Nationals Top 30 prospects

by Daggerrrrrr on Aug 24, 2025 10:59 PM EDT

Nats Top 30 prospects after the 2011 draft

1. Bryce Harper, OF

2. Anthony Rendon, 3B/2B

3. Brad Peacock, RHP

4. Matt Purke, LHP

5. A.J. Cole, RHP

6. Derek Norris, C

7. Alex Meyer, RHP

8. Destin Hood, OF

9. Brian Goodwin, OF

10. Chris Marrero, 1B

11. Robbie Ray, LHP

12. Steve Lombardozzi, 2B

13. Sammy Solis, LHP

14. Danny Rosenbaum, LHP

15. Tommy Milone, LHP

16. David Freitas, C

17. Kylin Turnbull, LHP

18. Kevin Keyes, OF

19. Matt Skole, 3B/1B

20. Eury Perez, CF

21. Michael Taylor, CF

22. Taylor Hill, RHP

23. Taylor Jordan, RHP

24. Tyler Moore, 1B

25. Rich Hague, 2B/SS

26. Adrian Nieto, C

27. Jeff Kobernus, 2B

28. Brad Meyers, RHP

29. Josh Smoker, LHRP

30. Blake Kelso, 2B

Is this a top 5 FarmSystem? The Nationals have come along way since being ran by MLB.

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Read More: Bryce Harper (CF - WAS), Derek Norris (C - WAS), Washington Nationals

Comments

I think Purke and Meyer are both too high.

Just my opinion though.

by mr. maniac on Aug 24, 2025 11:09 PM EDT reply actions

Just off potential at this point.

You have to put them up there.

Sleep, those little slices of death. Oh how I loathe them.

by Daggerrrrrr on Aug 24, 2025 11:19 PM EDT up reply actions

I'm not a Meyer fan and the difference between Purke's floor and ceiling is huge.

by mr. maniac on Aug 25, 2025 12:36 AM EDT up reply actions

The difference between Purke's floor and ceiling

is actually not that huge, unless you’re mistaking the possibility that his arm will fall off shortly for his floor. His floor is actually quite high based purely on pitchability and stuff when fully healthy. Unless you would also say that the difference between Bauer’s and Hultzen’s floor and ceiling is huge, then this is a highly problematic statement.

by blackoutyears on Aug 25, 2025 11:57 AM EDT up reply actions

You have seen Purke alot.

How good is he with the stuff he was throwing last year?

by mr. maniac on Aug 25, 2025 3:42 PM EDT up reply actions

I didn't see him as much this year as last,

but he got by pitchability and guts, and it didn’t hurt that he wasn’t facing top college comp most days (Mountain West). I think he either rebounds to something approaching his good stuff or he ends up hurt. If he’s actually stuck with this season’s diminished stuff going forward then the gap between floor and ceiling is still not that big, because his ceiling will be much, much lower than previously proposed. He could still be a potential BoR starter with what he’s throwing now, or WAS could throw him in the ’pen and hope his stuff plays up, but that would be pretty disappointing.

I really wonder what was going on behind the scenes here. Hard to believe he didn’t throw for the Nats and show some improvement considering the signing.

by blackoutyears on Aug 25, 2025 5:13 PM EDT up reply actions

Okay, now I see what you are saying.

by mr. maniac on Aug 26, 2025 11:37 AM EDT up reply actions

Cool

But where are the B+ to C- prospects at?

by gogotabata on Aug 24, 2025 11:30 PM EDT reply actions

Peacock,Purke,and Cole are B+

Kobernus, Meyers,Smoker,Kelso are C-

Sleep, those little slices of death. Oh how I loathe them.

by Daggerrrrrr on Aug 24, 2025 11:56 PM EDT up reply actions

this is "MLB Top 30 prospects" right?

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by doublestix on Aug 24, 2025 11:33 PM EDT reply actions 1 recs

No.

I don’t think they included the 2011 draft picks in their top 30 rankings yet.

Sleep, those little slices of death. Oh how I loathe them.

by Daggerrrrrr on Aug 24, 2025 11:49 PM EDT up reply actions

i think he was implying that the system is loaded

Liriano, Mijares, Angel Morales, & Anthony Swarzak for Josh Johnson and Brad Hand

by SteveHoffmanSlowey on Aug 25, 2025 4:46 AM EDT up reply actions

Oh, okay.

Sleep, those little slices of death. Oh how I loathe them.

by Daggerrrrrr on Aug 25, 2025 8:24 AM EDT up reply actions

No, I think he was implying that Dager is a homer.

