I will never, ever, forget where I was on August 2nd, 2023. As a young and motivated intern at my now full-time place of employment, I was gearing up for a nice lunch with my fellow interns, too scared to check my phone partially in fear of my manager, but for the main reason, of facing the inevitable: my favorite national of all time Juan Soto getting traded.
Once the Passan tweet hit, my soul got sucked out of my body, with fellow employees taking notice. If it was not the last week of the internship and I was working towards a full-time offer, my reaction may have been even more severe.
Since that day seeing the fruits of the labor flourish, the pain has become a lot more tolerable, with CJ Abrams, MacKenzie Gore, and James Wood alone making the trade worth it. The book on Robert Hassell III is not closed as of yet either, but there was always one player who peaked my interest the most: an 18 year old starting pitcher who regularly threw 100+ mph named Jarlin Susana.
Susana is 6’6 and currently 20 years old, coming off the best season of his professional career. A player with all the talent in the world but with a severe lack of control, Susana controlled the wildness last year, while still flashing his electric stuff.
Spencer Strider’s elite strikeout stuff.
— LouisAnalysis (@LouisAnalysis) February 19, 2025
Framber Valdez’s ability to bury hitters with ground balls.
Jarlin Susana could be the perfect mix of both.
A Thread 🪡🧵#NATITUDE pic.twitter.com/ziCgsYoIHy
Susana is now a consensus top 100 prospect across all major publications, ranking #79 on MLB.com, #50 on Zips, and #67 on Baseball America.
He is normally slotted behind Dylan Crews and Travis Sykora in the 50-100 range, besides the latest prospect ranking from Fangraphs… which puts him as a top 20 prospect in baseball.
As the 19th best prospect in baseball, Susana is the 6th highest ranked starting pitcher, behind LAD- Roki Sasaki (1), Phi- Andrew Painter (6), DET- Jackson Jobe (9), COL- Chase Dollander (12), and CHW- Noah Shultz (18).
Susana’s scaled value is a 55 FV, meaning he will be an above-average starting pitcher as the most likely outcome.
Susana was lights out in the second half last season, finishing with a 4.34 ERA in 24 starts (103 2/3 innings) between Low and High A, with 157 strikeouts and 48 walks.
Susana features a 75/80 grade fastball, with an above-average slider that can reach the low 90s and a change-up that is still a work in progress. With primarily a two-pitch mix, some have slotted Susana as a back-of-the-end bullpen arm, but it is smart that Washington is sticking with him to continue starting at this point.
Jarlin Susana 100 mph on the first day of spring training. pic.twitter.com/n5oGN0pTnt
— Mark Zuckerman (@MarkZuckerman) February 13, 2025
Susana was maybe the least talked about player in the Soto deal, besides Luke Voit of course, but he could provide the Nationals in the future with extreme value as a top-of-the-rotation starter like a MacKenzie Gore.
Although his first Spring Training appearance was not the most encouraging, Fangraphs high praise is another encouraging step in the right direction for Jarlin Susana. If Susana continues to improve his control, he could be up in the big leagues, and make an impact, sooner than most think.