The Washington Nationals selected the contract of outfielder Jacob Young from Triple-A Rochester on Saturday. Additionally, the Nationals transferred outfielder Stone Garrett to the 60-day Injured List and optioned infielder Jeter Downs to Triple-A Rochester. Nationals President of Baseball Operations and General Manager Mike Rizzo made the announcements.
Young, 24, is hitting .305 with 21 doubles, five triples, six home runs, 58 RBI, 42 walks, 39 stolen bases and 60 runs scored in 112 games between three levels of Washington’s Minor League system. He opened the season with High-A Wilmington before being promoted to Double-A Harrisburg and eventually Triple-A Rochester.
Young – who will be making his Major League debut – paces Washington’s system with 132 hits and ranks second with a .305 average and 39 stolen bases. He ranks among Nationals farmhands in runs (T3rd, 60), triples (T3rd, 5), on-base percentage (4th, .376), extra-base hits (T5th, 32), RBI (6th, 58), OPS (6th, .794), doubles (6th, 21) and slugging percentage (9th, .418).
Washington’s seventh-round pick in the 2021 First-Year Player Draft, Young was the Nationals’ 2022 Minor League Base Runner of the Year. He was one of two players in all of Minor League Baseball to steal at least 50 bases and score at least 100 runs. His 118 runs scored were tied for the most in all of Minor League Baseball, while his 52 stolen bases were the most among Nationals Minor Leaguers.
Garrett, 27, hit .269 with 17 doubles, nine homers, 40 RBI, 26 walks, three stolen and 40 runs scored in 89 games with Washington.
Downs, 25, has appeared in six Major League games, going 2-for-5 (.400) with one RBI, four walks and four runs scored.