The Washington Nationals are next on our Players Likely to Debut series. In case you missed it, here’s a look at all the teams that we have covered so far.
AL East: Red Sox — Yankees — Orioles — Blue Jays — Rays
NL East: Marlins — Braves — Phillies — Mets
Below, you will find a list of three prospects from the respective organization. Each prospect will have a number score next to their name — this number will represent the estimated amount of time we anticipate that player seeing at the big-league level. Players that have already made their big-league debut will not be included on this list.
BREAKDOWN OF TIME ON ROSTER SCORES:
1 — September call-ups / guys that are likely to see less than 20-25 games on the roster
2 — 1/4 of the season (roughly 40 games on roster)
3 — 1/2 of the season (roughly 80 games on roster)
4 — 3/4 of the season (roughly 120 games on roster)
5 — Full season on the MLB roster
Washington Nationals
Position — Name (Time on Roster Score)
LHP — Tim Cate (2)
While he doesn’t strike you as a Nationals “top prospect”, Cate has all the makings of a quality relief pitcher. Now, that’s not exactly what you’d like to see from a second round (2018) draft selection, but with non-roster invitee Luis Avilan listed as the only left-hander other than Brad Hand to have over one full season of service time, it seems reasonable that Cate could get chances in the bullpen this season.
Nationals Pitching Coordinator Brad Holman has gone on the record discussing Cate’s progress.
“Tim can spin a curveball well above average,” Holman said. “His changeup and two-seamer have really come along. He was able to get the ball sinking arm side where he used to have a little issue cutting the ball. He would kind of cut it on accident glove side. He learned how to make that ball go the other way now.
Seth Romero and Ben Braymer round out the lefties currently listed on the 40-man roster. While Romero is a name you may know, neither of those guys should stand in the way of Cate and his big-league debut.
OF — Nick Banks (1)
At 26 years of age, Banks isn’t much of a prospect anymore — not that he ever was. The Nationals expressed their feelings for him by choosing not to protect him from last year’s Rule 5 Draft. Ultimately, no team selected him and Banks now finds himself in position to earn a promotion if/when any health issues should arise in the outfield landscape.
Nothing more than positional depth, he could work his way into a big-league lineup since 33-year-old Yadiel Hernandez is the only minor league outfielder currently on the 40-man roster. Any absence of Josh Harrison or Andrew Stevenson could pave the way for Banks to make his debut.
RHP — Steven Fuentes (1)
A very veteran-laden bullpen — at 28 years of age Austin Voth is likely the youngest member — could ultimately make things difficult for guys like Fuentes and Cate to perform their way up. The most likely scenario comes through injuries to others. With every team certain to go through at least a handful throughout the year, the idea that Fuentes could see some innings is very reasonable.
Notable
If you haven’t noticed yet, the Nationals do not have many ready-for-the-big-leagues type prospects. Even further, with the exception of Romero (having made his debut last season), Banks (No. 19) and Fuentes (No. 20) are the only names inside the Nationals top 20 to see action above High-A. In fact, of the higher ranked names, infielder Yasel Antuna (No. 3) and right-handed -pitcher Joan Adon (No. 5) likely have the soonest ETA and neither one of them have performed above Low-A ball. In the case of Antuna, who spent 2019 recovering from Tommy John surgery, he hasn’t played competitively in three years.
The days of Juan Soto, Victor Robles, Carter Kieboom, and Luis Garcia providing excitement for the farm system are gone. You’ll have to wait until at least 2022 before any of the current top prospects make an impact.