MLB Draft: Washington Nationals swing for upside on day 2

The Washington Nationals are using the money they saved by picking Eli Willits number one overall

What the Nationals did in rounds three through five is why you do an under slot deal at the top. After taking Willits and Ethan Petry with their first two picks, the Nats took three straight high schoolers with massive upside. We talked about Landon Harmon last night, now it is time to talk about two more prepsters.

In the fourth and fifth round, the Nats took high schoolers Miguel Sime Jr. and Coy James. Both are likely to be players that require over slot deals. Sime and James were both considered top 100 players in the class, but were picked at 111th and 142nd respectively.

Sime the Fireballer:

Let’s start with the first pick the Nats made today, Miguel Sime. He is an 18 year old right handed pitcher out of New York. Sime was in the 80’s on Baseball America and MLB Pipeline’s board.

He is a huge kid with huge stuff. Sime is already 6’4 235 pounds despite only turning 18 in May. With that size, comes massive velocity. The right hander is already hitting triple digits on a regular basis and has a 70 grade fastball.

Sime Jr. has massive stuff but is still a project. His control is below average right now and evaluators are mixed on his secondary pitches. Most think his breaking ball can be at least average, but he has mostly relied on the fastball. As an 18 year old who throws 100, he probably has not needed to use his offspeed pitches much.

However, he will have to develop those. The ingredients for a solid breaking ball and Baseball America mentioned that his changeup has looked good at times. However, you are buying the fastball and hoping everything else works out.

His frame, velocity and control questions remind me of Jarlin Susana. There is reliever risk here, but guys who throw this hard do not grow on trees. He is committed to LSU, so an overslot deal is very likely.

Coy James, the Pure Hitter:

In the fifth round, the Nats took another massive swing with Coy James. This is a player that had real round one buzz. ESPN’s Kiley McDaniel actually had him going to the Tigers at 24 in his last mock draft.

However, James fell due to his strong commitment to Ole Miss. With the Nats taking him in the fifth round, they must believe he is singable. James is likely to get a massive over slot deal that will pay him like a second round pick.

Coy James is a natural hitter who has performed on the showcase circuit for years. Baseball America has him inside their top 50, giving him a 55 grade hit tool. James also has at least average power to go with it. He has one of the better hit/power combinations in the draft. Despite being a shortstop right now, most feel like he will move over to either second or third base.

MLB Pipeline was lower on him, but still had James at 94th on their board. They mentioned that he lost some athleticism after putting on muscle in the last year. Hopefully James can find the right balance in a professional setting with a strength and conditioning team.

James is not that far off from what Luke Dickerson was last year and should be a bit cheaper. Getting Harmon, Sime and James in round’s 3 to 5 is an epic haul. The Washington Nationals have done a great job navigating this draft and have really strengthened their prospect pool.