Baseball America is probably my favorite resource for all things prospects. There is a small paywall, but it is a price worth paying in my humble opinion. Today the great folks over there released their
top 10 Washington Nationals prospects going into the 2026 season.
They have a lot of boots on the ground, so it is always interesting to see what they think of these guys. Based on their viewings and scouts’ feedback, they create these rankings. Whenever they release something new, I make sure to check it out.
One interesting thing they did in this besides the rankings themselves was make some superlatives. They named the prospects with the best tools in the system. For example, Jarlin Susana had the best fastball and Seaver King was named the best defensive infielder.
However, the rankings are what we are really here for. Since it is behind a paywall, I am not going to spoil the whole thing. If you want to check out the rankings, as well read the reports, the link is right here.
Unsurprisingly, Eli Willits was listed as the best prospect in the system. The first overall pick in the 2025 draft had a strong start to his pro career, hitting .300 in Low-A. While he needs to find more strength, Willits has plenty of time to do that at just 17. Scouts are still confident he can grow into average power one day.
The two players that could have challenged Willits for the top spot are two pitchers who both had to undergo season ending surgeries. Travis Sykora had to undergo Tommy John Surgery and will be out for most if not all of 2026. Jarlin Susana had season ending lat surgery in September. He should be back at some point in early 2026.
Those are the 2 and 3 prospects in the system. There were some interesting notes about Susana though. One is that he is now listed at a massive 6’7 283 pounds on the Nats media guide. The others have to do with his pitch mix. Apparently, he has two distinct power breaking balls now, a slider around 91 MPH and a curveball in the mid-80’s. Both are plus pitches. He has also developed a power changeup that sits at a crazy 94 MPH. It has the potential to be a plus pitch too. Susana just has crazy upside if he stays healthy and throws strikes. Before he got hurt, that command was getting to a decent place.
The BA write-up on Alex Clemmey also intrigued me. I had always thought of him as a fastball-slider pitcher. However, they gave him a 55 grade changeup, saying it has improved a lot this past season and can be an above average pitch for him.
One ranking I found interesting was Seaver King at 5. Despite King’s rough season, they have not punished him too much. They still believe in his elite athletic tools and solid contact skills. BA thinks King is just a couple adjustments away from being a solid hitter and with his other tools, that will make him very valuable.
The 8-10 of the rankings are all teenagers in Coy James, Angel Feliz and Landon Harmon. James and Harmon were picked in the 2025 draft and have not made their pro debuts yet. Feliz had a solid year in the FCL and in Low-A. He really struggled at first in Low-A, but started to find his swing down the stretch.
The fact that prospects as unproven as James and Harmon are in the top 10 speaks to the shallowness of the pool, but it also is a testament to their upside. Harmon has the chance to be the next Travis Sykora as a hard throwing high school arm who could take off in pro ball. He has huge upside and electric arm talent.
James is a very polished hitter for a high school draftee. He probably does not have the range to stick at shortstop, but his bat will play at second or third base. James is an intriguing combination of contact and power. While he was taken in the 5th round, he was paid like a top 40 pick, receiving a bonus of $2.5 million. The only reason he lasted that long was his strong commitment to Ole Miss, but the Nats bought him out of that.
Two players that were notable absentees on the list are Marconi German and Ethan Petry. They both have a case to be in the top 10, but it is easy to explain why they did not make the list.
German was one of the best performers in the whole Dominican Summer League, but he was not on many radars before this year and has not made his stateside debut yet. If German continues to perform like he did this past season, he will quickly earn a spot on this list.
Petry was the Nats second round pick in this past draft. While their third rounder and fifth rounder are on the list, Petry did not make it despite being drafted ahead of those guys. Ethan Petry is a prototypical slugger with big power, but not much defensive value. He has elite bat speed and had massive production in the SEC at South Carolina.
He had a good start in pro ball at the Low-A level, with an .800 OPS. However, for a college guy in Low-A, that is not elite production. Petry went to the Arizona Fall League where he has held his own, but has not been elite by any means. He has big time power upside and if he shows that in the Minors in 2026, he will crack the top 10 in this system.
The Nats farm is in an interesting spot right now. A lot of the true blue chip prospects of the past few years have graduated and the team has not restocked well enough in the draft. The 2024 draft has not looked like a good one so far. However, the 2025 draft class has the potential to re-energize this system, as does the arrival of Paul Toboni and his new philosophy.
I am very excited to follow the farm in 2026. There are a lot of players who could break out and become big time prospects. Baseball America is a great resource to follow all of this. They are actually doing a Q&A on the state of the Nats system at 2 PM today. This is a very interesting list from BA and make sure to check out their work.
