Washington Nationals Prospects to Know
Top Prospects to know in the Washington Nationals Farm system.
You are reading the free version of the Washington Nationals Top Prospects. In this version, you will get the full writeups on the top prospect in the system, the biggest sleeper, and a player I could see breaking out in 2025.
In this edition, you will see what I offer in the full team reports. For every farm system, you will get my top 50 ranked players and detailed reports on the top 30. Each report includes advanced player data, traditional scouting thoughts from live and video looks, plus thoughts from scouts around the league.
Let’s dive in on what you get in the full report!
Glossary:
FFG = Future Fantasy Grade - essentially, what is the likely long-term outcome for the prospect? This is always going to be more conservative. Handing out ace tags is not something I like to do. So, this is a realistic outcome.
90th Peak = If the player hits their best-case outcome, what does it look like?
Variance = How risky is this player’s profile, and how likely are they to hit their likely outcome? Low variance is good; high means more risky.
Format for report: Name/Position/Age on 2025 Opening Day/Height/Weight/Highest Level
Washington Nationals Top Prospect
1. Dylan Crews, OF, 23, 5’11”/203, MLB
After being selected second overall in the 2023 MLB Draft, some struggles in Double-A started to cause some questions surrounding Crews. One of the most decorated college hitters in the last ten years, Crews posted a collegiate slash of .380/.498/.689 with 58 home runs across 983 plate appearances. He struck out just 15.5 percent of the time while walking 16.2 percent.
Crews put up solid numbers in Double-A and Triple-A in 2024, posting a combined slash of .270/.342/.451 with 13 home runs and 40 extra-base hits while stealing 25 bases. Sure, it was not a dominant showing, but Crews was good enough to earn a call-up to Washington, where he played his final 31 games.
While he did not light the world on fire and blossom into a superstar in year one as many hoped, the underlying data still looks strong. Crews posted a 90th percentile exit velocity north of 106 mph and an average of around 90, both solid marks.
From a contact standpoint, Crews posted above-average rates, 76 percent overall and 87 percent in-zone and both the contact and exit velocity data held into his MLB sample. Crews did show more chase, but I honestly think some of his aggression and higher swing rates are a good thing compared to what we see in college.
Posting strong sprint speeds and being highly efficient on the base paths led Crews to steal 37 bases in 2024 while only being caught eight times. Being strong in the field also helps his well-rounded profile and allows Crews to be a lock to be in the Nationals lineup every day in 2025 from Opening Day.
FFG: Top-15 OF
90th Percentile Peak Outcome: .280/.350 OBP/25 HR/20 SB
Variance: Medium
Buy/Sell: Buy
Washington Nationals Sleeper Prospect
11. Kevin Bazzell, C, 22, 6’1”/205, A
It is always interesting when a team drafts a catcher with two of your first four picks, but that was the case for the Nationals as they paired Comp-A round pick Caleb Lomavita with Bazzell in the third round.
After beginning his career at Santa Barbara, Bazzell transferred to Texas Tech, where he showed strong on-base skills and respectable power. For his collegiate career, Bazzell walked 13 more times than he struck out and had a career .330/.431/.530 slash. In a small pro sample, Bazzell continued to show strong plate discipline, walking 11 times while striking out in just 10 trips to the plate.
Under the hood, Bazzell has had respectable collegiate exit velocities, having an average exit velocity just shy of 89 mph and a 90th percentile around 105 mph. Both those marks were above average by college standards and showed future-average game power with wood bats.
The contact skills have been stellar, as Bazzell made contact on 90 percent of swings overall and 95 percent in-zone. He is highly patient at the plate and rarely expands the zone.
Bazzell is an interesting bat, especially if he can tap into more power. Right now, he profiles as a hit-over-power type with serious intrigue.
FFG: Hit-First Catcher
90th Percentile Peak Outcome: .285/.390 OBP/13 HR/2 SB
Variance: Medium
Buy/Sell: Buy
Washington Nationals 2025 Breakout Prospect
12. Angel Feliz, SS, 18, 6’3”/185, DSL
While not the highest-paid international signee by the Nationals in 2024, Feliz still received a $1.8 million bonus, the second most in Washington’s class. He spent the year as a 17-year-old in the DSL, where he put up quite impressive results, slashing .310/.381/.468 with four home runs and 27 stolen bases.
While we want to take DSL surface numbers with a grain of salt, Feliz has plenty of reasons to excite Nationals fans. Starting with an impressive, athletic frame, Feliz moves well for his size but still has a chance to add to his frame. While he does have solid present speed, Feliz is likely to continue to fill out his frame and add power, which could push him to third base.
While the swing can get a bit long at times, Feliz has shown some whiff against breaking balls but is an impressive fastball hitter for his age. The power is presently there and has room to grow with exit velocities, plus or better for his age.
How Feliz handles better breaking balls as he moves up levels will be telling. Right now, he looks like a power-hitting third-baseman who is worth an investment. Even if the speed does tick back, and he is a five-stolen base type, the power will play with respectable contact and plate discipline.
FFG: Power Hitting 3B
90th Percentile Peak Outcome: .270/.330/23 HR/5 SB
Variance: Extreme
Buy/Sell: Buy