NationalsProspects.com Top 10 Pitchers
It’s time to defecate or depart the commode, so here goes with the Top 10 pitchers from nine ballots (* denotes LHP)…
- Travis Sykora (1)
- Alex Clemmey* (4)
- Jarlin Susana (2)
Jake Bennett* (8)Luis Perales- Landon Harmon*
- Sean Paul Liñan
- Andrew Alvarez* (9)
- Jackson Kent*
- Riley Cornelio
- Miguel Sime Jr.
Others receiving votes, excluding honorable mentions: Eriq Swan, Yoel Tejeda, Travis Sthele, Pablo Aldonis, Chance Huff, Davian Garcia, Jose Feliz, Griff McGarry
Nos. 1 through 5 were named on each ballot, but as many of you noted in the comments, it’s throwing darts after that.
As for the slash-through at #4, well, as I was writing this, the notification that LHP Jake Bennett was traded for RHP Luis Perales came across my phone, so absent a revote, Perales takes Bennett’s spot. Both pitchers have had Tommy John surgery, though Perales had his in June 2024 and Bennett in September 2023.
Back to the topic at hand… Alex Clemmey overtaking Jarlin Susana says more about Susana’s injury status than his ceiling. Clemmey could be pitching in D.C. in August. It’ll be a win if Susana is in uniform at West Palm Beach at the same time.
Let me get this posted before someone else gets traded…
two trades where commenters from the other team are not happy. take that for what you may.
LOL. Well, count me as one who isn’t unhappy, but also not particularly thinking we just stole the next Pedro either. I wasn’t sold on Bennett having a ceiling of an MLB starter, and obviously neither was Toboni. So he’s taking a chance on a big arm he believed in from his old organization. He would have had insider knowledge on Perales’s arm health and recovery timeline.
It’s interesting that when the Bosox brought Perales back to game action in 2025, it was for one game in AA and two in AAA, so presumably the Nats will try to start him in Rochester.
However . . . Perales gave up a frightening 13 earned runs in 11.1 IP in the AFL. He struck out 13 but walked 11 and surrendered 16 hits.
And we thought McGarry had control issues!
Funny, I was just reading scouting reports about Perales for a hypothetical Gore-Red Sox trade…
I’m pretty perplexed by the Bennett-Perales trade. You don’t often see prospect-for-prospect swaps like this, but if there was ever a time, it would be with a recently imported GM.
Bennett feels like a high floor/low-risk, low-reward kind of prospect, while Perales is a bit more variable with higher end and lower floor. With that said Perales doesn’t appear to have really top tier stuff, like Susana or Sykora, but definitely a bit more bat-missing ability than Bennett, but a lot more strike-zone missing ability too.
If anything, this signals to me that Toboni is looking more long term and potentially at a re-rebuild. Perales is 2.5 years younger, and will better sync with Susana and Sykora’s development timelines, with our window being at earliest 2028. However, where this theory has some holes is that Perales only has one option remaining, whereas Bennett has all 3. This is a pretty significant factor if the next couple years are planned to be tumultuous.
Will, I had the exact same thought about Toboni playing for two or three years down the road. Bennett would help sooner at the MLB level, but obviously the Toboni crew doesn’t believe in his ceiling.
There’s certainly a lot of buzz about potential Gore and possibly Abrams trades, which really would kick the can on down the road.
It’s early in Toboni’s tenure, but with the Rule V draft and now the Bennett/Perales trade, Toboni is all about swing and miss stuff and is willing to live with arms that lack any semblance of command.
Bennett is two years older than Perales, but Jake is a 6-6 lefty that can command his pitches. Perales is a 6-1 righty that has great velo, but a poor K/BB ratio. Both played in the 2025 AZ Fall League, Bennett was solid while Perales was a complete mess.
If you could bet on these things, would wager that Bennett has the longer/more productive MLB stint (granted Bennett may spend most of his time in the bigs as a reliever).
I have compared Bennett to Jeffrey Springs and Jacob Lopez. both of those pitchers got more strikeouts in the minors and both ended up as back end starters. I was very interested is seeing whether Jake could continue the AFL uptick in Ks in AAA.
Law called it a win-win trade and this comment stuck with me most: “upside is what Washington should be targeting in every deal”.
after all these years we may actually be getting a player development program.
Speaking of Pedro, this could be one of those trades where one team appears to “win” because the older/closer pitcher makes it to The Show while the younger pitcher struggles for another year before it clicks. Not to say the younger pitcher here is going to be THAT good but it would be great for everyone if both sides get a decent return when we reevaluate this in 2027 or 2028.
Agreed. It’s also a bet that the new developmental staffs can tame these wild-tossing beasts. Those who have been watching this organization for a while will remain skeptical of such black magic until we actually see it work.
Another thought about what this trade might say about Toboni: this is definitely a trade Rizzo would have NEVER made. It’d have been the opposite, getting rid of a slight 6’1″ arm with high upside, in favor of a 6’6″, 234lb lefty behemoth, even if the stuff didn’t exactly align with the pitcher’s physical shape.
Perhaps gone are the days when we scout pitching by height. I think at some point last season we had something like 10 pitchers who were 6’6″ or taller.