During the offseason, one of the positions that the Washington Nationals set out to upgrade was first base.
The team received middling production from Joey Gallo and Joey Meneses, which led to the team giving a chance to Juan Yepez.
He made the most of his opportunity, producing at a nice clip. In 249 plate appearances, he recorded a slash line of .283/.335/.429 with six home runs, 15 doubles and 26 RBI.
While he more than handled his own against right-handed pitching, he was even better against southpaws. In 88 plate appearances, he recorded a .304/.356/.456 slash line as he could, at the least, be an excellent platoon partner for a right-handed hitter.
However, finding playing time in 2025 for Yepez is going to be difficult with the additions made at first base.
The Nationals acquired Nathaniel Lowe to become their everyday first baseman and signed veteran Josh Bell, who is going to handle a bulk of the at-bats as the designated hitter.
Where does that leave Yepez heading into the 2025 campaign? Preparing for a utility role.
While this is new territory with Washington, he has played more than first base at the MLB level with the St. Louis Cardinals. He has logged innings at third base, right field and left field.
Whatever it will take to help the team succeed, he is willing to do.
“I take it as: I’m here to follow orders. Whatever you want me to do, I’ll do,” he said, via Mark Zuckerman of MASN. “If you want me to put water in the cooler, I’ll do it. I’m just going to be ready to do whatever I can to help this team win.”
At the end of the 2024 campaign, the team told Yepez what would be expected of him the following year, so he has been hard at work all winter.
He lost some weight preparing to move away from first base full-time, focusing on improving his athleticism. That would put him in a position to handle whatever was asked of him, as the Nationals have been putting him through drills at third base and left field in camp.
“We’ve got to see if he can play multiple positions,” manager Davey Martinez said. “We’re looking for that guy who can do a bunch of different things. … And he deserves a chance to make this team. He played really well for us last year in a limited role. If he can do all these little things — we’ll try him out in left field, we’ll put him at third base, play first base as well — we’ll see how he does.”
While an everyday job likely isn’t available for Yepez out of the gate, he is improving his odds of making the Opening Day roster by improving his versatility.
Being able to play both the infield and outfield will only help make his case stronger for a spot on the team’s bench.
Yepez certainly has the bat to play in the Major Leagues, but if he wants to stick, improving his defense is a smart way to go about it.
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New York Yankees Aaron Boone went off at the media on Tuesday. During his weekly appearance at the Talkin’ Yanks podcast, the Yankees manager defended his players and blasted the media for their scrutiny of them. After starting the season off in strong fashion, the Bronx Bombers have suffered a dip in form in recent weeks. Their 4-game series sweep against the Toronto Blue Jays earlier this month saw them lose possession of the 1st place in the American League East Standings. On Monday, the team would lose its 5th straight game against the Blue Jays. Before the game on Tuesday, Boone would make another appearance at the Talkin Yanks podcast. During this, Boone would defend his players following the recent struggles of the team and fired off against the media. Understand the pestering, bantering, leading questions that are being asked of our guys. And I don’t want them to just fly off the handle and be emotional. We’ve been pretty good over the years of compartmentalizing and dealing with the everyday grind of the regular season and playing in New York, and you start getting emotional and going down that road, it’s a bad trait. Aaron Boone said on Talkin Yanks podcast The 52-year-old would later hit back at those who had questioned the players over their answers in the post-game interviews. Host Jomboy would claim that they needed some more non-robotic answers. Boone would get fired up at