Sean Doolittle was impressed with what he saw from Jackson Rutledge when the 33-year-old reliever spent time at the Washington Nationals’ Alternate Training Site last month.
“Incredibly hard thrower,” Doolittle said of the Nats’ 2019 1st Round pick, a 21-year-old, 6’8’’ right-hander out of San Jacinto College in Houston, Texas, who was taken 17th overall two drafts back.
“Huge dude,” Doolittle added. “Fun to watch, I played catch with him a few times and I was like, jeez, man, he’s bringing it.”
When they were able to select Rutledge, Nationals’ Assistant GM and VP of Scouting Ops, Kris Kline, was thrilled that the towering pitcher was still on the board at No.