Washington Nationals: 2017 Minor League Opening Day Preview

Today, four of the Washington Nationals minor league affiliates begin their season. We get you set with some prospects to watch on those teams

The Washington Nationals are two games into their 2017 schedule, but today is a different opening day. Starting this afternoon, the four full season minor league affiliates will get their respective seasons underway.

Each team has their fair share of the top prospects in the organization. While only two affiliates are on MILB.TV (triple-A Syracuse and double-A Harrisburg), you can always listen to the Potomac and Hagerstown radio broadcasts to catch all of the A-level ball action.

Of course, the minor leagues are more about the development of talent, it’s always exciting to see which teams can have the most success. Last year, Potomac and Hagerstown both made the playoffs in their respective leagues, but both teams lost in the first round.

One of the things to watch this minor league is how the decision to bring back all four managers and keep the same coaching staffs will affect how the players play on the field. While the Nats farm system is not what it was before this winter, there still is a lot of top talent whether its Victor Robles, Andrew Stevenson, Drew Ward, or Erick Fedde just to name a few.

Throughout the season, we are going to bring you some good minor league coverage in addition to our coverage of the Washington Nationals. Plus, you go to our YouTube channel and find some of our interviews with prospects or managers in the system from earlier this winter.

So without further adieu, let’s first take a look at the Syracuse Chiefs, who kick off the day for the Nats minor league teams today at 2:05 p.m ET at home against the Rochester Red Wings (Minnesota Twins).

Harrisburg Senators

Matt LeCroy is back as manager of the Senators for the second consecutive season after the team went 76-66 in the Eastern League a year ago. The Senators have two of the top five prospects in the Nats farm system starting with them this season (according to MLB Pipeline).

Those two prospects are outfielder Andrew Stevenson and starting pitcher Erick Fedde. Stevenson made a good first impression on Dusty Baker in Major League camp. Last year, he hit .246 with 16 RBI’s and 12 stolen bases in 65 games at double-A.

Staying in the outfield, the other three outfielders with Stevenson will be Alec Keller, Zach Collier, and Yadier Hernandez. Hernandez, who is from Cuba, was signed as an international free agent last year. At age 29, Hernandez will be interesting to watch as the season begins.

Moving in to the infield, Osvaldo Abreu will be at shortstop and Drew Ward is back at third base. Ward played 53 games at Harrisburg in 2016 and hit .219 with three home runs and 24 RBI’s.

Fedde will be the name that highlights this starting rotation. The 24-year-old right-hander had a 3.99 ERA in five Eastern League starts in 2016, including striking out 12 batters in his final start of the season.

If you look at the rest of the rotation, other names are to watch are Phillips Valdez and Austen Williams. Valdez threw 60.2 innings in the second half last season, but he did not get many strikeouts (30). Still, he gave up just eight runs in his final four starts of the year.

In the bullpen, some of the names to watch are right-hander Jimmy Cordero (traded from the Phillies this winter) as well as left-hander Ryan Brinley and right-hander Jake Johansen. Brinley and Johansen represented the Nats at last year’s Arizona Fall League.

Tonight, the Senators will take on the Altoona Curve (Pittsburgh Pirates) at 7:05 p.m ET. You can watch all Senators games on MILB.TV or listen online on the Senators broadcast with Terry Byrom on the call.

Update: Today’s game has been postponed and the opener will be tomorrow night at 7 p.m ET. They will play a doubleheader on Saturday afternoon at 6 p.m ET and Erick Fedde will pitch Game 1:

Potomac Nationals

2017 will be Tripp Keister’s fourth season as the manager in Potomac and the team has made the Carolina League playoffs two of the last three years (won the championship in 2014).

Down in Virginia, you can watch the top prospect in the Nats system, outfielder Victor Robles. The 19-year-old hit .262 and stole 18 bases in 41 games at high-A last season, but missed a good portion of the year with a wrist injury.

