RHPs

		Cade Cavalli Born: 8/14/98 Ht. 6’4″ Wt. 240 Bats: R Throws: R Career Stats	After rising from High-A to AAA in 2021, Cavalli spent all of 2022 in AAA, pitching 97⅓ innings across 20 starts. He was called up in late August and made one start against the Reds before getting shut down with shoulder inflammation. Developmentally, his goal was to improve his CH because his FB lacks deception or movement despite the high-90s velocity. If healthy, he could break camp in the big Nats starting rotation.
		Thad Ward Born: 1/16/97 Ht. 6’3″ Wt. 192 Bats: R Throws: R Career Stats	Despite proving his health after TJ surgery, the Red Sox left Ward exposed to the Rule 5 Draft in which the Nats made its first pick since 2010. Ward will likely spend ’23 in a long-relief role, though he did finish ’22 with six starts of 4⅓ IP or more. Ward’s best pitch is his low-90s SNK followed by a sweeping SL. He also throws a CT, FB, CV, and CH, though only the CT is close to average, as LHBs feast on his FB.
		Jake Irvin Born: 2/18/97 Ht. 6’6″ Wt. 225 Bats: R Throws: R Career Stats	2022 was Irvin’s first season since 2019, having lost 2020 to the pandemic and 2021 to Nats elbow. The 2018 4th Rd. pick split time between A+ (30 IP) and AA (70⅓ IP). While his line at Harrisburg was mediocre-to-subpar (4.79/3.99/1.17) it was good enough to earn a spot on the 40-man roster. Irvin works with a three-pitch arsenal of FB/CV/CH, with mid-90s heat and good control (6.6% walk rate).
		Zach Brzykcy Born: 7/12/99 Ht. 6’2″ Wt. 230 Bats: R Throws: R Career Stats	Thanks mostly to the pandemic, Brzykcy (“Brick-see”) signed with the Nats as an NDFA out of Va. Tech in 2020. After a meh ’21, the one-vowel-wonder rose from A+ to AAA while going 8-2 with 14SV and fanning 13.9 per 9IP. Brzykcy features a high-90s FB with strong movement, complemented by a mid-80s, 11-5 CV and high-80s SP-CH. Scouts feel he could make the big club in 2023.
		Tyler Yankosky Born: 5/28/98 Ht. 6’6″ Wt. 225 Bats: L Throws: R Career Stats	Yankosky was in the midst of probably would have a two-level season until he suffered what was reportedly a lat strain in mid-June. He did not pitch again in 2022. As a 19th Rd. pick in 2019, scouting reports are non-existent. Thus, we’re forced to infer from the numbers, which were good: 1.78/2.47/0.96 with one walk and one HR allowed in 30⅓ IP.
		Amos Willingham Born: 8/21/98 Ht. 6’4″ Wt. 217 Bats: R Throws: R Career Stats	Willingham missed about two months during midseason with… wait for it…an undisclosed injury which actually may have influenced his selection to the 2022 AFL contingent. The 2019 17th Rd. pick went 3-2 with three saves in 29 appearances, posting a line of 3.41/2.76/1.19 while striking out 40 in 34⅓ innings (10.5/9IP).
		Orlando Ribalta Born: 3/5/98 Ht. 6’7″ Wt. 245 Bats: R Throws: R Career Stats	After two mediocre-to-bad short seasons in the Florida complexes, the Nats’ 2019 12th Rd. pick had a breakout season in 2022, pitching both levels of “A” ball and finishing in the AFL (albeit as a Rule 5 evaluation) with a perfect 0.00 ERA in eight appearances. The Cuban-born Floridian has been clocked as high as 97 mph but has struggled with control throughout his career.
		Rodney Theophile Born: 9/16/99 Ht. 6’5″ Wt. 230 Bats: R Throws: R Career Stats	Theophile signed as an IFA for just $10K in 2018 then developed Nats’ elbow in 2019. He resurfaced in Low-A in 2021 with 22 starts but just 89IP. Last summer, he dominated for nine starts in A- to get the bump to A+, where he reverted to 2021 form with one win and one quality start. Theophile features a low-90s sinker, which generates a lot of grounders… and a lot of hits.
		Carlos Romero Born: 7/15/99 Ht. 6’6″ Wt. 179 Bats: R Throws: R Career Stats	2022 was the fifth professional season for the 23-y.o. Venezuelan, having played in the DSL in 2017 and 2018 and in Auburn in 2019. The former DSL Arm made it stateside in 2021 with mixed results: not good as a starter, but not bad as a reliever. He strictly worked out of the ‘pen in ’22 where he racked up a lot of K’s (12.1), a lot of walks (5.1), and 6HRs in 72⅓ IP.
