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Washington Nationals: 6 Players Invited To Arizona Fall League

By Ricky Keeler |
Feb 24, 2015; Viera, FL, USA; A Washington Nationals baseball cap lies on the field during spring training workouts at Space Coast Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Reinhold Matay-USA TODAY Sports
Feb 24, 2015; Viera, FL, USA; A Washington Nationals baseball cap lies on the field during spring training workouts at Space Coast Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Reinhold Matay-USA TODAY Sports

This afternoon, six Washington Nationals prospects made the Arizona Fall League, which will take place in October

With the minor league seasons winding down, the next big event for prospects is the Arizona Fall League. Today, it was announced by Baseball America that six Washington Nationals prospects are going to be participating in the Arizona Fall League for the Glendale Desert Dogs.

Those six players consist of three pitchers (Ryan Brinley, Nick Lee, and Austin Voth), two infielders (shortstop Osvaldo Abreu and third baseman Drew Ward), and one outfielder (Andrew Stevenson).

Let’s start with the pitchers first. Brinley has been with high-A Potomac for the bulk of the season as the team’s closer. The 23-year-old right-hander has 15 saves in 17 chances, has a 1.53 ERA, and has struck out 31 batters to six walks in 35.1 innings.

As for Lee, he has been with double-A Harrisburg all season and has a 4.50 ERA in 42 games. The 25-year-old left-hander 52 strikeouts are five lower than his total from last season (Harrisburg and Potomac) and he has 7.5 walks per nine innings this season. This will be his second appearance in the AFL.

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The final pitcher to make the AFL from the Washington Nationals is Austin Voth. Voth has been at triple-A Syracuse all season. In 25 starts, he is 7-8 with a 3.37 ERA. The 24-year-old right-hander has a 2.51 ERA in his last five starts, but his 51 walks are the seventh most in the International League.

When you look at the hitters, Abreu has been at high-A Potomac this season and is hitting .242 with six home runs, 50 RBI’s, a .324 on-base percentage, and 17 stolen bases. The 22-year-old is hitting .299 in the month of August with 15 RBI’s (27 games).

Ward has spent the 2016 season with Potomac and Harrisburg. With the Senators, he has a .219 average with three home runs and 24 RBI’s in 53 games. The 21-year-old was named to the Carolina League All-Star team earlier this year after hitting 11 home runs in 64 games for Potomac.

Finally, Stevenson, who was the Washington Nationals first pick (second round) in the 2015 MLB Draft, has been with Potomac and Harrisburg as well. He is hitting .247 with two home runs, 14 RBI’s, and the 22-year-old has ten stolen bases with the Senators. The former LSU outfielder was the MVP of the California-Carolina League All-Star Game earlier this year.

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Out of the six participants going to the AFL, three of them are on MLB Pipeline’s list of the top 30 prospects in the Washington Nationals farm system. Stevenson (number eight) and Drew Ward (number ten) are in the top ten while Abreu is inside the top 20 (number 19). Plus, as Byron Kerr of MASN tweeted, there is one more spot still to be filled:

This year, the Arizona Fall League begins play on October 11 and goes until the championship game on November 19. The other teams that will be a part of the Glendale roster are the Chicago White Sox, Houston Astros, St. Louis Cardinals, and Los Angeles Dodgers.

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