First game since TJ surgery a 'big win' for Kieboom

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. -- Former Nationals top prospect Carter Kieboom is back.

Well, almost.

On Thursday in the bottom of the third inning of the Nationals’ 5-5 tie with the Marlins, Kieboom stepped into the batter’s box at Ballpark of the Palm Beaches for the first time in almost two years.

Just over a year ago, on March 21, 2022, Washington’s 25-year-old infielder was sidelined after an MRI revealed he had a right forearm flexor mass/ulnar collateral ligament strain. As a result, he didn’t play in any games last spring. Kieboom had Tommy John surgery on May 27 and spent the rest of the season rehabbing at the Nationals’ Spring Training facility in West Palm Beach.

Kieboom entered Thursday with a plan: see as many pitches as possible. In the past, he has had some trouble maintaining his approach. But after almost 10 months away from the game while he rehabbed, Kieboom was ready.

“It was just most important for me to see the pitches, and today, it was all about sustaining,” Kieboom said. “[The] last couple years it's been difficult to stay in that, to stick with my approach. … That's all today was about -- just going up there with the plan, and then sticking with it all game long, regardless of [my] results.”

For now, the plan is for Kieboom to get some at-bats under his belt as a DH while doing work outside of game action to make sure his arm is ready for the throws he’ll be making across the diamond from third. That’s the big concern now -- not the fielding, per se, but the throwing.

While Kieboom gets reps in the batter’s box, he’s also spending time on the back fields at Ballpark of the Palm Beaches taking balls at third, practicing his fielding and making throws. Soon (likely Friday), the Nats will begin having sim games. Manager Dave Martinez said that Kieboom is likely to get reps at third in some sim games before he gets into a Grapefruit League game there.

“Arm's been good, arm's been progressing pretty well,” Kieboom said. “We’ve got a little bit more time with it. It's just a matter of managing the amount of throwing we're doing and building that up properly. I'm happy with where it's at right now.”

There’s impetus for Kieboom to get back at the hot corner as soon as possible. This is Spring Training, after all. And like any spring, nothing is guaranteed. This year, Jeimer Candelario is vying for that corner infield spot.

It’s possible both will make the team out of camp. Kieboom played 763 innings at third base for the Nationals from 2019-21, during which time he hit eight homers. In ‘21, his last full season, Kieboom hit .207 (217 at-bats). Candelario, who signed with Washington as a free agent this offseason after seven years in the Majors -- the majority of which he spent with Detroit -- hit .217 last season (429 at-bats) with 13 homers. He has also logged 4,427 1/3 innings at third base in his career, including 112 starts there this past season.

Candelario hit a wicked two-run double to the wall in center field in the third inning Thursday to put the Nationals on the board. With that kind of offensive capability, and the flexibility to play first base and DH, there’s a scenario in which both Candelario and Kieboom make the roster coming out of Spring Training.

“We talked a lot in the winter about [Candelario],” Martinez said. “He can roll off 40, 50 doubles a year, so that's what we want to do, and then the power will come. So I was happy to see him stay in the gap and hit the ball like that.”

Now, back to Kieboom. On Thursday, he went 0-for-2 with a pair of strikeouts, though he reached base twice: on a hit-by-pitch in his first plate appearance, then via walk in his third plate appearance at the bottom of the seventh. He also stole second base that inning.

“Honestly, [I was] just happy to be out there again. It's been a long time,” Kieboom said. “My first at-bat I was excited. I was definitely anxious. … But I was just happy with the fact that I stuck with what I wanted to do at the plate, no matter how excited I was or anxious I was. So for me, that was a big win today.”