Washington Nationals Pitching Prospect Has Had a Breakout Year
The Washington Nationals have taken a nice step forward in 2024, as their rebuild continues.
While the Nationals have been officially eliminated from the playoffs, this has to be considered a successful season for the franchise. Going into 2024, expectations were pretty low for the franchise, but there have been a lot of bright spots despite not a ton of wins.
The young prospects of Washington are starting to shine at the big league level, as their outfield of James Wood, Dylan Crews and Jacob Young appear like they are going to be the starting outfielders in 2025.
In the infield, the duo in the middle of C.J. Abrams and Luis Garcia Jr. have been around for a couple of years now and are starting to establish themselves. Abrams was named to his first All-Star team this season, as the talented two-way shortstop had a great first half of the season.
While there are some prospects already making an impact in the big leagues, the Nationals have a deep farm system with more players coming up.
Recently, MLB.com spoke about a prospect who had a breakout season in the minor leagues. For Washington, it was the right-handed pitcher, Andry Lara.
“Travis Sykora and Jarlin Susana’s performances have made them the stars of the Nationals’ pitching pipeline, but we knew they had quality stuff entering 2024. Lara, by comparison, had fallen off the Top 30 after failing to miss bats last season (66 strikeouts in 98 1/3 High-A innings). He was back in a big way this summer with a 3.34 ERA and 132 K’s in 134 2/3 innings between High-A and Double-A, thanks to a 92-94 mph fastball and plus slider. Rule 5-eligible again this winter, Lara may have pitched his way onto Washington’s 40-man roster.”
The development of Lara for Washington this season is certainly a good sign to see, as he pitched really well for the Nationals at multiple levels of the minor leagues in 2024.
Pitching is going to be a big talking point for Washington coming into next season, as Patrick Corbin’s massive contract will be coming off the books. The Nationals figure to have at least that spot open in the rotation, and a pitcher like Lara could try for an opportunity in 2025.
While a lot of the hitting prospects are seemingly panning out for Washington, the development of the pitching prospects and young pitchers will determine the success of the organization next season. If they get some solid pitching performances in 2025, the Nationals could compete for a playoff spot potentially as early as next season.
