About once a month, we do a little check in on the Nationals farm system to see who is doing well and who is struggling. That time has come to see how some of the Nats top youngsters did in July. It was a bit of a mixed bag with some standouts, some struggles and one notable injury.
Who Is Hot:
- Cristhian Vaquero, OF (A):
The first player we will look at is a guy who was a big name, but lost a lot of his shine. Cristhian Vaquero got a bonus of nearly $5 million all the way back in 2022. He was one of the standouts of that international
free agent class and expectations were high.
However, Vaquero had struggled to live up to those expectations. After performing well in the DSL and in Rookie Ball, he really hit a wall in Fredericksburg. He struggled in his first 16 game taste of the level in 2023, which was understandable.
However, he had a brutal run in Low-A last year. He hit .190 with a .594 OPS and struck out over 34% of the time. Repeating the level this year, he had a better but still not great start to this season. However, he has really turned it on lately.
CHRISTMAS CRISTHIAN WALKS IT OFF! pic.twitter.com/YWQawLpIXg
— Fredericksburg Nationals (@FXBGNats) July 27, 2025
In July, he hit .329 with a .914 OPS. Vaquero started to tap into his big raw power, hitting three of his seven homers in July. The tools have always been there for the Cuban outfielder, it has just been about putting it all together.
Is Vaquero just hot or has a switch flipped for the talented youngster? It seems like he has been around for a long time, but Vaquero is still just 20 years old. This has been a slow burn, but we are seeing signs of life from Vaquero, who has a 118 wRC+ this season.
2. Jarlin Susana, RHP (A+):
After missing over 2 months with an elbow sprain, Jarlin Susana is back and looks as electric as ever. The burly right hander has been rehabbing in High-A, slowly building up. He has looked fantastic and has quieted the doubts about his injury. The fastball is still sitting at 100 MPH and his slider is as deadly as ever.
Jarlin Susana made his return to the mound after missing a couple months with a Grade 1 UCL sprain. Threw just two innings (and dealt with rain), but fastball averaged north of 100 MPH in his 34 pitches.
— Aram Leighton (@AramLeighton8) July 22, 2025
Great to see from the 21-year-old. pic.twitter.com/pHGZnbibSG
Each of his three starts have been better and longer than the previous one. His first time out, Susana only went two innings, where he allowed a run while walking two. The next time out, Susana allowed two runs in three innings. However, he was absolutely electric, striking out 8 and walking nobody.
He put it all together in his most recent start, going four scoreless with six strikeouts and no walks. That is now seven straight innings with no walks for him. If he can stay in the zone, the sky is the limit for the final piece of the Juan Soto trade.
With Travis Sykora hurt, Susana is now the best healthy Nats pitching prospect, despite Alex Clemmey giving him a run for his money. With Susana being built up, his next start will likely be in Double-A, where he started the season. He held his own at that level, but had trouble with walks.
Hopefully the big man can stay healthy and stay in the zone. He has done that in his last couple starts. Jarlin Susana is so much fun to watch pitch.
3. Alex Clemmey, LHP (A+)
The Nationals have quite a pretty stacked High-A rotation following the trade deadline, but once Jarlin Susana moved to AA, Alex Clemmey will be the ace of that staff. Clemmey is an interesting prospect because he has such extreme strengths and significant weaknesses.
Despite being such a flawed pitcher, he has put up excellent results in High-A due to his amazing strengths. He has a 2.66 ERA in 81.2 innings with 105 strikeouts. Batters are hitting just .193 against him.
Ranked #5 prospect in the Nationals system by MLB Pipeline,
— TheNatsReport ⚾ (@TheNatsReport) August 3, 2025
@ClemmeyAlex pitched 6.0 innings of 2-hit shutout ball Saturday.
He’s now at 16.2 scoreless innings with 17 Ks and a .109 avg over his last 3 starts. pic.twitter.com/plMrDyoLdb
He has been particularly excellent in his last 10 starts, where he has a 1.78 ERA in 50.2 innings. However, if you have been following Clemmey long enough, you know walks are a problem and they remain a serious issue.
This season, Clemmey is walking 6.31 batters per nine innings. That is not viable for a starting pitcher and is barely viable for a reliever. Clemmey is just not a natural strike thrower. His funky mechanics make him tough to hit, but it also makes it tough for him to throw strikes.
His stuff and deception should make him at least a reliever, but he needs to find the zone more. If Clemmey can become even a mediocre strike thrower his stock will go through the roof. Even with bad command, he is still doing well.
