With a rocket of an arm at just 19 years old, Landon Harmon has a lot to offer. Selected 80th overall in the 2025 Draft by the Washington Nationals out of East Union High School (Blue Springs, MS), can already comfortably sit around 93-96 MPH with his heater, which puts him in a great position to do so much more and make his way through the minors to be the Nats' ace of the future. He was committed to Mississippi State for a reason.
Harmon is currently ranked the 8th best prospect in the Nationals' pipeline, which shows the faith the MLB Pipeline writers have in him. He is currently listed with the Florida Complex League, and has not played any time in Rookie ball. But his high school numbers were flawless.
According to his profile on MaxPreps.com, his high school career record was 21-3, a 1.09 ERA, and 284 strikeouts. Those are just his baseline numbers. He did give up any doubles or triples, according to MaxPreps' data, and the only extra base hits that he allowed were 4 home runs over his high school career. If these numbers don't tell you that we can have an ace in the making, I don't know what will.
In addition to being a standout pitcher, Harmon was an incredible hitter, too, in high school. His career slash line is .396/.529/.736 shows that he is an all-around ball player and a student of the game, who can learn at a high level. He also homered 14 times across his high school career and knocked in 76 runs.
MLB.com notes on his profile: "For a tall teenager, Harmon does a nice job of keeping his delivery in sync and pounding the strike zone, though he'll sometimes rush his mechanics with runners on base," it is a learning curve that needs to be overcome. Patience is a learned habit, and with the pitch clock being a little longer when runners are on base, Harmon must focus on learning his timing in high-pressure situations to avoid making avoidable mistakes.
Obviously, Harmon will have to adjust to minor league and then, big league hitting, and if developed right, he will wreak havoc for hitters. I think Harmon has a lot to offer the Nationals and the game of baseball. I think he will be a top of the farm system guy for years. I know I'll be anticipating his debut, and I have a feeling many other Nats fans will too in no time. Thinking about a future rotation spearheaded by Travis Sykora, Jarlin Susana, and Harmon would be a sight to behold for years to become.