Underrated Washington Nationals Prospects Making Strides in Farm System

The Washington Nationals could continue their youth movement with more young talent getting called up during the season.

Mar 15, 2024; Port St. Lucie, Florida, USA; Washington Nationals pitcher Andry Lara (23) pitches in the sixth inning against the New York Mets in the Spring Breakout at Clover Park. / Jim Rassol-Imagn Images

This past campaign saw the Washington Nationals lean on a lot of young talent. That trend could continue into next year.

Call ups like James Wood and Dylan Crews made major waves for the future of the franchise last season, but there were a couple of surprises like DJ Herz and Jose Tena.

While they may not do much before the season starts, there are a handful of surging young prospects in Washington that could see their MLB debuts at some point in 2025.

3B Cayden Wallace

Wallace does mostly play the same position as the top two offensive prospects and other young stars, he could be a great depth option if they need better players on the bench at some point.

His numbers continue to drop at the plate with each level he climbs, but he has great potential as a defensive presence.

Becoming a utility outfielder that can swat some home runs if need be would still be a solid outcome for him.

RHP Brad Lord

Lord is the No. 30 prospect in the Nationals farm system, but has shown flashes of being much better than that.

He had a great 2024 seasons that saw him post a 2.43 ERA over 129.2 innings of work with 9.4 K/9 and 3.4 BB/9.

Turning 25 right before the campaign starts, Lord is running out of time before people start to criticize the selection from the 2022 MLB draft. With such a young rotation in Washington, the Florida native could still make a huge leap and work his way up the rotation if he can keep the success going.

RHP Andry Lara

Lara has been making steady progress through the Nationals fam system over the past few years, but saw a big jump last year.

The 21-year-old posted a 3.34 ERA over 134.2 innings of work while getting his walk rate doesn to 2.9 per nine innings.

He still really only has a fastball and curveball in his arsenal, though, which will hurt his chances to do anything more than becoming a situational reliever at the next level.

1B/3B Yohandy Morales

Morales was a second-round selection in the 2023 MLB draft and has seen quick results as a professional. His home run pop hasn't translated, but he has been able to leg out enough extra-base hits to keep his numbers solid.

He has a .308/.389/.446 slash line with seven homers and 73 RBI during his first 117 games in the minors.