Washington Nationals Have One Player Named to All-MiLB Prospect Team 2024
The Washington Nationals have a very bright future with how talented of a young core they are putting together.
At the major league level, they have All-Star shortstop CJ Abrams, second baseman Luis Garcia Jr., left fielder James Wood, center fielder Jacob Young and right fielder Dylan Crews as their group to build around. Others, such as Jose Tena and Adres Chaparro, are looking to join the growing list.
On the mound, the Nationals look to have several long-term building blocks for their starting rotation.
MacKenzie Gore started the season strong, had a dip in production and then closed like an ace. Mitchell Parker and DJ Herz both had their moments as rookies.
Jake Irving is the most experienced of the bunch and will be an anchor for years to come, taking over a leadership role that could be vacated with Patrick Corbin and Trevor Williams hitting free agency.
Don’t forget about Josiah Gray returning from injury and Jackson Rutledge as well.
This offseason will be an important one for general manager Mike Rizzo to augment his roster with established veterans. Adding the right pieces could turn Washington into a playoff contender in 2025.
They also have the luxury of having a deep and talented farm system to continue developing talent in.
One of the standouts in that group is right-handed pitcher Travis Sykora. The No. 3 rated prospect in the Nationals pipeline and No. 90 overall was named to the 2024 All-MiLB Prospect Team for his stellar performance.
“Taken in the third round last year out of a Texas high school, Sykora took quickly to pro ball thanks to a high-90s fastball, plus splitter and solid slider. His 39.2 percent strikeout rate was tops among the 545 Minor Leaguers with at least 80 innings pitched, while his 1.87 FIP placed second. No other pitcher aged 20 or younger in that group struck out more than 36 percent of their batters faced. The 6-foot-6 right-hander has carved out a big piece in Washington’s rebuild and could be a future face of the farm system,” as shared in the MLB.com piece by Jim Callis, Jonathan Mayo and Sam Dykstra.
Teams can never have enough starting pitching. Sykora has gotten off to a blazing start and could accelerate his timeline to the Major Leagues is he continues on this pace.
He is a name to keep an eye on in the near future. With talent in spades, he could be used as the centeriece of a blockbuster deal to push the team closer to contention if other developments keep heading in the right direction.