Joining Robles in the outfield will be Telmito Agustin and Rhett Wiseman. Wiseman was selected in the third round of the 2015 MLB Draft out of Vanderbilt and led Hagerstown last year in home runs (13) and RBI’s (75). As for Agustin, the 20-year-old hit 12 doubles and stole 14 bases in 72 games with the Suns in 2016.

In the infield, the name to watch here is third baseman Kelvin Gutierrez. He has been in the All-Star Game in his respective league each of the last two seasons. He was promoted to Potomac in August last year after hitting .300 with a .349 on-base percentage in 96 games with Hagerstown

For tonight’s game against the Wilmington Blue Rocks (Kansas City Royals), the start will go to right-hander Luis Reyes. The 22-year-old had a 5.60 ERA last year and had identical totals in walks and strikeouts (46). You can listen to the game at 6:35 p.m ET.

As for the rest of the rotation, Joan Baez is one of the pitchers to keep an eye on. The 22-year-old right-hander, who is projected to start Sunday afternoon after spent all of last season in Hagerstown and led the staff in innings (125.2) and strikeouts (119). His manager last year, Patrick Anderson, told me last winter about how he matured as a pitcher:

“This year, he matured right in front of us. [He had a] electric fastball and worked on his breaking ball. At the end of the year, he got so much better.”

In the bullpen, Mariano Rivera III will start the season at high-A. The fourth round draft pick from 2015 had eight saves at Hagerstown last year and hitters hit .235 against him over his last 19 appearances. Another bullpen name to watch is R.C. Orlan (nine saves in Potomac in 2016).

You can listen to all Potomac games via the P-Nats website with Mike Weisman as the play-by-play voice for those games.

Update: Potomac’s season opener was postponed due to rain and will be made up Friday night at 7:05 p.m:

Hagerstown Suns

Patrick Anderson has been the manager in Hagerstown each of the last three seasons and the Suns have made the South Atlantic League playoffs two of the last three years.

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When you look at the Suns position players set to begin the season, there are a lot of top names on the roster. One of last year’s first round picks, shortstop Carter Kieboom, is going to begin the year in Hagerstown. He had 25 RBI’s in 36 games down in the Gulf Coast League last year.

In the infield, the Suns also have third baseman Anderson Franco, second baseman Jake Noll, and third baseman Sheldon Neuse. Franco and Neuse are both top 15 prospects in the Nats organization, according to MLB Pipeline.

Out in the outfield, Juan Soto will be making his full-season debut. Soto is number three in the Nats system on MLB Pipeline. The 18-year-old was the Gulf Coast League MVP last year after he hit .361 with five home runs in 45 games. Other names in the outfield are switch-hitter Blake Perkins and two of last year’s draft picks (Nick Banks and Daniel Johnson).

Tonight, the Suns will send left-hander Tyler Watson to the mound against the Asheville Tourists (Colorado Rockies) at 6:05 p.m ET. Watson made three starts at the end of last season, but Anderson said good things about the 19-year-old in my conversation with him this offseason:

“Can throw up to 92 from the left side around the plate. He is mature beyond his age.”

Other names that are projected in the Hagerstown rotation are Carlos Acevedo, McKenzie Mills, and Weston Davis. Davis only had 33 strikeouts in 11 games with Auburn last year, but he had a 2.67 ERA, an opponents’ batting average against of .201, and he gave up only one home run.

One name to watch in the bullpen this season is 23-year-old right-hander Jorge Pantoja. Pantoja spent the bulk of the year last season at Hagerstown (six games in Potomac) and went 9-1 with a 2.63 ERA and had three saves. Out of his 28 appearances, he didn’t allow a run in 20 of them.

You can listen to all Hagerstown Suns home games on hagerstownsuns.com with Kevin Gehl behind the mic for the play-by-play.

Update: Tonight’s game has been postponed and Hagerstown will begin their season tomorrow night at 6:05 p.m ET and they will play a doubleheader Saturday at 4:05 p.m ET.

Next: Roark Looks To Start Right

We want to hear from you! Which prospects are you most excited to see this season? Share your answers in our comments section below.