Nationals Minors: Fredericksburg manager: Focus for Brady House on 2023

A first-round draft pick of the Nationals in 2021, the infielder likely won’t play in minors again this season while OF James Wood was lifted from the Sunday game as a precaution …

FREDERICKSBURG, Virginia – Brady House got off to a blazing start at the plate this year, hitting .341 for low Single-A Fredericksburg in April.

He fell to .180 for the month of May and was hitting .268 in June when he went on the Injured List.

Now, after not playing in a game since June 11, it appears the minor league may be over for the infielder from Georgia.

House was on the injured list May 4-13 and was placed on the IL again on June 23.

Fredericksburg manager Jake Lowery told Federal Baseball on Monday that House most likely won’t play in the minors again this year.

Photo by Adam Hagy/MLB Photos via Getty Images

“I think (we are) looking to see to get him ready for Spring Training,” Lowery said of infielder House, 19. “I am not sure of the medical side of things.”

Lowery, a former minor leaguer with the Nationals, wasn’t sure if House would be ready for Instructional League in the fall.

“They are trying to take it slow and get him ready for next year,” said Lowery, the manager of the Florida Complex League team last season.

House hit .322 with a .970 OPS last year for Lowery in the Florida league.

The injury bug hit Fredericksburg again on Sunday, but Lowery hopes this setback isn’t nearly as severe.

Outfielder James Wood, who came to the Nationals from the Padres in the deal for Juan Soto and Josh Bell, was lifted for a pinch-hitter in the last of the seventh inning after he chased after a ball in the top of the seventh.

“He got banged up on something; we are waiting to hear back what is going on,” Lowery said Monday.

“A little discomfort in his lower body. We got him out of there just as a precaution. We will wait and see what happens. He was running after a ball – it happened pretty quick” as he was slated to hit second in the last of the seventh.

Fredericksburg eventually lost 6-0 to Down East and was held to one hit.

Wood, from Montgomery County, Maryland, played at St. John’s in D.C. before transferring to IMG Academy.

He has handled the trade well, according to Lowery.

“You have to make a move, too. You have to let a guy know he won’t be part of the organization anymore,” Lowery said of a player learning he had been traded.

“Once we get through that kind of stuff, it is all welcoming, man. That is the beauty of it. It is another opportunity for him. He is going to help be the future of our Nationals’ organization.

“With the Padres, who knows what happens over there. Coming over, it has probably been a really good transition for him.”

Lowery had a connection with Wood even before the trade.

His younger brother, Luke Lowery, was a coach at IMG in Florida when Wood was there.

Luke Lowery played in college at East Carolina and in the minors with Arizona.

“My brother was at IMG when he was at IMG so we had that to break the ice and talk a little bit. He is super quiet, he is super humble,” Lowery said of Wood.

“No one would know he was a first-rounder and top prospect.

“He just goes about his business and I like all the attributes he brings to the table.”

Wood was hitting .307 in his first 19 games with 16 RBI since joining Fredericksburg.

Fredericksburg was slated to begin a series at home Tuesday with Delmarva, a farm team of the Orioles.