Archive for Potomac Nationals

Each weekday during the minor-league season, FanGraphs is providing a status update on multiple rookie-eligible players. Note that Age denotes the relevant prospect’s baseball age (i.e. as of July 1st of the current year); Top-15, the prospect’s place on Marc Hulet’s preseason organizational list; and Top-100, that same prospect’s rank on Hulet’s overall top-100 list.

In this installment of the Prospect Watch, I examine three players who have improved markedly from my viewings in 2013 to 2014.

Summary
Leyer brings easy heat and knows where it’s going, and his game has taken a quantum leap forward in the past year.

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Each weekday during the minor-league season, FanGraphs is providing a status update on multiple rookie-eligible players. Note that Age denotes the relevant prospect’s baseball age (i.e. as of July 1st of the current year); Top-15, the prospect’s place on Marc Hulet’s preseason organizational list; and Top-100, that same prospect’s rank on Hulet’s overall top-100 list.

Summary
Payano has two interesting pitches from the left side, but he’s been derailed by inconsistency his whole career.

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Things may not be rosy in Washington, but the Nationals High-A ball affiliate had an excellent season that culminated with a Carolina League championship title. The Potomac Nationals crushed the Myrtle Beach Pelicans by scoring 35 runs in four games. With any luck, one or two members of the Potomac offence will develop and start driving in runs for Washington in the near future.

Truth be told, though, many of the players that had a big series project as future bench players, including Boomer Whiting (who hit .375 in the playoffs). The speedy outfielder split the season between two A-ball affiliates and hit .270/.370/.342 in 374 at-bats. He stole 47 bases, walked 52 times with 64 strikeouts, and scored 77 runs. Unfortunately, Whiting, 24, hit just 16 extra base hits all season.

Infielder Daniel Lyons (.300) also had a nice series at the top of the order and scored a handful of runs. Like Whiting, Lyons split the 2008 regular season between both A-ball affiliates and hit .272/.392/.405 with 23 stolen bases, 77 walks with 96 strikeouts, and scored 83 runs. He has a little more sock in his bat and banged out 43 extra base hits, including 30 doubles.

Jhonatan Solano, normally a defensive-minded catcher, earned MVP honors in the series for batting .429 with two homers, four RBI and five runs scored. Overall in the playoffs, he hit .346. On the season, the 22-year-old hit .250/.312/.350 with five homers in 280 at-bats. Solano could make the Majors as a back-up catcher based solely on his receiving skills, positive attitude and limitless energy.