Following in Father’s Footsteps, Cutter Dykstra Adds to Potomac Nationals’ Success

WOODBRIDGE, Va. — When Cutter Dykstra steps on the field with the Potomac Nationals, his love for baseball has deep roots all the way back to his father Lenny Dykstra, who was a star in the 1980’s for the New York Mets and then the Philadelphia Phillies.

Dykstra started with the P-Nats in 2011, and has been playing baseball “since I could walk,” he said.

He now hopes his tenure with the P-Nats is a stepping stone to the majors.

“I like to go out there and give it all I got every day,” he said.

And that attitude was inherited in part from his father who was part of the magical Mets of 1986. It was Dykstra who hit a walk-off home run in game three of the National League Championship, and then the team went on to beat the Boston Red Sox in the World Series that year.

This was three years before Cutter was born, but his father continued to play a major role with the Philadelphia Phillies from 1989-1996. In 1993, Dykstra won the Silver Slugger Award, and led the Phillies to the World Series that year, only to lose to the Toronto Blue Jays.

Cutter Dykstra, who plays third baseman, was drafted by the Milwaukee Brewers minor league team in 2008 and was traded to the P-Nats before the 2011 season. His batting is contributing to the success the team has had this year.

“He’s had a career year,” said Potomac Nationals spokesperson Bryan Holland. “He just waits and gets his pitch.”

The minor leagues has a style all to its own. Most of the players are drafted out of high school and don’t get paid much, but it’s a much-needed step to playing in the Major Leagues. Minor league players are so transient that they live with “host” families in the team’s town. Dykstra is appreciative of this arrangement in Prince William County. “They take real good care of us here,” he said.

The fan base in Prince William supports the team. At a recent Sunday afternoon game, 9-year-old Drew, had a baseball in hand.

“The best thing is to get my ball signed,” he said.

For Monica from Falls Church, it was worth driving down for a game with her three children that play on a team.

“We just love baseball, we start them young,” she said.

The P-Nats provided a good start for most of the Washington Nationals, said Holland, noting that current players Ian Desmond, Ross Detwiler, Stephen Strasburg, Bryce Harper and Drew Storen were all P-Nats in the past.