Vote for Your Favorite Arms
Now it’s time to find out who’s your fourth favorite pitcher in the minors!
Not so long ago—spring 2021, to be exact—there was talk of The Big Three (Cavalli, Henry, Rutledge) being in the rotation by now. Instead, we got Mitchell Parker, DJ Herz, and Jake Irvin.
Now, it’s Travis Sykora, Andry Lara, and Jarlin Susana who might be The Next Big Three. I don’t think I’m being too much of a curmudgeon when I say “Don’t bet on it.”
Anwyay, back to our little offseason distraction…
Like the bats, you can send your Top 10 list to enfieldmass-top10arms[at]yahoo[dot]com (link will open your preferred email client) or post them in the comments.
Once we have enough votes or it appears that we won’t get any more, I’ll weight them in reverse order (#1 = 10 points, #2 = 9 points … #9 = 2 points, #10 = 1 point) and post the results, along with my observations (a.k.a. snark).
I now return you to your National Microwave Oven Day festivities.
I came into this exercise expecting it to be much deeper and interesting than the bats list, but I’ve come away a bit disillusioned. While 2024 was generally a really good year for Nats pitching, it hasn’t really resulted in an overall improvement to the farm system that I’d been thinking. For example, Lord, Sykora and Susana made huge strides forward, but Cavalli, Rutledge (pitchers #1 and 2 last season) made huge strides backwards, as well as Henry, Ward and Bennett for that matter. And with Herz and Parker graduating, the state of the pitching on the farm is a lot bleaker than I expected. Without further ado:
Tier 1
1. Sykora
Tier 2
2. Susana
3. Lara
4. Clemmey
Tier 3
5. Lord
6. Stuart
7. Grissom
8. Bennett
9. Brzykcy
Tier 4: Interchangeable with any of the HMs
10. Kent
HM: Alvarez, Rutledge, Ribalta, M. Gomez, Atencio.
Another note: If Cavalli counts here (I don’t think he should due to service time), I’d place him probably at #7.
Regarding Cavalli, MLB still counts him as a prospect since only time on the active roster counts toward rookie status.
Will
Eyes on Bennett and Kent in spring camp
Could we see another Rizzo trade with Sacramento Emerald Fields As this winter ??
When I was younger in my bachelorhood I kept a top ten women in play list … lol..
Nats should bring back Rodney Theophile who seems like a guy an org like NYY could Lazarus ..
1. Sykora
2. Susana
3. Lord
4. Lara
5. Stuart
6. Clemmey
7. Cavalli
8. Alvarez
9. Bennett
10. Brzykcy
HM: Ribalta, Grissom, Roman, Sinclair, J. Feliz, Atencio.
I think folks are too down on Cavalli. Yes, the erratic rehab is worrying, and I know not everyone comes back from TJ, but a lot of folks do. This isn’t TOS. I’m only willing to drop him a grade or so at this point. People kind of forget because it was more than two years ago, but he threw 97 innings of a 3.25 FIP and a 3.71 ERA in AAA. Even allowing that the injury has added a decent amount of risk, that’s just a clear step above Lord or Stuart. (Lara and Clemmey at least have youth and development projection on their side, so it feels to me like more of a judgement call.)
Here’s my top 10 vote:
1. Sykora
2. Susana
3. Cavalli
4. Clemmey
5. Lara
6. Bennett
7. Lord
8. Stuart
9. Rutledge
10. Grissom Jr.
I have Ribalta, Brzykcy and Alvarez as my next three, but with a decent gap between 10th and 11th, so no real honorable mentions.
Interestingly, despite TOS being more serious than TJ, Cole Henry has thrown 6 times the number of innings (48) as Cavalli (8) since their respective surgeries.
The top three are pretty obvious to me:
1. Sykora
2. Susana
3. Lord
After that it gets murkier. I have Cavalli in the #4 spot in part, but it’s not out of great expectations. He’s simply going to have the best chance to pitch in DC this coming season. Clemmey hasn’t flopped yet, so we can still dream on him a bit. Lara, Alvarez, and Stuart are in the “show me” category.
