The Nationals’ farm system received some much-needed reinforcements this week after Washington selected six players in the 2020 MLB first-year player draft.
Prior to the start of spring training, The Athletic’s prospect analyst Keith Law ranked the Nationals’ minor-league ranks the second-worst in the baseball after years of sacrificing future assets in order to continue fortifying the big-league roster. Former top prospects Victor Robles, Juan Soto and Carter Kieboom had all reached the majors in recent seasons, thinning out their prospect capital.
But starting with the No. 22 overall pick in this year’s draft, GM Mike Rizzo and the Nationals’ front office set out to replenish some of that talent and came away with a pitcher-heavy group that has several players capable of moving up through the minors quickly.
Here are all the players Washington drafted this week:
Round 1, No. 22 overall: RHP Cade Cavalli, Oklahoma
Round 2, No. 55 overall: RHP Cole Henry, LSU
Round 2, No. 77 overall: SS Sammy Infante, Monsignor Edward Pace HS (Florida)
Round 3, No. 94 overall: RHP Holden Powell, UCLA
Round 4, No. 123 overall: C Brady Lindsly, Oklahoma
Round 5, No. 153 overall: LHP Mitchell Parker, San Jacinto College North
“All these kids need work, they’re all young and what a tremendous group,” Assistant General Manager Kris Kline said on a Zoom call after the draft concluded Thursday night. “I’m so excited and fired up to have all these kids in the system. This is a jackpot for me. We did great, guys did a tremendous job.”
The Nationals’ prized pick was their first-round selection of Cavalli, who was ranked the 22nd overall player in the draft by both MLB Pipeline and Baseball America. A 21-year-old power pitcher with a five-pitch mix, Cavalli immediately joins 2019 first-rounder Jackson Rutledge as the team’s top two pitching prospects.
RELATED: EVEN WHEN HE WAS A TWO-WAY PLAYER, THE NATIONALS SAW CADE CAVALLI AS A FUTURE PITCHER
Washington went back to the Sooners in the fourth round as well with its selection of Lindsly, making the Nationals the only team to pick multiple players out of Oklahoma in this year’s draft. Though Kline said it was a “coincidence,” Director of Scouting Operations Eddie Longosz said on Thursday night’s Zoom call that the team trusts the word of Sooners head coach Skip Johnson.
“Our Midwest crosschecker Jimmy Gonzales has known Skip for a really long time so we have a great confidence level when Skip calls on players,” Longosz said. “We’re very confident he knows what he’s talking about and he’s not going to steer us in the wrong direction either. It’s a great relationship we’ve had for a long time even when Skip was at Texas beforehand.”
The Nationals have always maintained they draft the best player available when it’s their turn to pick in the draft, so the number of pitchers selected likely wasn’t by design. However, both Henry and Powell are considered by scouts to be capable of advancing quickly through the minors. That’s particularly the case for Powell, who was drafted as a reliever after securing 26 career saves at UCLA.
Yet despite the 2020 season likely including expanded rosters and taxi squads, Kline said not to expect Powell to pitch in the majors this year.
“I don’t think you’re going to see Holden in the bullpen this year,” Kline said. “It’s a process getting acclimated to professional baseball. I do agree he has potential to move quickly through the system. This is what they look like in the seventh, eighth, ninth inning.
“But for this year we’re telling all of these guys it’s kind of unpredictable about how things are going right now but they’re all going to throw sim games and play catch and do all the things necessary to stay ready because you never know when that day is going to come.”
The sole high school player taken by the Nationals was Infante, who was selected with the compensation pick Washington received when former third baseman Anthony Rendon signed with the Los Angeles Angels. Infante said on his own Zoom call Thursday that he plans to forego his commitment to Miami and sign with the Nationals.
“I believe I’m going to go play pro ball with the Nationals,” Infante said. “I think I’m ready, I’m healthy, I think they got a huge steal…and I can impact their organization significantly in the infield position.”
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