Washington Nationals: Six players who could break out in 2019

Wil Crowe

One area that the Washington Nationals have struggled with recently is bringing through reliable young pitching. While the minor league depth still isn’t great, Wil Crowe is one of the highlights of that group, and may even make his major league debut in 2019.

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The right-hander was a second-round pick of the University of South Carolina back in 2017 and is already climbing the ladder quickly. He’ll likely begin the season in Double-A with the Harrisburg Senators as he looks to follow up a strong 2018 campaign.

Down in High-A last season with the Potomac Nationals he went a remarkable 11-0 with a stellar 2.69 ERA in 16 appearances. That earned him a call-up to Double-A towards the end of the year, which didn’t go quite as hoped when he went 0-5 with a 6.15 ERA, but it didn’t change his fine season.

Crowe was also awarded co-minor league pitcher of the year, along with Ben Braymer when the Nationals announced their minor league awards at the end of the season. He’s provided himself an excellent platform to push on in 2019 and will hope that he can catch the eye of the front office enough to possibly get a call-up to the major if existing rotation members falter or are affected by injuries.

While Crowe’s ceiling may not be as high as others on this list, he has one of the highest floors and is a safe bet to be at least a back-end starter at the highest level. His fastball sits in the mid-to-low 90s, which he pairs with a plus curveball, good changeup and slider if he needs it. The arsenal is solid, if not spectacular, but he has a great feel for pitching, which should get him to the bigs.