Future Nationals Star Eli Willits Already Turned Heads During Limited Double-A Action
In this story:
There's no doubt that Eli Willits looks like a future superstar for the Washington Nationals.
Drafted No. 1 overall in 2025 at the age of 17, he has been nothing short of impressive during his short professional career thus far. Willits was promoted twice this season, as he first began the year with Single-A Fredericksburg before he was moved up to High-A Wilmington. Then, after the Blue Rocks' season ended, he was bumped up to Double-A Harrisburg.
Like he has done throughout his time on the farm, Willits impressed with the Senators. And despite the sample size being only three games at that level, what he did makes it almost a guarantee that he's going to start 2027 with Harrisburg.
Eli Willits Impresses During First Double-A Action
Across those three games, he went 5-for-14 where one of his hits was a homer and another was a double. He also had five RBIs and drew three walks to four strikeouts. He also stole two bases. In the field, all three of his games came as the starting shortstop. Over 27 innings played, he had a perfect fielding percentage and was involved in turning a double play.
That impressive ending put a cap on what was a fantastic season for Willits, as his cumulative slash line across 47 games at Single-A, 64 games at High-A and three games at Double-A was .265/.406/.463 with 14 home runs, 27 doubles, eight triples, 75 RBIs and 113 strikeouts to 95 walks. He also had an eye-popping 62 steals, although he was caught 15 times.
Willits is easily the No. 1-ranked prospect in Washington's farm system, as he is considered No. 4 overall in the sport by MLB Pipeline. Based on what he did this season -- especially the power element he added to his game -- it's hard to argue with that.
The Nationals should be comfortable with that they have in the budding superstar, as he took every challenge presented to him and dealt with it in remarkable fashion. Because of that, it seems like a lock that Willits will begin 2027 with Harrisburg after he gets some experience with the big league club during spring training. From there, he'll be someone to monitor for a possible promotion to the bigs later in the year, depending on how he performs throughout the season.
Regardless of if Willits gets called up to The Show next year or not, the youngster seems like he has a bright future ahead of him. And by the time he's in his prime, there's a chance he's the face of the franchise as they try to win their second World Series title.
Add us as a preferred source on Google
Brad Wakai graduated from Penn State University with a degree in Journalism. While an undergrad, he worked at the student radio station covering different Penn State athletic programs like football, basketball, volleyball, soccer and other sports. Brad became the Lead Contributor for Nittany Lions Wire of Gannett Media where he continued to cover Penn State athletics. Currently, Brad is the Publisher for Washington Nationals On SI and covers multiple teams across the On SI network. He is the host of the sports podcast I Said What I Said, where he and his co-host discuss topics across the NFL, College Football, the NBA and other sports. You can follow him on Twitter: @bwakai