Robert Hassell III #4

Robert Harris Hassell III...Graduated from Independence High School in Franklin, Tenn... Batted .423 with 14 home runs as a junior in high school and took home state player of the year honors in in 2019 and 2020... Hit .514 at the 18U World Cup in South Korea, earning International Player of the Year honors for his performance in the tournament.

2025

One of Washington's top prospects entering the season made his MLB debut in May...Hit .288 with seven doubles, four homers, 24 RBI, 12 walks, nine stolen bases and 19 runs scored in 43 games with Triple-A Rochester prior to his call-up on May 22...Made MLB debut on May 22 vs. Atlanta...Singled in the second inning off AJ Smith-Shawver for his first MLB hit in his first MLB at-bat...Went 2-for-5 with a stolen base and two runs...Became the first player in Nationals history (2005-pres.) to record a multi-hit game and stolen base in his MLB debut...Went 12-for-35 (.343) with a double, homer and five RBI in eight games from May 28 to June 5...Hit his first career home run on May 28 at Seattle...Was a part of a career-high three-hit game...Hit safely in six straight games from Sept. 7-13: .368 (7-for-19), one home run, three RBI, two stolen bases.

2024

Opened the season with Double-A Harrisburg before a stint on the injured list...Capped the season with Triple-A Rochester...Reached base safely in 24 straight games from April 9 to May 11, tied for the fourth-longest streak in the Eastern League in 2024...Hit .344/.449/.467 during the streak...Named Eastern League Player of the Week on May 6 after going 12-for-24 (.500) with two home runs during the week...Endured a stint on the injured list from June 12 to Aug. 20...Was promoted to Triple-A Rochester on Sept. 2...Enjoyed a strong Arizona Fall League season, hitting .281 with seven doubles, a triple, four homers, 19 RBI, eight walks, five stolen bases and 17 runs.

2023

Embarked on his first full season in Washington’s system after being acquired at the 2022 Trade Deadline... Capped the season strong, going 11-for-27 (.407) with a homer, four RBI, two walks and six runs in his last six games of the season... Reached base safely in 17 straight games from April 25 to May 14 between Fredericksburg and Harrisburg, hitting .279 with three doubles, a triple, a home run, six RBI, 17 walks and one stolen base... Hit .290 with a double, homer, 12 RBI, six stolen bases and nine runs scored in 20 games for Scottsdale in the Arizona Fall League.

2022

Opened the season with High-A Fort Wayne in San Diego’s system before being acquired by the Nationals...Prior to the trade, ranked among Midwest League hitters in average (fourth, .299), hits (tied for fourth, 91), RBI (tied for fourth, 55), on-base percentage (ninth, .379) and OPS (10th, .846)...Reported to High-A Wilmington following the trade...Was promoted to Double-A Harrisburg in August after 10 games...From Aug. 2 on, ranked among Nationals farmhands in average (ninth, .219), on-base (ninth, .311), slugging (ninth, .281), OPS (ninth, .592) and walks (seventh, 19).

2021

Led San Diego’s Minor League system in RBI (76), on-base percentage (.393), OPS (.863), doubles (33), walks (66), extra-base hits (48) and runs (87)...Opened the season at Single-A Lake Elsinore before being promoted to High-A Fort Wayne...Was one of the youngest players in the league at both stops.

2020

After being the first high schooler taken (eighth overall) in June's First-Year Player Draft, was added to the club's 60-man player pool later that month, spending the season at the alternate training site...Was the fifth straight top-10 pick since A.J. Preller joined the Padres and the second straight position player selected with SD's first pick (SS C.J. Abrams signed as the sixth overall in 2019)…Joined former Loretto standout Ryan Weathers (2018) and former Tullahoma standout Justus Sheffield (2014) as Middle Tennessee first-round draft picks out of high school, and Hassell was the 1st position player from Middle Tennessee to be drafted in the first round out of HS since Loretto’s Johnny Jones in 1967 (Jones, a catcher, was picked fifth overall by the Washington Senators)…Became the first Tennessee high school position player to be drafted since Ooltewah graduate Kyler Burke was picked No. 35 overall in the first round by the Padres (2006)…Played just two games his senior year at Independence High School (Tenn.) when the COVID-19 pandemic ended his high school season in the spring...in nine plate appearances, slashed .500/.667/.500...Prior to the Draft, the Vanderbilt commit was ranked as the fifth-best prep prospect (No. 16 overall) by Baseball America

2019

As a high school junior at Independence High School (Tenn.) hit .423 with 14 HR and took home state player of the year honor for the second consecutive season...Also went 5-2 on the mound in 59.0 IP with a 1.07 ERA, striking out 113 and walking 21...Posted a slash line of .385/.467/.654 at the MLB Prospect Development Pipeline Showcase...A member of the 2019 USA Baseball’s 18U National Team, hit .514 and led the club in most offensive categories, earning the World Baseball Softball Confederation’s 2019 International Player of the Year honors for his performance in the tournament.