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by JD Sussman on Aug 25, 2025 9:26 AM EDT up reply actions

I'm a homer for posting my teams farmsystem rankings?

I didn’t say the farmsystem was the best ever or that it was better than any other teams.

Sleep, those little slices of death. Oh how I loathe them.

by Daggerrrrrr on Aug 25, 2025 9:39 AM EDT up reply actions

Asking if or asserting that

this is a Top 5 system could be construed as homerism. The Top 10 looks a lot better than it did a few years ago, but I don’t see the depth you’d attribute to a Top 5 farm.

by blackoutyears on Aug 25, 2025 12:00 PM EDT up reply actions

he asked a question

CHILLAX

by Noah McKinnie Braun on Aug 26, 2025 1:37 AM EDT up reply actions

Daggerrrrrr

Is well know around here as being a giant Nats homer. They were just having fun at his expense. I think last year he insisted that Espinosa was better then Ackley or Lawrie.

by ADLC on Aug 26, 2025 4:40 AM EDT up reply actions

Okay. So what does last year have to do with this posting?

And I never said Espinosa was better than Ackley or Lawrie. As you remember Espy came up as a SS, so why would I compare him to two 2B prospects?

Sleep, those little slices of death. Oh how I loathe them.

by Daggerrrrrr on Aug 26, 2025 9:39 AM EDT up reply actions

Who isn't chill here?

Try a response that’s appropriate to the tone of the exchange next time, speaking of chilling.

by blackoutyears on Aug 26, 2025 11:25 AM EDT up reply actions

I like AJ Cole more than Purke

I also really like Meyer, seems underrated by a lot of people

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by mathisrocks5 on Aug 25, 2025 12:22 AM EDT reply actions

Have you seen Meyer?

I am under the impression that those who have seen him like him less.

by mr. maniac on Aug 25, 2025 12:37 AM EDT up reply actions

I've seen Meyer and like him.

And no, I don’t know why I keep disagreeing with you today. lol

Meyer is one of the few guys Jeff Reese and I disagreed on this spring when assessing draft prospects, primarily due to Meyer’s showing distinctly different stuff in our respective looks. You want a guy with a wide gulf between his floor and ceiling, Alex Meyer is your man.

by blackoutyears on Aug 25, 2025 12:02 PM EDT up reply actions

It's the command/control that I have a real problem with

When I’ve seen him he has had little idea where his stuff was going to end up. The stuff is pretty damn good.

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by Jeff Reese on Aug 25, 2025 12:23 PM EDT up reply actions

The guy is still growing.

When he stops getting taller, you’ll see better command/control from him.

Sleep, those little slices of death. Oh how I loathe them.

by Daggerrrrrr on Aug 25, 2025 2:02 PM EDT up reply actions

He's already 6'9

And very tall pitchers have historically had difficulty repeating their delivery. If he is indeed still growing, I wouldn’t call that a good thing.

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by Jeff Reese on Aug 25, 2025 2:13 PM EDT up reply actions

I heard people call him the right handed Randy Johnson

Wasn’t he like 6’11? I think the Nats will get him on the right track.

Sleep, those little slices of death. Oh how I loathe them.

by Daggerrrrrr on Aug 25, 2025 3:55 PM EDT up reply actions

I think you meant Daniel Cabrera

You’d be cool with that, right? You wouldn’t mind at all if Alex Meyer ends up being Daniel Cabrera, would you?

by mrkupe on Aug 25, 2025 3:56 PM EDT up reply actions

Daniel Cabrera wasn't a pitcher, he was a thrower

Meyer is a pitcher. He showed it his final season at Kentucky. He will get better.

Sleep, those little slices of death. Oh how I loathe them.

by Daggerrrrrr on Aug 25, 2025 4:06 PM EDT up reply actions

This. I saw him three (?) times, so he could have just had bad command on those days.

by mr. maniac on Aug 25, 2025 3:43 PM EDT up reply actions

The first day I saw him

he had solid average command of the FB, excellent command (hit spots in and out of the zone as called for) of a plus slider and an absolutely worthless changeup. Second time I saw it was pretty much the same. They were later season looks, and I think he made some progress. He’s a project, but he wasn’t as raw as I’d expected, and the potential payoff is tremendous. It’s a legit mid-90s FB and plus slider.