this and took a swipe at the media. I don’t care what you want. These are answers of pestering, everyday questions. I want our guys in a good like, boom. Aaron Boone continued Boone has himself faced a lot of criticism this season. Several fans have demanded a change in the Yankees’ leadership and his firing. However, there are some who have defended him. Yankees broadcaster Michael Kay recently slammed the fans who urged his removal. As they demanded a more ‘fiery‘ manager than Boone, insider Ken Rosenthal insisted that such managers do not exist anymore. Aaron Boone faced flak from social media users for defending Anthony Volpe One name apart from Aaron Boone that has received a lot of flak this season from the New York Yankees fans is Anthony Volpe. The shortstop has struggled both as a batter and as a fielder. Despite his struggles, Boone has kept on defending him, which is something that has not sat well with the fans. In the game on Monday against the Toronto Blue Jays, the shortstop made another throwing error. That was his 12th error of the year, the most by any player in the American League. Following the 4-1, Boone would call him a ‘top‘ shortstop. Yeah, I mean, we’re talking about a few extra errors. That’s the separator of when he wins a gold glove and when he’s not. He’s still a top shortstop… He just hasn’t been as consistent as he has in his first two years. Aaron Boone told the reporters Volpe would make another error on Tuesday. In the bottom of the 6th inning, he once again threw the ball high to first baseman Ben Rice. He was judged with his 13th error, tying him with Willy Adames for the most errors made by a player this year. Yankees snap 5-game losing run against Blue Jays with 5-4 win The New York Yankees had been struggling against the Toronto Blue Jays this season. After 5 successive losses against them, the American League champions finally beat their division rivals with a 5-4 win on Tuesday. After taking a 4-1 lead, the Yankees once again gave up their lead. The Blue Jays came back from this deficit and tied the game at 4-4 in the bottom of the 6th inning. Ben Rice would come up clutch for the Yanks in the 9th inning. The first baseman smashed a solo home run off Jeff Hoffman to give his side a 5-4 lead. His 15th home run of the season turned out to be the decisive factor in this game as the Yankees held on to the lead and won the game. The win pulls the Yankees back within 3 games of the Blue Jays in the fight for the top spot in the AL East division. Following the rubber game on Wednesday, the Yankees will turn their attention towards the Philadelphia Phillies.
Denmark's Thorbjorn Olesen and PGA Tour rookie Cristobal Del Solar of Chile each posted a 9-under-par 61 to share the first-round lead at the RBC Canadian Open on Thursday in Caledon, Ontario. Olesen and Del Solar took full advantage of TPC Toronto at Osprey Valley in the venue's PGA Tour debut. They own a one-shot lead over Cameron Champ; Jake Knapp is alone in fourth at 7-under 63. Shane Lowry of Ireland went out in 5-under 30 on his way to a round of 64. He is tied for fifth with Rasmus Hojgaard of Denmark and Trey Mullinax. The low Canadian for the day was Taylor Pendrith (65), who set the clubhouse lead in the morning wave before several players passed him by. Defending champion Robert MacIntyre of Scotland is among the several golfers knotted with him in eighth place at 5 under. Del Solar birdied 10 of his first 16 holes to pass Olesen for the outright lead and threaten a score of 59. However, he failed to get up and down from the bunker at the par-4 17th hole and took his only bogey of the day. He missed a 15-foot putt for birdie for the outright lead at No. 18. Del Solar's claim to fame is a round of 57 he shot on the Korn Ferry Tour in February 2024. It was the lowest round ever recorded in a PGA Tour-sanctioned tournament. Olesen, meanwhile, has eight wins on the DP World Tour but is seeking his first title in the United States. Two-time Canadian champion Rory McIlroy is in danger of missing the cut after shooting a 1-over 71, which he ended with consecutive bogeys at Nos. 8 and 9. The Northern Irishman is playing for the first time since a T47 finish at the PGA Championship.
