NationalsProspects.com

The 2017 NationalsProspects.com Watchlist

I know this keeps getting done later every year, but I won’t bore with you with why it’s been delayed. We’re all busy and it’s the holidays… yada yada yada.

I should be used to how trades and lower draft positions make this harder than the year before, not to mention my no longer following the lowest levels as closely. I spent a good chunk of time with a pen and a magic 8 ball notebook while bouncing back and forth between the preliminary post, its comments, and the “top prospect” posts from Baseball America and John Sickels.

So here we go with the seventh annual NationalsProspects.com watchlist. These are the five dozen or so players that we’re paying a bit much more attention to than the others for various reasons.

Few of these guys will actually make it to The Show—for Washington or any other organization—but we still watch and hope for them, just like their friends and families (and agents 😉) do.

Now for the obligatory caveats…

• It’s not a depth chart – Players are listed primarily by the highest level they’ve played. This mostly applies to the pitchers and outfielders, but it’s a fool who assumes that the name at the top of the column is better than the one at the bottom.

• It’s not a prediction of usage – Early on, I listed pitchers by whether they started or relieved. Now, I mostly list them by dexterity; this year I did break apart the “northpaws” because there are so damn many of them.

• It’s not fair – Some names have been dropped and/or shuffled around since the preliminary list was released. Some guys get the benefit of being lefthanded. Others are listed because the position isn’t terribly deep, which unfortunately, is more common than any of us would like.

I haven’t yet added this sidebar to the right yet, but will soon. I hope my copyeditor made fewer mistakes than last month, but if you spot anything, please let us know in the comments.

The next few weeks will be spent writing the player capsules while I wait for the handbook(s) to arrive. I’ll hyperlink the category pages when I’m done and will keep you updated as usual.

In the meantime, feel free to discuss in the comments…

C 1B 2B/SS 3B OF RHRP
Severino Skole Abreu Ward Goodwin Glover
Read Marmolejos Sagdal Gutierrez Bautista Brinley
Reetz Simonetti Noll Neuse Stevenson Mendez
C. Kieboom Robles Pantoja
Agustin Peterson
Wiseman Fuentes
Johnson Howell
Perkins
Soto
Upshaw
Evangelista
RHSPs LHPs DSL Bats DSL Arms Notable Arms Notable Bats
Cole Crownover Cabello Sisneros J. Cordero Banks
Voth Borne Falcon Guillen Mapes Corredor
Fedde Guilbeau Mesa Chu A. Lee Franco
Simms Watson Morales Duran Rivera III L. Garcia
Valdez Mills Pascal J. Peguero Luzardo Antuna
Baez Y. Ramirez
W. Davis
Sharp
F. Peguero

40 Commments

  1. Gotta say I enjoy your site and am thankful for the time you put into it. I’d be in worse baseball withdrawals without it.

    Shouldn’t Spencer Kieboom make this list, or did his burning the broken bats put him on the naughty list?

    Can’t wait to see who will be playing for the PNats this year!

    1. Spencer Kieboom had a curious season in which he got a major-league call-up despite having such a crappy year at AA at age 25 that it’s probably right to say that he may no longer be much of a “prospect.”

  2. Happy New Year
    Waiting in a bus at airport
    Anybody have an opinion on pirate
    Outfielder Willy Garcia ??

  3. The only guy I might make a case for deserving another look, based solely on his stats, is Austin Davidson. Luke has made some comments that he didn’t think much of Davidson after watching him at Potomac, though.

    Bryan Harper also had a strong year but will miss most/all of 2017 and is getting older.

    The others who come to mind as I look at the list are very marginal: Barrera, S. Kieboom, Mejia, N. Lee. On the flip side, I’m not sure why Rivera remains “notable” other than his daddy and his relatively high draft slot. He’s already to a make-or-break year at age 23. Maybe dad will put in an appearance or two in Woodbridge!

    1. Ty luke
      KC Royal pitcher Malcolm Ban Buren
      Must be related ro the former president from a different century

  5. Thanks, Luke, that answers the big mystery of what happened.
    This puts a lot of egg on the face of the writers at MASN for not disclosing anything.
    We found about Bryan Harper because he immediately put out photos after the surgery.

    1. Well, no more than me for not finding this sooner… plus, “Nats pitcher undergoes TJ surgery” is “dog bites man,” iykwim.

      1. I think I had read that Lee had a TJ in his past, maybe in HS, so I think this is his dreaded second one. As I’ve noted before, he was a solid hitter as a two-way player at Tenn. (1B), so his future in baseball isn’t totally tied to the mound. His junior year, he hit .306/.388/.590 with 9 HRs, good numbers in the SEC.

      2. Luke, I think you are being too hard on yourself about Lee.
        These MASN writers have so much more access than you or anyone else.

        If KW is right and this is his 2nd TJ, than that is very bad news indeed. Too bad.

  6. RSP Carlos Pena GCL Watch out for this Guy Nationals best kept secret. You heard it here 1st…

  7. Maybe Luke needs to add a “Wounded Wings” category to the Watchlist. It would be an impressive list. Here is who comes to mind:

    Andrew Lee
    Jesus Luzardo
    Ryan Williamson
    Bryan Harper

    There are probably others. Who am I forgetting?

    Why not let Lee DH in the GCL while he rehabs?

      1. I thought there had been something like that at one point; just couldn’t remember what it was called.

    3. Great idea,KW, but I don’t think there is 1 GM in baseball who would do it.
      His numbers the last year in college were awesome.

      1. Been thinking about this today; if Lee was a great hitter in college and he can’t pitch all year, whh not let him hit in Florida.
        I just don’t remember ever seeing a team that forward thinking to do it.
        Can anybody else remember it happining?

        1. Lee didn’t pitch at all his first season at UT, so I suspect this is exactly what he was doing: hitting during the season he was recovering from his first TJ.

        1. I don’t think Skole had a TJ. I was thinking it was some sort of upper torso issue, but that was three or four years ago, so I’ve really forgotten. Whatever the injury was, his missing nearly the whole season really derailed him.

          2. I stand corrected; Skole does show up on the TJ database. He’s certainly a hitter who has never been quite the same since he had his.

  8. I guess what this highlights is the lack of upper-levels middle infielders in the system.

    Difo ended the 2016 season with the big league club, and looks to have the inside line on the utility infielder place (unless someone like Drew re-signs), but there’s not too much else there.

    Burriss, I’m assuming, will be in AAA? (and won’t be a prospect)?

    2. I would not surprised if Burriss is being groomed for some kind of community liason position with the Nats once he gives up the dream.
      By all accounts a quality person and a perfect fit for the academy.

      1. I had the same thought about Burriss, that they’re setting him up for some sort of post-playing spot in the organization because of the local goodwill it would generate.

  9. Saw that former Nat prospect Tyler Moore signed with the Marlins this week (they do need a right handed first baseman to platoon with Justin Bour). Always liked Tyler; Tyler is working his way through the NL East.

    2. T-Mo never even got a cup of coffee with the Braves and only 25 games (in which he wasn’t good) at AAA before they released him. I wish him well, but at this point he’s quite a long shot to even make an MLB roster.

  10. RHP Carlos Pena GCL last season.. Keep your eyes on this guy. Had 21 inning scoreless streak last season in GCL!

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