With the release of his 2015 edition expected in the next day or so, John Sickels has released his Top 50 Batting and Pitching prospects, which included two Nationals pitchers and one Washington batter.
It should come as no shock that Lucas Giolito was ranked #1 with the Dodgers’ Julio Urias ranked #2. Giolito was ranked #12 in the 2014 book, which is pretty heady considering that the Nats 1st Rd. pick in the 2012 draft was coming off Tommy John surgery and had pitched just 36⅔ innings in 2013.
If you guessed that A.J. Cole was the second pitcher, ranked #31, congratulations. You can now collect your prize. Cole was #33 on the 2014 Top 50, #46 in 2013, and #23 in 2012. Cole, who turned 23 in January, was a 4th Rd. pick in the 2010 draft and has been traded twice — to Oakland in December 2011 and from Oakland in 2013.
A mild surprise, given his age and proclivity to whiff, is Michael Taylor, who was ranked as the #35 batting prospect. Taylor has long been a favorite here on this website, but his ascendance has been a long time coming as the almost-24-y.o. was drafted in the 6th Rd. in 2009.
Giolito and Cole will most likely begin 2015 in the minors — the former at either Potomac or Harrisburg, the latter in Syracuse. Until this week, Taylor seemed bound for upstate New York, too. But with healthy outfielders in short supply in Viera, the narrative has changed from “Well, maybe he might make the club as a 4th outfielder” (well, no, not really) to “He could be the Opening Day centerfielder” (yeah, more than maybe).