Matthew Stafford's latest injury raises concerns about the depth of the Los Angeles Rams' quarterback room. Stafford suffered a back injury last season, and it's bothering him again at training camp. Rams head coach Sean McVay said the medical concern will force the QB to miss five practices, but it's not season-ending. "He's been throwing, feeling good. It's not necessarily anything that's new. Something that he's dealt with before," the coach told the media. "Going into year 17, we were going to take a modified approach with him, kind of similar to what we did in the offseason program. And so we'll allow him to kind of just work off to the side, on his own, getting himself feeling as good as possible." Stafford's durability has already been waning. The 37-year-old QB missed eight games because of a spine injury and concussion during the 2022 season. The following season, he missed one game because of a right thumb injury. The Rams have a capable backup QB, Jimmy Garoppolo. He has a 43-21 starting record in the regular season in 11 years with the San Francisco 49ers, Las Vegas Raiders, New England Patriots and Rams. Garoppolo, however, is injury-prone. He has battled foot, ankle, knee and shoulder issues over the course of his career. Rams QB Stetson Bennett — a fourth-rounder in the 2023 NFL Draft — has yet to throw a pass in a regular-season game. Plenty of solid free-agent QBs are still available, including one-time Pro Bowler Carson Wentz. He would be a more trustworthy option than Bennett and already knows the Rams' system. The 2016 first-rounder played for the team during the 2023 season. The Rams hope to win their third Super Bowl after consecutive playoff appearances. Injuries at the most important position could derail their aspirations. McVay doesn't seem too concerned about Stafford's health, but L.A. should still consider adding another QB as a precaution.
Micah Parsons is not holding back on his feelings regarding his lack of a long-term deal with the Dallas Cowboys. One of the best pass-rushers in the league, Parsons is heading into the fifth and final year of his contract with the Cowboys. He'll be an unrestricted free agent in 2026 and, right now, he has no guarantees of a long-term contractual future with the Cowboys. After practice on Tuesday, Parsons gave a frank answer when asked about his lack of a long-term deal. The long and short of it is that he's looked around the NFL and has seen top pass-rushers getting massive contracts. The question is, why hasn't Dallas and owner Jerry Jones put that same type of investment into him just yet? "When you go around the league and you see these other teams taking care of their best guys, I seen T.J. [Watt] gotten taken care of. Maxx [Crosby] got taken care of. Myles [Garrett] got taken care of, [and] he's got two years left on his deal," Parsons said, according to Todd Archer of ESPN. "You see a lot of people around the league taken care of, and you wish you had that same type of energy." Parsons has notched 52.5 sacks over his first four seasons. For comparison's sake, Watt has 58.5 sacks in the same time period and Garrett has notched 60. Watt and Garrett are two of the best pass-rushers in recent memory, and Parsons is right there alongside them. As far as how he sees it, he, of course, believes he's the best in the world at what he does. "I feel like I'm the best at what I do," Parsons said. "You can argue whoever, but stats, numbers don't lie. The consistency is there, and the availability is there." Watt just signed a three-year, $123M contract extension with the Pittsburgh Steelers, while earlier this offseason, the Browns signed Garrett to a four-year, $160M extension with $123.5M of that guaranteed. The Cowboys and Jones have a reputation for being stingy negotiators, and they've taken many of their top players to the limit in the past before signing deals. To that point, Parsons seems to be aware that he's not in a unique situation. "This is not like I'm getting treated differently than anybody else. I don't take it personal. I just don't understand," he said. With that said, Parsons is clearly frustrated about the lack of long-term guarantees of his future in Dallas. So much so that he went as far as to say that if the Cowboys don't want him in Dallas, he's happy to move on and take care of business elsewhere. It's worth noting that Jones hasn't helped ease the tension, either. At the start of training camp on Monday, he went as far as to suggest that even if the Cowboys do sign Parsons, that doesn't mean he'll be available because of injury. Jones said that Parsons was injured for six games last season, while in reality, the star pass-rusher missed only four. "I've been pretty consistent. If they don't want me here, they don't want me here and I'll go about my business. I understand the nature of the business," Parsons said. "Like I said, as far as I'm here and under contract, I'll do what I have to perform at the highest level but at the end this is the business. Same way Jerry Jones, Stephen Jones and the other Jerry Jones take care of their family is the same way I need to take care of my family. I've got three kids of my own, so we all need to take care of our own family at the end of the day."