Washington Nationals Minor Leagues: Victor Robles Named Short-Season All-Star

With every level of the minor leagues either in or wrapping up their respective playoffs, it’s always a good time to look back at some of the players who have shined throughout the season. Back on Thursday, Baseball America released their All-Star teams for each level of the minor leagues. The only Washington Nationals’ prospect that made that list was an 18-year-old outfielder who had begun the season playing for the GCL Nats.

Victor Robles, who played in 38 games for the Auburn Doubledays, was named one of the short-season’s best outfielders. The short season leagues consist of both the New York-Penn League and the Northwest. Robles joins Red Sox’ first round pick Andrew Benintendi (Lowell Spinners) and Cubs’ first round pick Ian Happ (Eugene Emeralds) as the outfielders who were selected for this honor.

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After hitting .370 with a .484 on-base percentage in 23 games for the Nats’ Gulf Coast League affiliate, Robles made his debut for the Doubledays back on July 19. For the Doubledays, he had a slash line of .343/.424/.479 with four home runs, 27 RBI’s, and stole 12 bases in 16 attempts. Due to his great season, the center fielder is currently ranked seventh on the Nats’ top prospect list (according to MLB Pipeline) and he is the third highest ranked position player behind Trea Turner and Wilmer Difo.

In case you missed our Minor League Q+A series on Tuesday, I spoke with David Lauterbach, the play-by-play announcer for the Doubledays, about his impressions of Robles from this season. Here is an excerpt from that interview:

"“He goes out on every play, he makes plays in the outfield some scouts told me they don’t see big leaguers make, and he absolutely rakes. Unfortunately he’ll fall a couple plate appearances shy of qualifying for the batting title, but if he did he would currently have the second highest average in the league at .343 in 38 games. Every day he continues to amaze me and the fans and makes me eager to see him in the big leagues so we can use some of the new statistics on statcast on him.”"

Robles, who was signed by the Nationals as a minor league free agent in July 2013 out of the Dominican Republic, is a player that Nationals fans should have their eyes on in the coming years. While he won’t be tin the majors for a few years, he is already making headlines at the lower levels of the minor league system at a very young age.

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