals players on their MLB roster in a 12:05 pm first pitch.
Players participating in the Nationals Future game won’t be announced until some time in March, but that did not stop us from putting together a roster and a starting lineup:
Stever20 made the comment in that tweet, “… you wonder why no one thought of that before now” — and credit to Powerboater69 who has been requesting this “Minor League All-Star” exhibition game for nearly 10 years. That led to a fun discussion during Spring Training two years ago.
By the way, the 2024 season marks the 100 year anniversary of the first World Series win in Washington D.C. baseball history with the infamous Walter Johnson team. Will the Nationals be smart enough to honor that team? Here’s the great part of a 100-year celebration of the 1924 team — the Senators beat the New York Giants — now the San Francisco Giants — and they are in Nats Park for a 4-game series from August 4-8. Make this happen.
Marketing this team and their heritage — and of course the stars of tomorrow is just smart — and to think Powerboater69 has been suggesting this Minor League All-Star top prospect game for years and over and over as his top request. Did they finally listen to him and figure it out on their own? The bigger question would be, why do you ignore your paying customers? Sure, any progress like this is the step in the right direction.
“We’re incredibly thankful for the continued support of our fans in D.C., and we can’t wait for them to get a look at some of the players who will make up our next championship-caliber roster.”
— Nationals President of Baseball Operations General Manager Mike Rizzo
“Players like James Wood, Dylan Crews, Brady House, and Robert Hassell have certainly received a lot of attention, and I know that once our fans have the chance to see a full lineup of the young guys in our system, there will be even more of reason to be optimistic about where we’re headed.”
This will be a game that we will talk about often, and especially when the rosters get announced. The Nats have already put together a hype video showing James Wood, Dylan Crews, Brady House, and Robert Hassell III. That was easy since they were all teammates at Double-A Harrisburg this year. Which team will Jackson Rutledge, Drew Millas and Jacob Young play on? They all still have their prospect status intact, but they also made their MLB debuts in the 2023 season with the Nats. In addition, we want to see Elijah Green, Yohandy Morales, Armando Cruz, Darren Baker, Daylen Lile, Cristhian Vaquero, Israel Pineda, and T.J. White. For pitchers, how’s about DJ Herz, Mitchell Parker, Travis Sykora, Cole Henry, Jarlin Susana, Andry Lara, and Holden Powell. There are certainly others too.
Mark your calendars. Tickets will go on-sale soon. Also, after this exhibition game, the Nationals’ Philanthropies will have their 2024 Gala and red carpet event in the early evening. Players and coaches will fly the next day to Cincinnati, and Opening Day is on March 28 against the Reds.
