It's always a fun exercise to log onto Major League Baseball's website and look through MLB Pipeline's list of top prospects in an organization in years past. Today I thought I'd look back at some guys you might have forgotten were in the Washington Nationals system during their days as prospects.
Jesús Luzardo
Drafted out of Parkland, Florida in the 3rd round of the 2016 Draft, left-hander Jesús Luzardo was ranked number 12 in the Nationals organization by MLB Pipeline in 2017. Luzardo wasn't a National for very long, though, making just eight starts in the team's system between the Gulf Coast League Nationals and the now-defunct New York-Pennsylvania League's Vermont Lake Monsters before being packaged with Blake Treinen and Sheldon Neuse in the deal with the Oakland Athletics that brought all-star reliever and current Nationals pitching strategist Sean Doolittle along with veteran reliever Ryan Madson to the DMV.
Luzardo didn't stay in Oakland too long, either. Eventually climbing to the top of the team's prospect rankings in both 2019 and 2020, he was never given much of an opportunity to get his feet planted in the major leagues before being traded to the Miami Marlins in a one-for-one deal for Starling Marte in an effort to fuel the Athletics' playoff push, which was ultimately fruitless as the team ended 6 games out of a wild card spot.
Luzardo flourished in Miami, posting back-to-back seasons with an ERA+ above 120 and a K/9 over 10 for the Fish en route to the team's first full-season playoff berth since 2003. After a down 2024 and no clear path back to the playoffs in Miami, the team dealt Luzardo to the Nationals' division rival Phillies in the 2024-25 offseason with two years of control.
Both Treinen and Doolittle saw excellent success in 2018, with each being named to their respective All-Star team. Treinen, however, received AL Cy Young votes and finished 6th in the voting for the A's, who won 97 games but were bounced in the Wild Card Game by the Yankees. Doolittle was critical in the Nationals' miracle World Series run in 2019, recording three shutdowns with zero meltdowns in the Postseason, and has since become a beloved figure in the D.C. area. While it's fun to imagine what Luzardo would look like in today's rotation along with MacKenzie Gore and others, his inclusion in the deal was necessary for the Nationals to get a big piece of their title run.
Sheldon Neuse
The Nationals' second round pick in that 2016 Draft, also included in the trade for Doolittle, was infielder Sheldon Neuse (pronounced "noisy") from the University of Oklahoma. Originally drafted by the Rangers in the 38th round of the 2013 Draft, Neuse was assessed as a 50 FV prospect by Pipeline and 40 by FanGraphs evaluators and was the Nats' 6th-ranked prospect, re-reaching that threshold with the A's organization in 2020.
Despite his not-insignificant prospect status, Neuse never quite put it together at the big league level, being traded to the Dodgers in February 2021 before being claimed back off waivers by the A's a year later, then becoming a minor league free agent after failing to post an OPS above .600 in 89 games in 2022.
Neuse headed to Japan, joining NPB's Hanshin Tigers for 2023 where he posted a wRC+ of 84 but was selected to the All-Star Game as Tigers fans stuffed the ballot box. He starred in the 2023 Japan Series, hitting two home runs including a three-run shot in Game 7 en route to the Tigers' second ever Japan Series title. That was enough to get him another shot in 2024, but after posting an 80 wRC+ in 49 games in 2024, Neuse was let go by the team. He was the beginning of the Oklahoma University to Washington Nationals pipeline that also included pitchers Jake Irvin, Cade Cavalli, and Jake Bennett.
Blake Perkins
Blake Perkins, ranked 16th in the Nationals organization in 2017 and given a 45 FV by Pipeline and 40 by FanGraphs evaluators, was drafted out of Buckeye, Arizona in the 2nd round of the 2015 Draft. Perkins sustained his on-field performance mostly by way of his baserunning and outfield glovework, both of which were assessed a 60 on the 20-80 scale by MLB Pipeline.
Following a solid 2017 campaign where he posted a .732 OPS at Class-A Hagerstown, Perkins, alongside Kelvin Gutiérrez and minor leaguer Yohanse Morel, was flipped to the Royals at the 2018 deadline on a rental deal for closer Kelvin Herrera, who was running a 1.05 ERA at the time with just a 0.70 BB/9. Herrera faltered in Washington, recording a shaky 5-3 shutdown rate and giving up 9 runs in 21 appearances with D.C. as the team missed the playoffs for the first time in three years.
Perkins' journey through the minor leagues was stilted by the cancellation of the 2020 Minor League Baseball season due to the COVID-19 pandemic. A solid 2022 minor league campaign in the Yankees organization led to Perkins catching on with the Brewers on a major league deal, which he parlayed into a big league debut in Seattle on April 19. Since then, Perkins has appeared largely as a bench outfielder, being used when other pieces of the now-dense Brewers outfield got hurt. As expected, his defense at all three outfield positions has been his calling card, worth 13.2 runs according to FanGraphs in his two seasons with the team.
Who are some other players you forgot were once Nationals prospects? Let me know on Twitter @TheOttSpot or on Bluesky @theottspot.bsky.social.