NationalsProspects.com

The NationalsProspects.com Top 10 Pitchers

Once again, we’re seeing three clear trends: starters are getting more love than relievers (as they should), likewise for guys who can contribute sooner vs. later, and of course, southpaws (indicated by *) over northpaws:

  1. Cade Cavalli (1)(1)
  2. Jackson Rutledge (8)(4)
  3. DJ Herz*
  4. Travis Sykora
  5. Jake Bennett* (3)
  6. Andrew Alvarez*
  7. Mitchell Parker* (4)(7)
  8. Cole Henry (9)(2)
  9. Jarlin Susana (2)
  10. Andry Lara (6)(3)

Others receiving votes, excluding honorable mentions: Dustin Saenz*, Luke Young, Zach Brzykcy, Liam Sullivan, Matt Cronin*, Marlon Perez*
Like a year ago, there’s only one 2023 draft pick and in true Nationals fashion, Travis Sykora and you threw the same number of pitches in the minors last year. I was unable to find any rumors or indications that that was because of injury – all indications was that the coaches wanted to work on his mechanics without any scrutiny (SSDP).

Seven of the ten were on the list last year, and I put their position on the 2021 list as well to demonstrate two things: 1) prospect fatigue (Cavalli will turn 26 in 2024, Rutledge 25, Parker and Henry, 24) and 2) that the rankings can change very quickly.

The winter meetings are this week, and unlike a year ago, there’s not much chance of major Nationals-oriented news, prospects or otherwise. I would love to be wrong about this, but without a chance at winning a lottery pick and the big club being multiple pieces away from contention, odds are we’re not going to see any major trades or free agent signings.

Yes, the Nats do pick 5th in the Rule 5 Draft and if you want me to start some s@#$, their favorite trading partner (the A’s) does have the #1 pick… Could there be a trade where the A’s pick the guy the Nats want (there are some pitchers coming off Tommy John surgery)?

Still, with a 12-year gap between MLB-phase picks, it seems unlike that the Nats will take a guy themselves two years in a row.

5 Commments

  1. I’m surprised by how few pitchers were ranked (16). With such a weak group of 10, I thought we’d see a longer list of guys rated 7-10th.

    On the Rule 5, I would sincerely hope the Nats take someone. Cole Wilcox, for example, is available. He was drafted by the Nats in 2018. As a 37th rounder, there wasn’t any real intent to sign him, but it’s still usually a signal of interest. We drafted Jake Bennett in the 39th round in 2019, then drafted him again in the 2nd in 2022. Wilcox has dealt with injuries (which pitcher hasn’t?), but had a decent full season in AA at age 23, after posting insanely good numbers in 2021-2022, before going down with TJ. His numbers in 2023 were just as good as anyone listed 7th onward on our top 10. We could stash him in a long relief role similar to Ward, or even just throw him in the deep end as a SP, like we did with Jake Irvin, and hope for the best. All we’d need from Wilcox is for him to outperform Trevor Williams and his 5.55 ERA/5.98 FIP, which isn’t asking much…

    You could replace Wilcox with literally any other half decent SP. And if they aren’t able to hold their own, well, then it’ll have bought time for one of Parker/Herz/Alvarez/Saenz to separate themselves from the pack, and get a chance of their own.

  2. 2024 will still offer some intriguing viewing. Cavalli, Cronin and Brzykcy back from IR, Rutledge, Saenz and Alvarez at AAA, Herz and Parker zeroing in on the stroke zone, and (assuming they get to keep Lara) three youngsters beginning and continuing their development.

    with several other favorites on my list it’s not so bleak from my vantage point

      1. The legend is that when Marshall McLuhan got the galleys from his follow-up to “Understanding Man: The Extensions of Man” (1964) it was supposed to be titled “The Medium is the Message” but there was a printing error. Instead, he liked the error and kept it. So if anyone wants to win a bar bet, the correct answer to what was the name of McLuhan’s 1967 book is “The Medium Is the Massage: An Inventory of Effects.”

        That’s long way of saying you might not be wrong…

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