District On Deck
FanSided

Washington Nationals: Top 10 first-round picks of all-time

By Blake Finney

WASHINGTON - AUGUST 21: Stephen Strasburg (L), the overall first pick in the 2009 MLB Draft, is presented with his jersey by Nationals third baseman Ryan Zimmerman (R) after being introduced at Nationals Park August 21, 2009 in Washington, DC. Strasburg, a right handed pitcher from San Diego State University, signed with the Nationals earlier this week wth a record contract for an amateur player. (Photo by Win McNamee/Getty Images)
WASHINGTON - AUGUST 21: Stephen Strasburg (L), the overall first pick in the 2009 MLB Draft, is presented with his jersey by Nationals third baseman Ryan Zimmerman (R) after being introduced at Nationals Park August 21, 2009 in Washington, DC. Strasburg, a right handed pitcher from San Diego State University, signed with the Nationals earlier this week wth a record contract for an amateur player. (Photo by Win McNamee/Getty Images) /
facebooktwitterreddit
Prev
3 of 11
Next
Washington Nationals Erick Fedde
Washington Nationals Erick Fedde /

SP. University of Nevada. 9. Pick Analysis. player. 90. 2014. ErickFedde

The Washington Nationals have a tendency to draft extremely talented pitchers, who have fallen in the draft due to injury concerns. Erick Fedde is an example of this potentially paying off in a huge way when he was the Nats first round pick in 2014.

Drafted in 2014 out of the University of Nevada, Fedde had undergone Tommy John surgery just days before the draft. But the Nats took a shot on his top 10 talent, hoping they could help him recover like Stephen Strasburg and Lucas Giolito before him.

And just over two years after his minor league debut for the Auburn Doubledays in 2015, he made his MLB debut in July 2017. Although his 2017 major league performance shouldn’t be used to determine how good he’ll be down the road.

That year he made a transition to the bullpen due to the big league club’s dire situation in relief. However, they reversed that plan at the start of July, and the whole process seemed to mess with his rhythm. This meant he finished with a 0-1 record and a 9.39 MLB ERA that year.

At the time of writing, he has made just one major league start in 2018, but it was much more like the Fedde we expect. He went 5.2 innings giving up 6 hits, 3 runs and striking out 6.

Look for him to fill in for any rotation injuries the rest of 2018, and hopefully able to become a mainstay in the rotation for years to come in 2019. If he lives up to his potential, he could climb this list in a hurry.

Home/Nationals News