Nationals’ Top Pitching Prospects Set for 2015 Debut
By Wayne Cavadi
The Washington Nationals are stacked in the pitching department at the big league level, but they are even deeper in the Minor Leagues. Two of their premier prospects finally completed their stint in extended spring training and have been assigned to High-A Potomac.
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Lucas Giolito, the Nationals No. 1 prospect and No. 4 on the Grading on the Curve Top 50, is scheduled to make his Minor League debut Friday. The Nationals were able to steal Giolito in the first round of the 2012 draft after he slipped to the 16 pick after under going Tommy John surgery. The 6 foot 6, 255 pound righty has done nothing but impress since joining the Nationals.
The 20-year old future ace pitched only 12 games as he fought his back from Tommy John surgery over his first two seasons. Last year, his first full season, Giolito was dominant. As a member of the Hagerstown Suns in the South Atlantic League, Giolito went 10-2 over 20 starts. He posted a 2.20 ERA and a 1.00 WHIP while striking out 110 over 98 innings. More impressively, he only walked 28, exhibiting the impeccable control for which he was known.
The Nationals are known for not rushing their pitchers, even if there are playoffs on the line (see Stephen Strasburg), and early rumors are it will be the same for Giolito. He is expected to see around 100 innings this season, which is also why he was held back in extended spring training. That doesn’t mean that Giolito won’t rapidly rise through the ranks. Expecting to see the best pitching prospect in baseball hit Double-A is not out of the question, and should he progress there, a few late starts at Triple-A could easily be in his future.
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Reynaldo Lopez, the Nationals No. 4 prospect, will make his Minor League debut today. The 21-year old righty was signed out of the Dominican Republic in 2012 at the age of 18. He was still very raw and possessed a fastball that topped out in the high 80s, but the Nationals saw immense potential.
Fast forward to 2014, and Lopez is now one of the most polished pitchers in the Nationals system, if not Minor League baseball. He went 7-3 over 16 starts at two levels. He posted a 1.08 ERA and a 0.82 WHIP while striking out 70 over 83.1 innings. Now, it seems his control is spot on and that fastball regularly sits in the mid-90s and has topped out at 99.
Lopez has come a long way and continues to grow. While he, too, is expected to be on an innings limit, expectations are that he too will land in Double-A before the season ends.
The Nationals have a talented core in the nation’s capital in their starting rotation. It seems that will stay that way for a long time coming.