4. Cavalli
5. Clemmey
6. Lara
7. Alvarez
8. Stuart
Rounding out the top ten the “walking wounded.”
9. Henry
10. Bennett
HM: Atencio; Rutledge; Theophile
I understand Will’s disappointment in guys like Rutledge (who I haven’t voted for in several years), Cavalli, Ward, Henry, et al. But to me, the fact that the system can suffer so many setbacks and still end the year with nine legit MLB starting pitching prospects is a pleasant/borderline amazing surprise. Sykora exceeded the high expectations, Susana and Lara finally lived up to the hype, Lord and Alvarez came out of nowhere, and Stuart and Clemmey were unexpectedly strong trade returns. (The gurus love Clemmey, but until he can get his BB9 under six, I’ll reserve getting too excited.)
Without further ado:
1. Sykora
2. Cavalli
3. Susana
4. Lara
5. Stuart
6. Bennett
7. Lord
8. Clemmey
9. Alvarez
10. Grissom
Yes, I’m still buying stock in Cavalli, although I may be in the minority. Much like they did with Herz, the Nats fixed something with Stuart after trading for him. He and Lord should be competing to be the #6/#7 starter, the next in the line of surprise guys like Irvin, Parker, and Herz. That’s one of the real positives here: five or six of these guys should start at or reach AAA this year. They’re not far-away pipe dreams.
Sykora, Cavalli, Susana, Lara, Bennett, Clemmy, Feliz, Kent, Rutledge, Lord.
HM: Atencio, Alvarez, Stuart.
I have Kent and Feliz in there based on what I think is their upside, obviously not by their production so far.
I’ll take up the Clemmey Fan Club mantle. Clemmey already has a lot of rare qualities. He’s 6’6. He’s left handed. He gets good extension. He can throw upper 90s. He gets excellent rotation on his pitches. When I’ve watched him on MILB.tv, he’s often dominated for several innings before falling apart. Falling apart counts on his baseball card, too, and as KW notes, he walks a lot of guys, but I’m optimistic.
Clemmey is young. He’s 15 months younger than Sykora. He’s less than a month older than Dickerson. Clemmey has limited experience. He only pitched 3 years in high school because of covid. While the professional season under his belt is quite different from a year of high school, in terms of age and years of experience, he has a lot in common with a high school senior. With that in mind, some normal growth dealing with fatigue, repeating his mechanics, and growing more accustomed to being super tall, should help his walk rate. Nothing is promised with pitchers, generally, and certainly not with pitchers this young, but I won’t be surprised if a year from now we all have Clemmey at the top of this list. But speaking of this list, he’s not at the top yet.
1. Sykora
2. Susana
3. Clemmey
4. Lara
5. Cavalli
6. Stuart
7. Bennett
8. Brzykcy
9. Lord
10. Rutledge
I’m particularly excited about the top 5, especially the top 3. I am throwing darts at a board after taht. They look like 6th starters who I hope make the Jake Irvin jump into being more and relievers (I’m counting Rutledge as a reliever there). But I wouldn’t argue with about a dozen players in those spots.
Clemmey a good example of Cleveland’s blue print for pitching development .
Todd should have an inkling of some of the Latin pitchers who might surprise in 2025?
Here is to the Soto Mets / Nats rivalry ahead of
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May TJ White develop into a 17 HR / 80 RBI guy at 1b
.
Clemmey is indeed really young. Next season, which he’ll likely start at A+, will count as his age-19 season since his birthday isn’t until July. There’s definitely a lot to dream on there. If you’re going exclusively by ceiling, he’s definitely in the top three or four in the system.
As I’ve mentioned before, as these guys do or don’t take developmental steps forward, it’s critical for the Nats to be brutally honest with their internal scouting, as many of these guys would be fine trade chips if they question whether they’re going to make it.