This story was excerpted from Jessica Camerato's Nationals Beat newsletter. To read the full newsletter, click here. And subscribe to get it regularly in your inbox.
WASHINGTON -- Chris Hacopian’s phone has been blowing up since he was drafted by his hometown Nationals with their No. 1 overall pick. Two notifications made the 21-year-old second baseman, who grew up 30 minutes from Nationals Park, do a double-take.
The first was a follow on social media from one of his childhood idols, Danny Espinosa. Then came a direct message from his 2019 World Series hero, Howie Kendrick, wishing him good luck.
“I was a big fan of his,” Hacopian said. “To see that he’s showing support to me, it means a lot and there’s a lot of gratitude there for that.”
Over the last two weeks, the Montgomery County, Md., native has been getting acclimated to his new life as a member of the Nationals organization. Hacopian already has signed with the club, began participating in a Draft class camp at the Nats training complex in West Palm Beach, Fla., and traveled back to Nationals Park to have a press conference, take batting practice and attend Friday’s game with his family.
“I've had goals to be a professional baseball player for a long time, so this is everything that I've worked for, that my family's worked for,” Hacopian said. “… I have goals to not only be a professional baseball player, but to be a high-level Major League Baseball player. So the grind doesn't really stop at any point.”
The Nationals selected Hacopian with the 11th pick out of Texas A&M University. He grew up in Montgomery County and began his collegiate career at the University of Maryland. Hacopian attended Winston Churchill High School in Potomac, where he was named the 2022 Maryland Gatorade Baseball Player of the Year.
“It was a dream [to play for the Nationals] because I was a huge fan,” said Hacopian. “But as I got closer to realizing I could become a pro, it wasn't so much like, ‘Where am I going to go?’ It was more like, ‘I want to be the best player possible.’ The fact that it is the Nationals, though, is really cool for myself and my family.”
With the long-term goal of playing Major League Baseball in his backyard, Hacopian has begun laying the foundation at the training complex in Florida.
“I'm excited to be in the organization now and to, honestly, just get to work with them,” Hacopian said. “I'm excited to go back to West Palm Beach for another week and take more swings, take more ground balls, and learn more from guys that are doing a really good job teaching the game.”