Nationals Prospects: A look at how the Nats top prospects are performing

I wanted to check in and do a stock report on some of the Washington Nationals top prospects

Now that the Minor League season is in full swing, it is time to check in on some of the Washington Nationals top prospects. There have been some standout performers, but also some guys that are struggling. I will examine the system and find some players who’s stock is up, as well as some who need to rebound.

Stock Up:

1. Brady House, 3B (AAA)

After an underwhelming 2024 season, Brady House needed to bounce back, and so far he has. House has been raking in Triple-A, hitting .296 with an .852 OPS. He needed to be more disciplined at the plate, and he has done that, walking 9% of the time.

House is coming off a massive game where he had four hits and two home runs. The Nats have not gotten much production out of the third base position, especially offensively. With that in mind, I wonder how long it will take for Mike Rizzo to pull the trigger and call him up. House will need to keep his strikeouts in check, but he is hitting in Triple-A, something he really struggled to do last season.

2. Jackson Kent, LHP (A+)

2024 fourth round pick Jackson Kent has hit the ground running in his first professional season. The southpaw skipped Low-A, being sent straight to High-A Wilmington. I saw him at the Spring Breakout game. He struggled, but his stuff looked sharp, with a fastball in the low to mid 90’s, some solid breaking balls and a really nice looking changeup.

Kent has been utterly dominant in his first three professional starts. He has a 1.32 ERA with 19 strikeouts to just four walks in 13.2 innings. The southpaw is a polished arm with rotation upside. In the last couple years, the Nats have had success developing southpaws such as Mitchell Parker, MacKenzie Gore and DJ Herz. Kent could be next in line.

There is a lot of Mitchell Parker in his game. Kent could be fast tracked through the system and be a factor in the MLB rotation pretty quickly if he keeps this up. He has been the best performer of the Nats 2024 draft class so far.

3. Jarlin Susana, RHP (AA)

Stock up might not be the right description for Susana, but he is certainly performing. More so, he is consolidating the gains he had last year. Susana has the most electric arm in the Nats organization, and maybe in the entire Minor Leagues. He sits at 100 MPH and has a filthy slider.

However, it has been all about harnessing that stuff. After a rough start in 2024, Susana seemed to flip a switch. He began to dominate Low-A and was good in his time in High-A as well.

Susana will never be a command artist, but all he needs to do is throw enough strikes to let the stuff play. While he has walked eight batters in 13.2 innings, he has also struck out 23 and has a 2.63 ERA. The stuff is as good as ever and it is overwhelming Double-A hitters.

Susana will always have the fallback of being a filthy closer, but the Nats will and should keep him as a starter. The burly right hander has shown enough promise to continue as a starter. His command still needs to come along a bit, but it has gotten better and he is only 21 years old.

Stock Down:

1. Seaver King, SS (A+)

It has been a really disappointing start for Seaver King, who was the 10th pick in the 2024 MLB Draft. King is only hitting .152 with a .394 OPS in High-A so far in 46 at bats. He is also striking out an alarming 40% of the time. Strikeouts were not supposed to be a big issue for King, so this is concerning.

He is also hitting the ball on the ground 57.7% of the time, so when he is making contact he is not driving the ball. King has also made four errors in just 12 games. It is still early days, but I would be lying if I said I was not concerned about King. With top prospects like Bryce Rainer, Braden Montgomery and Cam Smith taken after King, this could be a pick the Nats come to regret.

I hope it all comes together for King. He is an impressive athlete, who has shown some real flashes, but I am worried. The High-A level should not be this much of a roadblock for a college player taken with a top 10 pick. It is early days, but Seaver King’s stock has definitely taken a hit.

2. Kevin Bazzell, C (A)

Another 2024 draft pick who has stumbled out of the gates is Kevin Bazzell. I was very excited about him heading into the year after he hit well in Low-A at the end of the 2024 season. Bazzell was seen as a polished bat who was still a bit of a work in progress as a defender behind the plate.

I was surprised Bazzell got sent to Low-A instead of High-A to start the season. We are seeing why the Nats made the move as the catcher has struggled mightily in Fredericksburg. He is hitting just .146 with a .388 OPS in 41 at bats. Bazzell is only striking out 10.9% of the time, so I still think he can heat up. However, it is discouraging to see him struggle this much at a low level.

He and Caleb Lomavita were in a similar tier for me heading into the season, but Lomavita has separated from him now. Lomavita has always had more upside, but now he is performing better at a higher level too.

3. Robert Hassell III, OF (AAA)

After Spring Training there was so much excitement around Robert Hassell. He was a hitting machine in Spring Training, and it looked like he was finally the guy the Nats expected when he came over in the Juan Soto trade.

However, he has come crashing down to earth in Triple-A. He is hitting just .232 with a .578 OPS in 69 at bats. Hassell looks more like the guy who has struggled the last couple years than the Spring Training version. It looks like that was just a mirage and an outlier. That sucks for Hassell and the Nats.

He only has three extra base hits and no home runs. Hassell is also striking out 26.3% of the time, which is not good for a guy known for his pure hitting ability. The clock is ticking for Bobby Barrels.

In Flux:

I wanted to talk about three more guys who are not stock up or stock down, just intriguing guys we need to see more from.

1. Luke Dickerson, INF

Infielder Luke Dickerson has yet to make his professional debut yet. Unless it is injury related, the reason is probably that they want to give him more time to develop before making that pro debut. Dickerson was a second round pick, but $3.8 million bonus was the most ever given out to a non-first rounder.

It makes sense that Dickerson is still a bit unrefined. He was a two sport athlete, playing hockey at a high level in high school. Dickerson will almost certainly see action in Low-A sometime soon, but we are still in a wait and see game. There is a lot of mystery around Dickerson. He was a late riser in the process and was not on the showcase circuit as much as a lot of other high school guys. The upside is still massive though.

2. Travis Sykora, RHP

Travis Sykora is the Nationals top prospect now that Dylan Crews has graduated. However, he has yet to play due to offseason hip surgery. He was supposed to come back sometime in May, but we have not had any updates in a while.

I would not be surprised if Sykora misses more time than originally announced. However, he had a dominant season in Low-A last year with a 2.33 ERA and 129 strikeouts in 85 innings. Hopefully Sykora can come back sometime in the near future and pick up where he left off.

3. Alex Clemmey, LHP (A+)

The only guy in this tier that is actually playing is Alex Clemmey. The reason for this is simple, nothing about him has really changed for better or for worse. He is still dominant when he is throwing strikes, but he is still not throwing enough strikes.

Clemmey has 20 strikeouts in 11 innings and has only allowed four hits. However, he has also walked 12 batters in that time. He is still only 19, so there is plenty of time for him to develop. Like Susana, Clemmey doesn’t need to paint corners like Greg Maddux, he just needs to be around the zone.

I saw Clemmey in the Spring Breakout game. The stuff looked devastating and he was throwing a good amount of strikes that game. In the one game this season he was around the zone, he dominated. That game he struck out 10 in five scoreless innings, walking just two. It is still a holding pattern with Clemmey. We know the stuff is devastating and he can be around the zone at times. However, we need to see more strikes.

This is my early season update of the Nationals system. There have been plenty of risers, but also some disappointments. Things have been much better on the pitching side this year. Most of the top hitting prospects other than Brady House have struggled. However, it is still early and we will check to see how things unfold as the season continues.