		Andry Lara Born: 1/06/03 Ht. 6’4″ Wt. 180 Bats: R Throws: R Career Stats	Lara returned to Low-A in 2022 and struggled most of the season (5.51/4.54/1.45), though he did not go on the D.L. He’s listed as 6-5, 235 in the BA handbook, so perhaps the hope that he’ll be able to sustain the mid-90s velocity longer will be realized in 2023. His low-80s SL is the better of his secondaries—the other being a high-80s CH—but scouts still want to see more refinement.
		Jarlin Susana Born: 3/23/04 Ht. 6’6″ Wt. 235 Bats: R Throws: R Career Stats	Both hands on the keyboard: The turning-19 Susana often breaks into triple digits, hitting as high as 103. Alas, like the mythical Nuke LaLoosh, it’s not always over the plate and when it is, it’s straighter than a western with John Wayne, Clint Eastwood, and Sam Elliott. Scouts, however, like his SL much better as that’s the offering that gets the whiffs. 2023 will be about improving command and control.
		Jack Sinclair Born: 5/3/99 Ht. 6’4″ Wt. 170 Bats: R Throws: R Career Stats	Sinclair, the Nats’ 16th Rd. Pick in 2021 out of Central Florida, pitched (and dominated) both levels of a “A” ball in 2022. Like most of the guys from here on down, scouting reports are nil-to-none. The 23-y.o. made 18 appearances for Fredericksburg, 20 for Wilmington with an aggregate line of 1.70/2.65/0.85, averaging 2.5 BB/9 and 10.4 K/9.
		Brendan Collins Born: 9/10/99 Ht. 6’4″ Wt. 215 Bats: R Throws: R Career Stats	After splitting time between the FCL and Low-A during his first year as a pro, the Nats’ 17th Rd. 2021 pick shifted between starting and relieving for the FredNats in 2022. Like most Nats RHPs, Collins can hit the mid-90s with the heat, which helped him rack up 11.7 K/9IP while issuing a decent 3.4 BB/9IP. Seems likely to move up but repeating the level is also possible.
		Cody Greenhill Born: 9/21/98 Ht. 6’4″ Wt. 216 Bats: R Throws: R Career Stats	Greenhill signed with Washington in August 2021 as an NDFA out of Auburn. He made three scoreless appearances in the FCL before moving up to Low-A in 2022. The 24-y.o. Alabama native led the Nationals minors in K/9IP (min. 30IP) with a staggering 14.4 mark while issuing only 11 walks in 43IP. Like Collins, he seems ready for High-A but less likely to repeat.
		Jose Atencio Born: 9/18/01 Ht. 5’11” Wt. 165 Bats: R Throws: R Career Stats	A DSL Guy on the 2022 Watchlist, Atencio proved to be the nut to our blind squirrel as the 21-y.o. Venezuelan spent most of the last summer in Low-A after four starts in the FCL. He appears to be larger than 5-11, 165, which is not uncommon for IFAs. Atencio has been clocked in the low-90s, touching 94 or so, with a slider and a change as his secondaries.
		José Cedeño Born: 10/5/21 Ht. 6’3″ Wt. 170 Bats: R Throws: R Career Stats	Like Atencio, Cedeño fulfilled our scouting-by-boxscore vision as a DSL Guy by making the jump stateside in 2022. While a starter in the DSL, he was shifted to relief in the FCL. His K rate went down from 11.3 to 10.4 while his walk rate rose from 1.7 to 3.9. What remained constant was the H/9IP (5.0) which is influenced by the defense behind him but hard not to notice.
		Kevin Rodriguez Born: 8/13/00 Ht. 6’1″ Wt. 145 Bats: R Throws: R Career Stats	Rodriguez was a DSL Guy on the 2020 watchlist but performed poorly in 2021. He repeated the level in 2022 and made significant improvements in his production, going from 5.40/6.25/1.35 to 1.31/2.33/1.31. Like all shorties, the SSS alert is in effect as he threw just 20 innings in 2021 and 20⅔ in 2022.
		Adrian Ogando Born: 11/20/03 Ht. 6’2″ Wt. 190 Bats: R Throws: R Career Stats	Maybe it was just a visa issue, but Ogando made but one appearance in the DSL before going to the FCL to finish 2022 as an 18-y.o. in his second pro season. This is unusual to happen at all, never mind so early in the short season. Like Cedeno, Ogando’s standout stat is a 4.6 H/9IP mark but without a lot of K’s (8.2) and decent number of walks (3.9) and no HR’s.