It is no secret that the Nationals badly need pitching. Of course, the bullpen is the biggest area of need, but the Nats just need more quality pitching in general. Part of the reason the bullpen is so bad is due to being overworked because of the lack of quality starting pitching. I wanted to look towards the future and break down five of the Nats best pitching prospects.
All five of these pitching prospects totally living up to the hype is unlikely and the Nats still need to make external additions.
However, Jarlin Susana, Travis Sykora, Miguel Sime Jr., Landon Harmon and Ben Grable all have a chance to be big parts of the Nats pitching staff for years to come. I wanted to give fans a sneak peak of what is hopefully a brighter future on the mound.
Jarlin Susana probably has the highest ceiling of the five, so let’s talk about him first. The Nats acquired him all the way back in 2022 as a smaller piece of the Juan Soto trade. At the time, he was a raw 18 year old with an insanely powerful arm. Over the years, he has steadily developed and is now a consensus top 100 prospect.
After undergoing Lat surgery late last year, Susana missed most of this year but he is back now. He is still on a strict pitch count, but his staff looks sharper than ever. Susana averages around 100 MPH on his heater and pairs the fastball with a slider which might be even nastier. In his first AA outing of the season, he overwhelmed the competition with his electric stuff.
While Susana has definite relief risk, he still has a solid chance of starting. We saw why teams don’t give up on flamethrowers sticking in the rotation with Jacob Misiorowski. For a while he seemed to be destined for the bullpen. However, the Brewers stayed patient and now he looks set to win the Cy Young. Susana needs to stay healthy and throw more strikes, but his stuff is some of the best in all of baseball.
Even with shaky strike-throwing, Susana has a high floor as an electric reliever. Given how this year has gone for the Nats, it would be tough to complain if Susana “fails” as a starter and becomes a lockdown closer. If he did not know already, I would imagine that Paul Toboni has realized the value a closer has. The enormous Susana will likely play a role for the Nats next season. Now the question is what will that role be.
Speaking of giant right handers with triple digit velocity, a nasty slider and shaky command, the pitching I want to talk about is Miguel Sime. The Nats selected Sime Jr. in the 4th round of last year’s draft, and so far he looks like a hit. The 19 year old has been a strikeout machine in the lower minors.
Sime’s scouting report reads a lot like a younger Jarlin Susana. His fastball averages 99 MPH and his slider absolutely annihilates hitters. In 72.1 innings across two levels, Sime has struck out 130 batters and allowed just 38 hits. He is striking out over 40% of hitters while allowing a batting average against of .151.
There is a catch though, and that is his control. Sime has walked 64 batters in those 72.1 innings. At 20.3%, his walk rate is simply too high. However, as a young pitcher, he still has plenty of time to figure out his control. He also does not exactly need to be Greg Maddux to have success with his stuff. If Sime’s walk rate is around 12%, he can be a very good starter. Even at 15%, he could be a nasty reliever.
However, 20% is just too high. As he rises through the ranks, hitters will be less overwhelmed by his stuff and he will have to execute more. That means we should not expect him in the big leagues anytime soon. It could be a slow burn, but Sime still has sky high potential. He took a big leap forward with his breaking stuff this year. Hopefully next season he can fine tune that command.
Drafted a round before Sime, Landon Harmon has a different sort of profile. Harmon has good stuff, with a mid-90’s heater with a lot of cut and a couple different breaking ball shapes. However, it is not quite in the same tier as Sime. To make up for this though, he has stronger command and has a solid feel to pitch.
Harmon missed some time with an oblique issue, but he has been very good when healthy. In 38 innings, Harmonhas a 1.42 ERA with 36 strikeouts and a .154 batting average against. Having spent the season in Low-A, he is still a ways away from the big leagues, but I think he will start moving fairly quickly next season.
With less than a strikeout per inning in Low-A and middling whiff rates, he is not blowing hitters away. However, he has done an excellent job at inducing weak contact. For the season, he has a ground ball rate around 60%. His fastball acts like a cutter and it is very hard to square up. You see a lot of broken bats when Harmon is on the mound.
To take that next step though, I would like to see some more swing and miss. He has an impressive feel for spin and flashes some nasty breaking balls. Next season I think we will see him start to generate more whiffs. Do not be surprised if Sime and Harmon are teaming up in the Double-A rotation by the end of next year.
Before Sime and Harmon, the Nats hot shot high school pitching prospect was Travis Sykora. Honestly, he combined the best of both pitchers. Sykora generated whiffs like Sime while not walking as many guys. Before going down with Tommy John Surgery in 2025, Sykora tore through the lower minors like butter during the ‘24 and ‘25 seasons.
I was really excited to see him in AA because it looked like it was going to be his first real test. However, he went down in July of last year and we have not seen him since. He has posted videos throwing off the mound, so he is clearly progressing. There could be a chance we could see him in the Arizona Fall League, but that is far from a given.
With a unique combination of nasty stuff, deception and a feel for pitching, Sykora was one of the best pitching prospects in baseball before he went down. His fastball sits in the mid to upper 90’s and he has two nasty secondary pitches to go with it. Sykora’s slider and splitter are both filthy.
In the lower minors, he did rely a lot on chase which will be something to monitor. At some point, I think he will have to adjust and throw more pitches in the zone. However, he seems like a smart pitcher that will figure this out. His pitch mix and funk remind me of Trey Yesavage, who is one of the better young pitchers in baseball.
Sykora should start next season in AA. There is a chance he debuts at the end of next year, but I think a 2028 debut is more likely. Sykora has the opportunity to be a true top of the rotation arm. He might have to make some adjustments to get there but he has the stuff and mentality to get it done.
While Ben Grable might not technically be a top 5 Nats pitching prospect, I wanted to include a pure reliever given how the season has gone. Arguably the main prize of the Luis Garcia Jr. return, Grable has closer upside thanks to his outlier fastball. His fastball/slider combination has been generating empty swings all season long.
The Yankees drafted Grable in the 11th round of the 2025 draft, and he was a revelation in his first year of pro ball. He started the season in High-A, but has now reached AAA following a recent promotion to Rochester. At this rate, he could be part of the Nats bullpen very soon.
When you look at Grable’s numbers, it is hardly a surprise that he keeps getting promoted. For the year, Grable has a 2.15 ERA with 72 strikeouts in 46 innings across 41 appearances. His control has not been an issue either, with just 16 walks.
The fastball is Grable’s bread and butter. He throws it around 70% of the time. The 96 MPH heater has a ton of rise, frequently generating 20 inches of IVB. His slider is more of an average pitch, but gets a ton of whiffs anyway due to how good his fastball is.
One thing I am monitoring is how Grable’s fastball will play in AAA and the MLB. Once you get above AA, there is a new ball. Pitchers tend to lose some IVB with that new ball. In his first two outings, Grable has been getting 18 inches of IVB on the heater instead of 20+. As he adjusts to the ball, I think that will improve and the pitch is still effective. However, it does lose some of what makes it special.
Even if the heater is more in the 18-20 inch range instead of 20-22, it can still be a great offering. That pitch should give him a clear path to being an effective big league reliever. We will see if he can be a closer, but I think Grable is a safe bet to be a high leverage arm thanks to his fastball.
Outside of Cade Cavalli, there is a real lack of fire power in this Nats pitching staff. However, the guys we have just talked about will change that down the road. We cannot just rely on these prospects, but they can be part of the answer. If these five can be paired with Cavalli and a couple big name outside additions, the Nats can have a good pitching staff to complement their already strong offense. Right now, the Nats pitching staff is not very talented, but that is going to change.
