Continuing where we left off on Tuesday, here’s the rundown of the position players that have been announced as participating in the Florida Instructional League, a.k.a. “Instrux”:
| Player | Pos. | Age | 2013 Team(s) | 2012 Invite | Notes |
| Spencer Kieboom | C | 22 | GCL | Y | Missed most of 2013 due to TJ surgery on his throwing elbow. |
| Geoffrey Perrott | C | 22 | AUB | N | 17th rd. pick out of Rice, where he was a backup to Craig Manuel for three years, and a similar profile: glove-first, not much power. |
| Cole Leonida | C | 24 | POT | N | Made decent gains across the board offensively, but seems destined to be a backup unless he repeats Potomac. |
| Matt Reistetter | C | 21 | AUB | N | Usually NDFAs are placeholders that rarely make it another season, so this is quite an accomplishment. |
| Pedro Severino | C | 20 | HAG | Y | Challenged with full-season ball at 19-going-on-20, the raw defensive talent showed some signs of life on offense. |
| Osvaldo Abreu | SS | 19 | GCL | N | Handled the GCL well while cutting his errors down. Having played SS nearly exclusively, the gut says he may make it to Low-A ahead of the Auburn guys… |
| Wilmer Difo | SS | 21 | GCL, AUB, HAG, POT |
Y | …which includes Wilmer Difo, who played at three levels of A ball plus the GCL. Showed flashes of brilliance w/ Potomac, so his invite may mean he’s not topped out yet. |
| Anderson Franco | 3B | 16 | N/A | N | Franco was the big fish the Nats caught in the 2013 IFA derby. Defense and power are his hallmarks so the big what-if is whether he can hit. At 16 and a $900K bonus, he’ll get LOTS of chances. |
| Cody Gunter | 3B | 19 | AUB | N | 6th rd. JuCo pick out of TX with a strong arm, raw power and a patient plate approach, but 20E’s in 59G, subpar range and speed could ticket him to 1B sooner rather than later. |
| Jason Martinson | SS | 24 | POT, HBG | N | Still an intriguing combination of athleticism and power but time is running out (turns 25 next month). |
| David Masters | SS | 20 | AUB | N | 14th rd. JuCo pick out of AZ, he’s said to have above-avg. range and a strong arm (on a SS? how novel) but is below- avg. on the basepaths and at the plate. |
| Bryan Mejia | 2B | 19 | GCL | N | Like Abreu, Mejia has played almost exclusively at 2B and adjusted well going from the DSL to the GCL. |
| Stephen Perez | SS | 22 | HAG | Y | First full, healthy season since 2011. If he’s made the strides developmentally, he’ll be the SS for Potomac in 2014. |
| Shawn Pleffner | 1B | 24 | HAG | Y | Injuries have dogged Pleffner from Day 1 (missed all of ’11), but when healthy he has produced. |
| Tony Renda | 2B | 22 | HAG | Y | 2nd Rd. Pick in ’12 out of Univ. of California, Renda put up another strong season and, along with Pleffner and Perez, seems ticketed for Woodbridge next summer. |
| Drew Ward | 3B | 18 | GCL | N | 3rd rd. pick out of Leedey, HS (Leedey, OK, pop. 440), Ward transitioned from the preps to pros without skipping a beat. |
| James Yezzo | 1B | 21 | AUB | N | 7th rd. pick from Univ. of Delaware, Yezzo is a 1B-only lefthanded slugger with power and patience that the Nats hope to develop to offset his lack of speed/range. |
| Isaac Ballou | OF | 23 | AUB, HAG | N | 15th rd. pick out of Marshall, Ballou was the sole first-year position player to earn a promotion from Auburn to Hagerstown. |
| Rafael Bautista | OF | 20 | GCL | N | One of the “DSL Guys” on the 2013 Watchlist, Bautista was a force on the GCL squad with a 26 SB’s and a .791 OPS |
| Billy Burns | OF | 24 | POT, HBG | Y | Nats 2013 POTY who’s gotten a lot of press early in the offseason. |
| Randy Encarnacion | OF | 19 | GCL | N | Played sparingly on a very talented GCL squad, but had tremendous rate statistics of .349/.437/.523 while turning 19 in July. |
| Destin Hood | OF | 23 | HBG | Y | Another injury-shortened season that fell short of expectations. |
| Hayden Jennings | OF | 20 | GCL | Y | Improved his nos. across the board from 2012 to 2013, most notably in cutting his K rate from ~40% to ~30%. |
| Brandon Miller | OF | 23 | HAG, POT | Y | Struck out 164 times in 2013, but hit 20 HR, second to Walters (29). Still learning the nuances of playing OF and isn’t the fleetest of foot. |
| Michael Taylor | OF | 22 | POT | Y | The brilliance that was only sporadic in ’12 became nearly everyday, in ’13 — especially on defense, where he’s become an elite defender with a cannon arm (21 assists easily led the Carolina League). |