Willits, more new talent shake up Nats' prospect rankings

4:59 PM UTC

The Nationals’ farm system received a serious upgrade at the 2025 MLB Draft by virtue of some top-tier, blue-chip moves.

Taken by the Nats with the No. 1 overall pick in the Draft out of Fort Cobb-Broxton High School in Oklahoma, shortstop rocketed to the top of the organization’s Minor League rankings, in addition to being MLB’s No. 18 overall prospect, per MLB Pipeline. Washington’s other four top 2025 Draft picks -- , , and -- also made their debuts on the club’s Top 30 list after a midseason update.

Other top prospect holdovers who retained high rankings include right-handers and , though a handful of players on the preseason Top 30 list fell off completely to make room for the promising crop of new organizational talent.

Here’s a look at the Nationals’ top prospects:

  1. Eli Willits, SS (MLB No. 18)
  2. Travis Sykora, RHP (MLB No. 46)
  3. Jarlin Susana, RHP (MLB No. 73)
  4. Luke Dickerson, SS
  5. Alex Clemmey, LHP

Complete Top 30 list »

Biggest jump/fall
Here are the players whose ranks changed the most from the preseason list:

Jump: , LHP (Preseason: 18 | Midseason: 11) -- Bennett played both high school and college ball with Cade Cavalli and pushed himself into the second round of the 2022 Draft with 133 strikeouts and only 22 walks in 117 innings as a junior that spring. He dominated out of the gate for Single-A Fredericksburg (1.93 ERA, 54 strikeouts in 42 innings) in his first full season and was promoted to High-A Wilmington in June 2023. He made only six starts in the South Atlantic League before being shut down and underwent Tommy John surgery that September. Bennett did not pitch in the Minors in 2024 as he recovered and rehabbed from the elbow procedure. He has pitched as high as Double-A in 2025, posting a 3.63 ERA in four starts with Harrisburg.

Fall: (Preseason: 15 | Midseason: 30) -- Stuart’s walk rate climbed to 13.2 percent during his four-start stay in Triple-A in 2024, but the control has been at least average at every spot. Despite his large frame, it can look like he’s playing catch with the backstop. He made only 10 appearances (nine starts) across three levels in 2025, battling elbow issues for much of the year before undergoing Tommy John surgery that will knock him out for much (if not all) of 2026.

COMPLETE NATIONALS PROSPECT COVERAGE

New to the list
Here are the players added to the Top 30 from outside the organization:

No.1 : Eli Willits, SS (Pick No. 1 in 2025 Draft)
No. 6: Landon Harmon, RHP (Pick No. 80 in 2025 Draft)
No. 8: Ethan Petry, OF (Pick No. 49 in 2025 Draft)
No. 9: Coy James, SS (Pick No. 142 in 2025 Draft)
No. 14: Christian Franklin, OF (Acquired via Michael Soroka trade with Cubs)
No. 16: Sean Paul Liñan, RHP (Acquired via Alex Call trade with Dodgers)
No. 17: Miguel Sime Jr., RHP (Pick No. 111 in 2025 Draft)
No. 18: Ronny Cruz, SS (Acquired via Michael Soroka trade with Cubs)
No. 19: Eriq Swan, RHP (Acquired via Alex Call trade with Dodgers)
No. 28: Marconi German, SS/2B (Signed as a free agent)
No. 29: Josh Randall, RHP (Acquired via Kyle Finnegan trade with Tigers)

Best tools
Players are graded on a 20-80 scouting scale for future tools -- 20-30 is well below average, 40 is below average, 50 is average, 60 is above average and 70-80 is well above average. Players in parentheses have the same grade.

Hit: 60 -- Eli Willits
Power: 60 -- Ethan Petry
Run: 70 -- Cristhian Vaquero
Arm: 60 -- Vaquero (Ronny Cruz, Yohandy Morales)
Defense: 55 -- Willits (Vaquero, Ronny Cruz, Robert Hassell III, Brayan Cortesia, Sam Petersen)
Fastball: 70 -- Jarlin Susana (Miguel Sime Jr.)
Curveball: 60 -- Cade Cavalli
Slider: 70 -- Susana
Changeup: 65 -- Sean Paul Liñan
Splitter: 60 -- Travis Sykora
Control: 50 -- Jackson Kent (Liñan, Sykora, Jake Bennett, Landon Harmon, Andry Lara, Josh Randall, Tyler Stuart, Yoel Tejeda Jr.)