(Wilmington, DE) have a way of making everything feel routine on the outside, even when the people inside them know better. Clubhouses fill and empty. Players move from cages to fields and back again. Batting practice blends into early work, early work blends into game time, and eventually one day starts looking a lot like the next.
That is part of the challenge. The baseball itself matters, but so does everything surrounding it. Long bus rides. New teammates. New expectations.
The process of showing up every day and finding consistency over six months rather than six games.For Devin Fitz-Gerald, though, this season brought something different before spring training even began.One day in January, he was in Texas attending a leadership camp, preparing for another season in the organization that drafted him.
The next, he was learning his baseball future had changed. “Yeah, so actually the trade happened. I was actually in Texas in Arlington. They had a [leadership camp] going on,” Fitz-Gerald said.
“So I was just sitting in a meeting and our farm director came in, pulled me out, told me I was getting traded for MacKenzie Gore with a couple other prospects and I was just shocked more than anything. I didn't think it was going to be a possibility that I was going to get traded. I thought I was for sure set since it was already January getting ready to go to spring training.”
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Ryan Shenker
“
When I first got here, they just opened their arms and brought me into the family and just told me how everything's ran and just seeing, because it's a lot of new staff here… and going over their philosophies and everything I think has been awesome just for everyone.
Devin Fitz-Gerald
Shock makes sense
Trades involving prospects happen constantly across baseball, but players often describe them as moments that divide careers into before and after. Suddenly there are new coaches, new teammates and entirely different expectations.
New philosophies. New routines. Sometimes even a different version of yourself. For Fitz-Gerald, though, the transition itself quickly became easier than expected. “Honestly, it's been great. When I first got here, they just opened their arms and brought me into the family and just told me how everything's ran and just seeing, because it's a lot of new staff here, so I was learning names as much as the staff, new staff here was learning names and going over their philosophies and everything I think has been awesome just for everyone.”
Comfort matters, especially for younger players still learning how professional baseball works. Organizations spend years building development systems, but players often remember something simpler: whether a clubhouse feels like somewhere they belong.
Quick Facts: Devin Fitz-gerald
Born: 8/17/2005 in Boca Raton, FL
High School: Stoneman Douglas, Parkland, FL
No. 165 overall pick in the 2024 MLB Draft
Ranked No. 9 Washington Nationals Prospect (MLB Pipeline)
Currently playing for the Wilmington Blue Rocks
Fitz-Gerald, had a bit of a head start
“My dad's a high school baseball coach, so every day after elementary school, middle school, I'd always walk over [to the high school] and be around those kinds of guys. It kind of matures you a little bit on and off the field and you just learn how to carry yourself.”
Later, he expanded even further on his father's influence. “He's been the guy my whole life since I could remember. He's been my coach and just learning how much knowledge he has, it's been awesome and he's pushed me, he works me and he's made me mentally stronger on and off the field and he's taught me how to handle failure and deal with adversity.”
That upbringing also created a support system that still follows him through professional baseball. Growing up around the game meant growing up around players who eventually reached higher levels. Some of those relationships remain part of his day-to-day life.
“Yeah, for sure. I talk to a lot of the guys all the time. We're always around. It's the culture we built. Roman [Anthony] actually texted me last week and said he's happy for me. He's like, it's awesome to see you doing your thing and just keep going.”
“He [Roman Anthony] was in my shoes at one point and now look where he's at. He's definitely a big inspiration to me, a big role model. And so I could say the same thing about my brother. He's probably the biggest out of all of 'em just because watching him grow up his path and journey to in minor league baseball and seeing what he's doing now, I think he's got 10 homers now this year and he's hitting the ball good. So I mean I try and talk to those guys about everything, baseball off the field, mental stuff and just dealing with failure, dealing with the game success it brings.”
That answer felt revealing.
Prospects often discuss mechanics and routines. Fitz-Gerald talked instead about people. About relationships. About players who had already experienced some of the same challenges he is now beginning to navigate.
And one theme surfaced repeatedly throughout the conversation: learning how to deal with failure.
Because baseball eventually tests everyone.
For Fitz-Gerald, some of those challenges have come naturally with being a switch hitter. Most of his opportunities this season have come from the left side of the plate, where he has produced some of his strongest numbers. He has hit roughly .343 with a 1.176 OPS batting left-handed while continuing to work through less frequent right-handed opportunities. Still, recent results suggest some of that work may be translating.
Four of Fitz-Gerald’s 11 home runs this season came last week alone, accounting for more than one-third of his season total and showing an offensive surge that had been building and waiting to explode. It was visible proof that adjustments happening behind the scenes were beginning to show up in game action.
“Yeah, I mean being a switch hitter, I know I'm going to get majority of my at-bats as a lefty. That's my natural side … but struggles happen. They're part of the game and when you don't see lefties a lot and you're going in there and hitting, you might not feel the most comfortable in the box, but it's just about … going back in the cage with our hitting guys, just having a process every day and routine and just, I was grateful to see results come last week. It fired me up to see that the work we've been putting in is translating onto the field and just take it one day at a time.”
That approach also carries into the way he talks about development itself. “Yeah, I mean just like I said, take a day to day at a time each at bat's, its own at bat. I just want to be out here playing every day, just stay healthy. That's the main goal. And just be around and just work with these guys and just listen and just learn knowledge. I think the biggest thing for me being young is there's so much knowledge to learn in the game and that's what I'm here to do right now. Just keep developing.”
For highly regarded prospects, outside expectations can arrive quickly. Fitz-Gerald sounds more interested in slowing things down. Still, when I asked where he sees himself years from now, the answer came naturally.
“Five years from now? I hope to be an established big leaguer and be playing with the Nationals in DC and hopefully I'm up there with a lot of other guys on this team and we're have a good squad and we're making a World Series push and I know that's the organizations goal. They want to get back into the World Series and bring this organization back to the top how it was in 2019 and if I could be a part of that, that'd be a dream come true.”
That future remains years away.
For now, Fitz-Gerald appears focused on something much smaller: showing up every day, learning and continuing to find his place inside a new organization.
“
Roman [Anthony] actually texted me last week and said he's happy for me. He's like, it's awesome to see you doing your thing and just keep going. He was in my shoes at one point and now look where he's at. He's definitely a big inspiration to me, a big role model.
Devin Fitz-Gerald
Ryan Shenker serves as managing editor of The Nats Report, covering the Washington Nationals Organization. All statistics referenced in this article are current as of May 19, 2026.
Follow the latest Nationals news, prospect updates, and analysis at thenatsreport.com.
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“
So I was just sitting in a meeting and our farm director came in, pulled me out, told me I was getting traded for MacKenzie Gore with a couple other prospects and I was just shocked more than anything. I didn't think it was going to be a possibility that I was going to get traded. I thought I was for sure set since it was already January getting ready to go to spring training
Devin fitz-gerald · Texas Rangers No. 165 Overall Pick, 2024
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