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Washington Nationals Top 20 Prospects in Review

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This list was originally posted November 20th, 2007.  THIS IS NOT A NEW LIST!!! THIS IS A REVIEW OF THE OLD LIST AND OLD GRADES!!!!!!!

1) Chris Marrero, 1B-OF, Grade B+
     .250/.325/.453 at Class A Potomac before going down with broken ankle/leg injury. Plate discipline is so-so, loads of power potential, just 20.
2) Ross Detwiler, LHP, Grade B+
     5.08 with 101/50 K/BB in 108 innings for Potomac, 122 hits allowed. I expected better.
3) Michael Burgess, OF, Grade B+
     .249/.334/.477 with 20 homers, 142 strikeouts in 117 games between Hagerstown and Potomac. Tons of power, young, high strikeout rate is a concern.
4) Justin Maxwell, OF, Grade B
     .233/.367/.459 with 13 steals in 43 games for Double-A Harrisburg, out with a wrist injury since May. The Adam Miller of hitters.
5) Jordan Zimmerman, RHP, Grade B
     3.32 ERA with 91/35 K/BB in 98 innings, 82 hits allowed for Harrisburg. A very good prospect.
6) Collin Balester, RHP, Grade B-
     4.00 ERA with 64/23 K/BB in 79 innings for Triple-A Columbus, 5.06 with 28/16 K/BB in 43 innings for the Nationals. His scouting reports have always been better than his stats.
7) Josh Smoker, LHP, Grade B-
     Destroyed in the Sally League, 11.50 ERA with 31 hits allowed in 18 innings. In the GCL, 1.19 ERA with 14/12 K/BB in 23 innings. Disappointing performance from a guy I was very high on. Still interesting, but young pitchers will break your heart.
8) Adam Carr, RHP, Grade B-
     6.17 with 51/30 K/BB in 54 innings combined between Potomac and Harrisburg, 56 hits allowed. Looks like command is the main problem here.
9) John Lannan, LHP, Grade B- 
     3.40 ERA with 87/50 K/BB in 138 innings for the Nationals, 129 hits allowed. A solid 3/4 starter.
10) Glenn Gibson, LHP, Grade C+
      Traded to Tampa Bay, has been horrible, 7.29 ERA with 60/51 K/BB in 88 innings, 113 hits combined between Sally and NY-P Leagues. Seems to have completely fallen apart.
11) Colton Willems, RHP, Grade C+
      3.70 ERA with 60/31 K/BB in 109 innings for Hagerstown, 103 hits allowed. Good control, gets grounders, young, but low strikeout rate worrisome.
12) Ian Desmond, SS, Grade C+
      .246/.321/.388 for Harrisburg. I thought he was capable of better, but Double-A transition has exposed flaws.
13) Jack McGeary, LHP, Grade C+
       5.09 ERA, 46/12 K/BB in 46 innings for the GCL Nationals, 54 hits allowed. Good K/BB and K/IP ratios, other numbers so-so, gets grounders. Need data from higher levels.
14) Jake Smolinski, OF, Grade C+
      .260/.338/.385 combined between Hagerstown and Vermont in the NY-P. Numbers don't stand out but a 57-game split sample size isn't huge.
15) Jon Albaladejo, RHP, Grade C+
      Traded to Yankees for Tyler Clippard.. 3.95 ERA with 13/6 K/BB in 14 innings in New York before going on DL with elbow injury. Can be useful if healthy.
16) Adrian Alaniz, RHP, Grade C+
      2.62, 56/25 K/BB in 65 innings for Potomac, 3.97 ERA with 46/30 K/BB in 66 innings for Harrisburg. Ratios slipped after promotion to Double-A, still has a chance to contribute.
17) Shairon Martis, RHP, Grade C+
       3.75, 93/43 K/BB in 110 innings, 111 hits combined between Harrisburg and Columbus. Hasn't received much notice this year, but having a good campaign. Fly ball tendency will have to be watched.
18) Jhonny Nunez, RHP, Grade C+
       5.22 ERA, 82/21 K/BB in 81 innings at Potomac. Converted to relief, pitched better then traded to Yankees on July 31st, has 1.86 ERA with 10/1 K/BB in 10 innings for Trenton. Could help next year if that continues.
19) Kory Casto, OF-3B, Grade C+
       .315/.400/.457 at Columbus, .196/.301/.290 used on the Nationals bench. Might get stuck as a Quadruple-A guy.
20) Josh Whitesell, 1B, Grade C
       Put on waivers in March, claimed by Arizona. .329/.426/.565 for Triple-A Tucson. The PCL seems to agree with him. Strikeout rate remains high and don't expect similar numbers in the majors.

Making slow progress. As I wrote in the original list, there is a lot of potential depth here, but young pitching can go backwards on you fast and that happened with some of these guys. They really could have used Crow.