Nationals Prospects: Sam Petersen is a sleeper prospect to watch

Wilmington is a hard place to hit but Washington Nationals outfield prospect Sam Petersen is dominating there

Anyone who follows Nationals Minor League baseball knows that High-A Wilmington is a tough place to hit. The dimensions are very pitcher friendly making it an environment where pitching dominates. A lot of the Nats big time prospects have struggled there in recent years. However, one man is dominating there and it has caught my attention. His name is Sam Petersen and he is a real sleeper prospect I am going to explore.

The Nationals drafted Petersen out of the University of Iowa in the 8th round last year. Petersen was an intriguing prospect coming out of Iowa. He had a successful career there, where he showed an interesting power/speed combination. In his sophomore year, he was an all-Big 10 player, and was doing well in his junior year before an injury.

He was ranked as the 205th best draft prospect by MLB Pipeline. However, the injury, combined with some questions about his contact skills and the translatability of his power caused him to fall.

He only played seven MILB games in 2024, but impressed on both sides of the ball. Petersen had a .991 OPS and had five steals. He also showed off his skills in the outfield that make him so exciting.

Petersen got a late start to the 2025 season with an injury of an unknown variety. Once he got healthy, he got some action in the FCL and Low-A. However, most of his action has come in High-A Wilmington.

Despite Wilmington being a tough place to hit, Petersen has dominated the competition. He is hitting .286 with an .853 OPS in 38 High-A games. That gives him a 150 wRC+, or 50% better than average. Not shabby for a 22 year old 8th round pick.

Petersen’s hit tool worried some scouts, but he has been keeping the strikeouts under control in High-A. He is only striking out 18.5% of the time, which is very manageable. A tremendous athlete, Petersen is a great base stealing threat. In Wilmington, he is 14/14 in his steal attempts and he is 19/20 for the season.

While Petersen has not fully realized his power yet, he is still tapping into some of it. He has four homers, six doubles and two triples in High-A. Petersen is really doing everything you could want him to do. Between the contact, the emerging power and his walk rate being at nearly 12%, he is checking a lot of boxes.

Right now, Baseball America has Petersen as their 29th ranked Nationals prospect, including 2025 draft picks. MLB Pipeline has him at 28th, but has not added the new draftees.

With the way he is producing, I would probably have him higher than that. There is a lot to like in this profile with both production and athleticism to dream on. With his athleticism, the hope is that Petersen can stick in center field. However, he has been playing some left field.

Scouts question his arm, so a move to left seems more likely than shifting over to right field. However, this is yet another high quality outfielder in the Nats system. They have been pumping them out lately and have a real surplus of talent in that spot.

With a solid all-around profile and production in a pitcher friendly environment, former Iowa Hawkeye Sam Petersen has my attention. Sticking in center field would do real wonders for his profile, but even in a corner, he is intriguing.

The solid all around offensive impact, combined with the elite base running and quality defense is quite the package. He does not get much buzz in the Nats system, but we need to talk more about Sam Petersen.