Even with the recent trades at the trading deadline, the Nationals have a pretty decent system. However, I will miss my boy McKenzie Mills, who was traded to Philadelphia for Howie Kendrick. Take a look at my first ever top Washington Nationals Top 50 Prospects list. We’ll have an updated one in January prior to the 2018 season. For reference purposes you can find our Prospects1500 preseason 2017 Nationals Top 50 prospects here.
Prospects1500 Tiers:
Tier 1: Players with high expectations of both making the majors and playing at an All-Star level for a number of years
Tier 2: Players with an above average expectation of making the majors and being a solid contributor
Tier 3: Players with an average expectation of making the majors and being a solid contributor
Tier 4: Players who have the potential of making the majors, or have high likelihood of making the majors but providing minimal impact (e.g. middle reliever, low-ceiling UT guys)
Tier 5: Players who are worth keeping an eye on, but likely to never make a team’s 40-man roster
Tier 1
1. Victor Robles, OF – No surprise here that I have Robles ranked as the number one prospect in the Nationals system. He moved to AA this year and is still killing the ball along with playing great defense.
2. Juan Soto, OF – A broken ankle and hand surgery will put a damper on Soto’s season this year. Even with the injuries, he’s 18 years old playing in full season ball. That will do.
Tier 2
3. Erick Fedde, RHP – He made his major league debut this year after some injuries in the Nationals starting rotation. He was also moved to the bullpen to preserve his innings. I’m still high on him and see him as a potential #2 or #3 rotation guy.
4. Carter Kieboom, SS – He missed sometime this year due to a hamstring injury but was killing the ball prior to that. He has recently come back and I think he will take off next year.
5. Andrew Stevenson, OF – Love this guy. He was killing AA but hit a snag when he was promoted to AAA. He is currently in the bigs due to (no surprise here) an injury. I like what I’ve seen but he is not ready yet.
6. Seth Romero, LHP – Drafted this year in the 1st round. Pitching for Auburn (A-Short Season, NY Penn League). Will be interesting to see his progression next year.
7. Luis Garcia, SS
8. Raudy Read, C
9. Jose Marmolejos, 1B – My personal cheeseball. He hit the ground running once he came off the DL due to a forearm injury. He has cooled a bit but I still see him as an everyday player in the bigs.
Tier 3
10. Kelvin Gutierrez, 3B
11. Daniel Johnson, OF – He is having a HUGE year. I still think he is playing over his skis a bit. I see him as a bench bat in the end.
12. Kyle Johnston, RHP – 2017 6th round pick. MLB has him ranked 136th in their Top 200 Draft prospects.
13. Wil Crowe – RHP, 2nd round draft pick out of South Carolina
14. Koda Glover, RHP – Hopefully he can come back next year as he lost this year to injury. Closer potential. Still only 39 IP in majors.
15. Austin Voth, RHP
16. Brigham Hill, RHP – 2017 5th round pick. MLB has him ranked 159th in their Top 200 Draft prospects.
Tier 4
17. Pedro Severino, C – Loved seeing him get full time playing time in AAA this year. Should be up next year.
18. Nick Raquet, LHP – Pitching in A-Short Season Auburn, was Nationals‘ 3rd round pick this past June.
19. Jake Noll, 2B– I like what I’ve seen this year in A ball. I think he profiles as a bench piece.
20. Yasel Antuna, SS
21. Taylor Gushue, C
22. Rafael Bautista, OF
23. Anderson Franco, 3B – Really struggled in his first year in A ball. Decent amount of pop but a bunch of swing and miss as well.
24. Telmito Agustin, OF
25. Blake Perkins, OF – Fourth outfield type with a great batting eye. 11% walk rate this year in his first year in A ball.
