The Washington Nationals are on the upswing in the player development and prospect front. With a sparkling 2025 MLB Draft Class headlined by No. 1 overall pick Eli Willits, and a new crop of top prospects brought in at the Trade Deadline not even 2 weeks ago, the franchise has a ton of new talent to be excited about.
One of their top prospects, who actually came over to the organization at last year's trade deadline in lefty Alex Clemmey, has been making waves in High-A for the Wilmington Blue Rocks, and has now earned a promotion to AA Harrisburg, as reported by numerous sources on social media. This is a huge step for Clemmey, the team's #5 prospect, but in taking a look at his numbers, it would be hard to say he hasn't earned it.
This season in 19 starts for the Blue Rocks, Clemmey has accumulated a 7-4 record to go along with a 2.47 ERA and 1.33 WHIP in 87.1 innings. He got off to a bit of a rough start to begin this year's campaign, but has been steadily improving as the season wore on.
His stuff and upside is extremely legitimate, as he has posted 113 strikeouts in those 87.1 innings so far this season, and only just turned 20-years-old not even a month ago. The fact that he has already shown this much growth at such a young age is extremely encouraging for an organization that has struggled to produce a lot of positive developments recently, but Clemmey has more than earned the opportunity to go up a level.
The transition from A ball to AA is generally known as the most difficult jump in the minor leagues, but hopefully Clemmey can prove that he belongs at the level fairly quickly. With everyone fully healthy, the AA Harrisburg rotation has a ton of upside with top pitching prospect Travis Sykora, righty Jarlin Susana, and lefty Jake Bennett, who all would be challenging for the big leagues as soon as next season if fully healthy.
But in case you hadn't heard, Sykora is currently on the mend after undergoing Tommy John Surgery, and Susana and Bennett are only recently at AA following various setbacks with injuries. But now, Clemmey has a very legitimate chance to establish himself as a Top 100 prospect in all of baseball, and his development will be key as an expected frontline starter at the big league level once he arrives.
What do you think of Alex Clemmey's promotion? As always, please let me know on X, @DCBerk.