Washington Nationals: 5 prospects that could be dealt at trade deadline

Jesus Luzardo

Luzardo was selected by the Washington Nationals in the third round of the 2016 MLB Draft, but most considered him a first rounder if he didn’t need Tommy John surgery at the time.

It’s only three starts, but the 19-year-old left-hander is off to a strong start in his first professional season. Luzardo has given up two runs in 13.2 innings, has struck out 15 batters, and has yet to walk anyone. He hasn’t thrown more than five innings in a game yet, but those are still good numbers.

Here is what Brian Sankowski of Perfect Game USA tweeted about how Luzardo has looked in the GCL:

Back in May, Bob Nightengale of USA Today was the first to report that there was a trade offer with the Chicago White Sox this winter that involved Luzardo and Drew Ward going to Chicago for closer David Robertson, but that deal didn’t happen. If the Nats want to try to get Robertson again, Luzardo’s name will probably pop up.

With only three starts, Luzardo is listed as the tenth best prospect in the organization according to MLB Pipeline. Here is what they had to say about what his potential is going forward:

"“He’ll be brought along slowly in the wake of his surgery, but the all-around package gives Luzardo the potential to move quickly once fully healthy, with his ceiling being that of a No. 3 or 4 starter.”"

The Nats don’t have many top pitching prospects in their organization, so Luzardo might be a tough name to give up. However, remember that the team did draft nine pitchers in the first ten rounds last month and Luzardo’s MLB debut isn’t likely to come for quite some time. For a team focusing on the short-term, this might be a move they could make.

We go from Rookie ball back to Low-A ball, where one Suns pitcher is on a hot streak when it comes to winning games