MLB Pipeline’s latest top 100 update gave the Nationals something they haven’t had in a while: real, obvious prospect juice across the board. Six Washington players made the new list, and at the center of it all is Eli Willits, who now sits as the third-best prospect in baseball.
Willits was already putting together a strong season before moving up to High-A, but Wilmington has brought out another gear. In 15 High-A games, he’s hit six home runs and posted an OPS above 1.000. For a player some Nationals fans were lukewarm on when he was selected because he wasn’t the flashiest name on the board, that’s a pretty loud answer.
The power numbers are starting to jump off the page, but Willits showed another side of his game recently too. A few days ago, he raced around the bases for an inside-the-park homer, a reminder that he plays with a motor and brings that energy every night.
Baseball America also reported today that his average exit velocity is already 89 MPH, which is close to the big league average. For an 18-year-old whose power was the biggest question, that’s a very encouraging number.
He’s also been pulling the ball in the air at a strong clip in High-A.
Willits may be the headliner, but he’s hardly alone. The Nationals now have five other top 100 prospects in the system: Travis Sykora, Jarlin Susana, Ronny Cruz, Devin Fitz-Gerald and Seaver King.
That’s a big shift from where this farm stood before the season, when only Willits, Sykora and Susana were on the list. Fitz-Gerald came in with helium, but King and Cruz have forced their way into the conversation.
Cruz might be one of the more interesting names in the group. He grew up mostly in the Dominican Republic, then moved to the United States and played high school ball here after an IFA deal fell through.
The Cubs took him in the third round in 2024, but he ended up in Washington at the 2025 trade deadline as part of the package that sent Michael Soroka to Chicago. Cruz only had rookie-ball experience last year, yet the tools were obvious.
He came into this season with plenty of buzz, ripped through Low-A, and while High-A has been tougher, the ceiling is still very much there. He’s raw, and he’s only 19.
King’s path has been different, but just as notable. The 2024 top 10 pick struggled badly in his first pro season, finishing with a .631 OPS across two levels.
After some swing changes and an improved approach, he turned things around in Double-A, then earned a promotion to Triple-A. In Rochester, he’s hit .278 with a .795 OPS.
The Nationals drafted him out of Wake Forest for his blend of power, speed and contact, and that profile is showing up again. He hits the ball hard, doesn’t strike out much, and still has some work to do with the approach.
At 23, King looks like a useful all-around infielder who can move around the diamond. Shortstop is in the mix, but he’s been mistake prone there.
Washington has also given him time at second, and he played third in college. There’s a real chance he becomes the kind of multi-position weapon Chris Taylor was for the Dodgers a few years back.
The bigger picture is what really stands out. This looks like the deepest Nationals system in a long time, and the top 100 names are only part of it.
Gavin Fien is hot, and Miguel Sime Jr. and Landon Harmon are among the other intriguing pieces in the pipeline. In all, there are about 20 to 25 players in this group who are legitimately exciting.
Most of them are still at least a year away, but the wave is clearly building. The Nationals are already getting positive signs at the major league level, and now an army of prospects is on the way. Paul Toboni is just getting started here.
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