He’s a real chameleon as I read several reports praising the changeup, and saying it had been an above average pitch for that observer, and I’d have sworn that he couldn’t possibly have had a feel for it based on what I saw.

by blackoutyears on Aug 25, 2025 5:18 PM EDT up reply actions

When I saw him, he had the good fastball, plus slider, and a pretty bad changeup that he didn't throw much.

He commanded the fastball poorly, often missing up or right down the middle, while he actually commanded the slider okay. And he just, like you said, didn’t have a feel for the changeup. I don’t remember his mechanics all that well, but I don’t think he was repeating them that well.

by mr. maniac on Aug 26, 2025 11:40 AM EDT up reply actions

The big difference in my looks

from those of others I’ve spoken with (you, Jeff, a couple of other observers) is that the FB command delivery were better. Then there’s the writeup where someone was saying the change was above avg in their viewing, which is the ONLY place I’ve seen that. lol

by blackoutyears on Aug 26, 2025 10:02 PM EDT up reply actions

Purke

I’d slide him way down. He’s still a huge wild card because of health, and I don’t see him lasting with that delivery.

by CaptainCanuck on Aug 25, 2025 12:31 AM EDT via mobile reply actions

The Nats will work with him to fix is delivery.

I wouldn’t be surprised if he’s down in Florida working on it right now to get himself ready for the AFL.

Sleep, those little slices of death. Oh how I loathe them.

by Daggerrrrrr on Aug 25, 2025 12:38 AM EDT up reply actions

shouldnt they work on Strasburgs delivery first?

Is he recoverd yet?

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by Bballkid-22 on Aug 25, 2025 10:58 AM EDT up reply actions

Strasburg will make his first start this year for the Nats September 6

Sleep, those little slices of death. Oh how I loathe them.

by Daggerrrrrr on Aug 25, 2025 11:08 AM EDT up reply actions

AJ Cole is easily #3 in this system

I don’t think it’s close either.

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by Jeff Reese on Aug 25, 2025 8:52 AM EDT reply actions

Yeah

Cole would be three. I’d have Sammy Solis higher too

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by JD Sussman on Aug 25, 2025 9:27 AM EDT up reply actions

Solis is in a good place.

Sleep, those little slices of death. Oh how I loathe them.

by Daggerrrrrr on Aug 25, 2025 9:46 AM EDT up reply actions

I'm definitely a Solis fan

I’d probably have him around 8.

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by Jeff Reese on Aug 25, 2025 10:08 AM EDT up reply actions

I see Cole at #3 too

by blackoutyears on Aug 25, 2025 12:22 PM EDT up reply actions

Solis

Yeah, my first thought when reading this was that Solis was too low. I would have had him in the 7-8 range. Not as high a ceiling but a pretty high floor.

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by journeymen on Sep 1, 2025 10:08 AM EDT up reply actions

I could see Cole in the 3to5 range. But i'm thinking who's better right now

and Peacock is better than Cole at this point. I should’ve put Cole 4th.

Sleep, those little slices of death. Oh how I loathe them.

by Daggerrrrrr on Aug 25, 2025 9:57 AM EDT up reply actions

Eh, I just don't buy Peacock as a starter

I’ll take Cole.

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by Jeff Reese on Aug 25, 2025 10:09 AM EDT up reply actions

Top-heavy, but clearly one of the best systems right now. Then again, Harper and 29 Pete Kozmas would be a great system.

by limozeen on Aug 25, 2025 10:04 AM EDT reply actions 1 recs

Derek Norris?

Anyone have any insight into his lackluster season? Still doing the power and patience thing, but his lack of contact at AA is alarming.

by FI2 on Aug 25, 2025 12:29 PM EDT reply actions

The contact thing is a problem but he has come along way to being a good catcher.

So minus the batting avg his numbers are still good (18HR,43RBI,67BB,11SB,355OBP,432SLG,787OPS,300AB) in what would be a down year for him is reason enough to still believe in him as a top prospect. But next year, he has to get that avg up. I see him as a .260 major league hitter that can do alot of other stuff to make up for the below BA.

Sleep, those little slices of death. Oh how I loathe them.

by Daggerrrrrr on Aug 25, 2025 1:56 PM EDT up reply actions

meyer is interesting. dominant stuff, but the control is very scary

i took him over jose fernandez in our prospect draft on his upside, starting to think that may have been a mistake. saw a quote somewhere on him " guys either a top 5 closer, an ace or he doesn’t make it out of double a." perfect description

by DeathSpeculum on Aug 25, 2025 3:26 PM EDT reply actions