Season Review: The 2024 DSL Nationals
After a trainwreck in 2023, it’s hard not to describe 2024 as anything but an improvement for the DSL Nationals. The ’24 D-Nats bats were below-average on offense—like most Nationals affiliates, natch—but they weren’t the worst in the DSL as they were in 2023.
The ’24 arms weren’t as close to the norm as the ’23 hurlers (+0.63 Lg. Avg. vs. +0.43) but were much younger (18.1 vs. 18.7), which is unusual for the Nationals, who like to sign older pitchers to begin with and reclaim guys that other orgs signed young and gave up on. The gloves behind them were also much better than a year ago, as the team improved from .942 FA to .957 and the backstops were better than average at throwing out runners (4th best at 35% vs. 25% Lg. Avg.)
The $64,000 question will be how many of these guys make it stateside in ’25. Presuming the FCL starts in May again, there are more than a dozen ’24 picks who never got into a regular-season game versus the handful that was the norm prior to 2024. That will make it harder than in years past for DSL guys.
And with that, let’s go to the obligatory Top 5’s
| TOP 5 BATS | TOP 5 ARMS |
| 1. 18-y.o. Dashyll Tejeda, CF .308 GPA, 46SB, 31R |
1. 18-y.o. Jose Feliz, RHSP 1-3, 0SV; 2.96/2.97/0.94, 2.2 BB/9IP, 10.6 K/9IP in 45⅔ IP (10GS) |
| 2. 17-y.o. Angel Feliz, SS .289 GPA, 27SB, 42R |
2. 18-y.o. Darrel Lunar, RHRP 2-1, 0 SV; 4.00/3.48/1.22, 10.3 K/9IP in 36IP (15G, 4GS) |
| 3. 18-y.o. Manuel Cabrera, 1B/3B .279 GPA in 40G |
3. 18-y.o. Jose Sanchez, RHRP 4-1, 3 SV; 2.91/4.39/1.29, 11.6 K/9IP, 5.0 BB/9IP in 21⅔ IP (15G, 12GF) |
| 4. 18-y.o. Hector Liriano, RF .248 GPA, 25BB, 24R in 52G |
4. 17-y.o. Jean Robles, RHRP 3.95/4.56/1.35, 4.6 BB/9IP, 7HBP in 27⅓ IP (14G, 4GF) |
| 5. 17-y.o. Angel Requena, 1B/2B .244 GPA, 16K in 27G |
5. 18-y.o. Jeffrey Familia, LHRP 3.77/4.69/1.32, 4WP in 31IP (15G, 8GF) |
Tejeda would seem to be a lock to go to the FCL, given that he was repeating the level and is now getting some helium from the Boys in Durham. Cabrera, Liriano, and Familia were also repeating but seem less certain. As always, folks interested in seein the full team statistics can find them here.