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Washington Nationals 2018 MLB Draft Profile: Mason Denaburg

By Blake Finney |
SECAUCUS, NJ - JUNE 07: The draft board is seen prior to the start of the MLB First Year Player Draft on June 7, 2010 held in Studio 42 at the MLB Network in Secaucus, New Jersey. (Photo by Mike Stobe/Getty Images)
SECAUCUS, NJ - JUNE 07: The draft board is seen prior to the start of the MLB First Year Player Draft on June 7, 2010 held in Studio 42 at the MLB Network in Secaucus, New Jersey. (Photo by Mike Stobe/Getty Images)

The MLB Draft now only 6 days away, and the Washington Nationals pick 27th overall. In our second draft profile, we have Merritt Island’s Mason Denaburg.

It’s draft season here at District on Deck, and the Washington Nationals will be picking 27th in the first round on June 4th. In our second draft profile, we look at Merritt Island right-hander, Mason Denaburg.

Entering the 2018 season, Denaburg had plenty of question marks about whether he really was first-round material. Biceps tendonitis affected him this spring, but he’s since returned to the mound and re-asserted himself as one of the top high-school pitchers in this draft.

One of the other concerns has been that he has a pretty tempting offer to go play baseball for the Florida Gators. They have been one of the best colleges for helping develop pitchers reach their full draft potential.

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The Gators have had several pitchers go on to be first-round picks in recent years. In this class alone, Brady Singer will likely go in the top five picks, and Jackson Kowar isn’t too far behind.

But the talent is so tantalizing that Denaburg will still be a first-round pick in this draft. He owns a fastball that can reach 97mph and a nasty curveball that will compliment it well.

The changeup still appears to need a little work, but we forget he’s only 18 years old and with some professional coaching that will become a good pitch in his arsenal.

Also, previously he had been a catcher with Merritt Island, before moving to the outfield this season. As a mentally taxing position, being a catcher would have taken away time training to be on the mound. But if drafted by a major league team to be a pitcher, he can focus solely on that and develop his craft even more than he had previously

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Many mock drafts have Mike Rizzo and the Nationals taking a shot on Denaburg with the 27th overall pick. John Callis of MLB.com had him going to D.C. in his latest mock draft, saying about the pick:

Washington has had a lot of success buying low on pitchers with physical questions such as Lucas Giolito (first round, 2012), Erick Fedde (first round, 2014) and Jesus Luzardo (third round, 2016). That makes it an obvious target for Denaburg (biceps tendintis), Hankins and Massachusetts high school right-hander Mike Vasil (elbow soreness). Back on the mound Tuesday, Denaburg struck out Casas twice and showed the same upper-first-round form he displayed before getting sidelined.

Next: 2018 Draft Profile: Tristan Beck

Mason Denaburg is another pitcher wrongly lower on draft boards because of injury concerns. With this in mind, the Washington Nationals could once again stick to what has been so successful for them in drafts past.

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