4. Sam Petersen, OF (A+)
We wrote about Petersen not too long ago, but he has been doing too well to leave off this list. The University of Iowa product is just laying waste to High-A pitching despite playing in a pitcher friendly environment.
.@Petersen11Sam gets the 'Rocks on the board with a solo home run! pic.twitter.com/hhP78Xcbf7
— Wilmington Blue Rocks (@WilmBlueRocks) August 3, 2025
Petersen had an outstanding July in Wilmington, hitting .317 with a 1.046 OPS in 20 games. He hit four homers and had almost as many walks as strikeouts. The 8th round pick has been the best performer of the Nationals 2024 draft class.
Along with his performance, Petersen has some loud tools. He is a power/speed guy who is performing very well. A trip to Double-A should be coming soon. Double-A will be a big test for him and if he performs there, his stock will go through the roof.
Stock Down:
The Top of the 2024 Draft Class
For the stock down portion, it is really just the top three picks in the Nationals 2024 class. Seaver King, Caleb Lomavita and Luke Dickerson have all struggled badly lately. For King and Dickerson, these struggles are extended, while Lomavita just had a down month.
- Seaver King
For King, his season has been concerning on many levels. A reach inside the top 10, King is incredibly raw for a college prospect. After an up and down start at High-A, where he was roughly an average hitter for the level, he got called up to AA.
It seemed like a premature call up for a guy who had not mastered the High-A level, where he had a .687 OPS. That has proven to be the case so far. In 189 AA at bats, King has a .228 average and a .584 OPS. Those are really ugly numbers for a top 10 pick.
In July, he hit .221 with a .568 OPS. His sub .300 slugging percentage for the month really stood out to me because King was supposed to have solid power, even if a lot of that power potential was unrealized. Instead, he went a whole month with no homers and just 2 RBI’s.
The problem for King is his approach. He is not walking much at all and hitting the ball on the ground way too much. It has been a really disappointing first full season for King and it has been very worrying.
2. Caleb Lomavita
The Nationals next pick was catcher Caleb Lomavita. His profile is similar to King’s in a lot of ways. He is a great athlete, with big upside but his approach is worrying and he hits a ton of ground balls.
For the first few months, he was pretty performing well in Wilmington. His OPS was hovering around .750, which is good given the offensive environment. However, he struggled in July, posting a .607 OPS.
He only walked twice all month, meaning his OBP was just .269 for the month despite an alright .246 average. Lomavita has power potential, but he has only hit three homers all season. A lot of that is due to his 52% ground ball rate.
For the season, Lomavita has a .700 OPS, which is actually 10% better than league average. However, he is not exactly dominating the level the way a guy like Sam Petersen is. Lomavita is another big project despite being a college player selected inside the top 40 picks.
3. Luke Dickerson
Luke Dickerson had a ton of hype entering the season after signing the largest bonus of any player drafted outside the first round. For a while, he was living up to that hype with a strong start. Dickerson looked like a guy who was ready to be a top 100 prospect. However, that has all come crashing down lately.
After putting up a .523 OPS in June at the Low-A level, things did not get any better in July. He put up a .520 OPS on the month. All of that helium and momentum Dickerson had is now gone. He has a .620 OPS at the Low-A level, which is very disappointing for a guy who the Nationals basically built their 2024 draft class around.
There are some reasons not to give up though. A couple months ago, he got hit in the hand and missed a few games. Since then, he has not looked the same, leading me to wonder if he is playing hurt. Dickerson also takes his walks and does not strike out an egregious amount.
He is also a guy who was a multi-sport athlete in high school who is just now focusing on baseball full time. A positive spin would be that this is a guy playing hurt that has solid underlying data and has more room to grow than his peers. However, the numbers are still concerning.
Big Picture Outlook:
With the draft and deadline wrapped up, a lot has changed in the Nats farm system. There are a lot of new faces and guys to watch. Unfortunately, there has also been plenty of bad news too. With Travis Sykora undergoing Tommy John Surgery and the top of the 2024 class struggling, there is a lot of pressure on this new draft class.
On paper, this 2025 class is much better than the badly struggling ‘24 class. However, we need to see these guys in action. Of the tops guys, only Ethan Petry is likely to play this season, as the rest are high schoolers.
Despite some of the struggles at the top of the system, there have been some fun guys balling out. The re-emergence of Vaquero is a fun storyline, as is the rise of Sam Petersen. Hopefully the farm can finish the year strong and this 2025 class can help make the Washington Nationals farm system one of the better ones in the game next year.
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