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Washington Nationals: 2017 Minor League Opening Day Preview

By Ricky Keeler

Mandatory Credit: Steve Mitchell-USA TODAY Sports
Mandatory Credit: Steve Mitchell-USA TODAY Sports /
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Washington Nationals
Mar 13, 2017; West Palm Beach, FL, USA; A view of a Washington Nationals hat and sunglasses in the dugout during a spring training game between the Washington Nationals and the Detroit Tigers at The Ballpark of the Palm Beaches. Mandatory Credit: Jasen Vinlove-USA TODAY Sports /

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:

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