Washington Nationals Home To Pair of Flame-Throwing Prospects
Velocity is the name of the game these days when it comes to pitching development. But, as much emphasis as there is on velocity, there is still just a small group of pitchers that can reach the hallowed triple digits on the radar gun.
Organizations are lucky to have one. The Washington Nationals have two.
Baseball America cataloged every minor-league pitcher that threw at least one pitch of 100 mph or more in 2024, not including prospects that graduated from the rankings during the season. Turns out, there were just 90 prospects that cleared 100 mph.
One of them is one of the Nationals’ highly-respected pitching prospects in Jarlin Susana. While he hasn’t pitched above High-A yet, the 20-year-old right-hander is considered the No. 90 prospect in all of baseball, according to MLB Pipeline.
It’s not hard to see why. Susana didn’t just clear 100 mph on the gun. He threw the third-fastest pitch among prospects — a 103.2 mph four-seam fastball.
Susana didn’t finish the season with pretty numbers. He ended up 4-10 with a 4.34 ERA in 24 games with Class-A Fredericksburg and High-A Wilmington. He finished with an impressive 157 strikeouts, along with 48 walks. Batters hit just .228 against him.
Strangely, his numbers were much better at Wilmington. He finished 3-3 with a 4.18 ERA in 10 starts, with 74 strikeouts and 18 walks.
He’s in his third minor-league season since the San Diego Padres spent $1.7 million to sign him as part of their 2022 international class. MLB Pipeline ranked him as the top pitcher in the class. The Padres flipped him to the Nationals as part of the haul Washington received for Juan Soto and Josh Bell.
At 6-6, he strikes an imposing figure on the mound and his fastball has a baseline of 97 mph. Per MLB Pipeline, he also has a high-80s slider and needs a third pitch to make a move through the ranks.
The other prospect is Samuel Vasquez, a right-hander who threw a four-seamer 101 miles per hour during the season.
The 25-year-old has been a pro since 2018 and started his career in the Cleveland Guardians organization Washington acquired him in the minor-league portion of the Rule 5 Draft in December and assigned him to Fredericksburg. He was later promoted to Wilmington.
He worked as a reliver and produced a 6-2 record with a 4.05 ERA in 42 games. He managed six saves in eight chances and also had four holds. He struck out 53 and walked 41 in 53.1 innings. If he’s able to trim the walks, he’s a promotion consideration next season.