26. Matthew DeRosier, RHP
27. Joan Baez, RHP
28. Jimmy Cordero, RHP
Tier 5
27. Tres Barrera, C
28. Matthew Crownover, LHP – Low strikeout but also low walk rate guy. Promoted to AA this year and struggled.
29. Ian Sagdal, 1B
30. Sterling Sharp, RHP –2016 22nd round pick. Another control pitcher. Promoted to A+ this season and has struggled.
31. Jakson Reetz, C
32. Austin Davidson, 2B – Great batting eye with plus defense. Interested to see how he does next year
33. Oliver Ortiz, OF
34. Jorge Tillero, C
35. Nick Lee, LHP – Drafted in 2011 this is his 7th year in the minors. Has been to AA but is back in Rookie league ball this season coming off an injury. 300 career MiLB IP. Probably not more than a filler MLB role at this point for the 26-year-old.
36. Luis Reyes, RHP
37. Jackson Tetreault, RHP – 2017 7th round pick out of State College of Florida Manatee – Sarasota! Holding down a 2.48 ERA through 29 IP with the Auburn Doubledays so far this season after only 1 game and 2 IP with the GCL Nationals (Rookie).
38. Neftali Soto, 1B – Prospects1500’s Scott Greene compares Soto to Boston’s Bryce Brentz. Was once a huge power prospect (Reds 3rd round pick in 2007) but now might only be a AAAA-type. 139 career MiLB HR to go along with 600 RBI. Only 3 hits in 42 career major league at bats.
39. Alec Keller, OF
40. Jefry Rodriguez, RHP
41. Nick Banks, OF – Really struggled this year in A ball. Plenty of power though. 2016 4th round pick.
42. Mariano Rivera III, RHP – 4th round pick in 2015. Son of THE Mariano Rivera.
43. Edwin Lora, SS
44. Armond Upshaw, OF – 11th round pick in 2016.
45. Drew Ward, 3B – 3rd round pick in 2013, former Top 10 Nats prospect. In his 2nd season at AA Harrisburg.
46. Ryan Brinley, RHP
47. Grant Borne, LHP
48. Brady Dragmire, RHP
49. Jake Barnett, LHP – 20th rounder from 2016.
50. Osvaldo Abreu, SS/2B – 6th season in the Nationals organization, currently with AA Harrisburg. Fielding tools slightly better than hitting tools so far. MLB has him in their Nats Top 30. That’s a bit too high for Prospects1500 rankings.
Graduated from list (surpassed 130 AB or 50 IP) – Wilmer Difo, A.J. Cole, Brian Goodwin, Trevor Gott
If there’s anyone you think I missed, or if you believe I’ve ranked someone too high or too low, please comment below or hit me up on Twitter at @tnyfn20. Go Nats!
Shelly Verougstraete is the Nationals writer here at Prospects1500. Even as a diehard Red Sox fan, and author of sabermetric based Red Sox blog greenmonsterbb.wordpress.com, the goal here is to keep you up to date with all the happenings down on the Nats farm. Shelly lives in Virginia and has many minor league parks (A to AA) close by. Let's Go Nats!
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Shelly Verougstraetehttps://www.prospects1500.com/author/nationals002/
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Shelly Verougstraetehttps://www.prospects1500.com/author/nationals002/
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Shelly Verougstraetehttps://www.prospects1500.com/author/nationals002/
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Shelly Verougstraetehttps://www.prospects1500.com/author/nationals002/
Where do you rank Aldrem Corredor? Solid season and all star in the Sally.
Shelly, Jackson Tetreault. Seriously, your 5th tier list! One of the most projectable players in the 2017 draft. Looks like one of the Bargains of the 2017 Draft! 6’5 180lbs, 95mph Plus Fastball, Plus Curve, Solid Changeup. Short SA, 38 IP, 36Ks, 2.58 ERA (1.88 ERA at 37.1 IP and team leader in Ks and ERA). One of the top 2 starters on Auburn Doubledays. Tetreault outperformed many top 3 round 2017 pitching draft picks including #1 picks like, Tanner Houck, Brenden Little, Seth Romero, Shae Baz, Hunter Green and others. Do you look at performance and projection or just that year’s draft spot? Obviously the latter, and any baseball enthusiast can do that! The Nationals prospect list have Tetreault at #15 overall and their #5 pitching prospect. Man, they need to consult with you, because you must know something they don’t !