The Nationals used the first day of the 2026 MLB First-Year Player Draft to add four players, starting with a familiar name for fans in the area and finishing with a high school arm whose numbers jumped off the page.
Washington took second baseman Chris Hacopian from Texas A&M University with the No. 11 overall pick, then followed with outfielder Chase Brunson from Texas Christian University in the second round. The club then went back to the prep ranks, selecting shortstop Luke Williams from Franklin Senior Regional High School in Murrysville, Pa., in the third round before closing the day with right-handed pitcher Cooper Harris from Flower Mound High School in Texas in the fourth.
Hacopian, a Potomac, Md., native, put together a strong junior season at Texas A&M, hitting .319 with 10 doubles, 11 home runs, 41 RBI, 25 walks, 21 strikeouts and 34 runs scored in 42 games. He was named First-Team All-Southeastern Conference and a Third-Team All-American by Baseball America after hitting safely in 36 of 42 games and reaching base in 38 of them.
Before his time with the Aggies, Hacopian spent two seasons at the University of Maryland, where he hit .347 with a .469 on-base percentage and a .614 slugging percentage in 107 games. He added 29 homers, 22 doubles, one triple, 70 walks and only 45 strikeouts.
At Winston Churchill High School in Potomac, he was the 2022 Maryland Gatorade Player of the Year and a 2022 Washington Post All-Met selection. His father, Derek, was drafted by Cleveland in the 1992 Draft and played five seasons in their Minor League system from 1992-96.
Brunson brings a productive bat and plenty of collegiate experience from TCU. The 21-year-old hit .304 with 11 doubles, one triple, 10 home runs, 51 RBI, 33 walks, 37 runs scored and 13 stolen bases in 51 games during his junior year, posting a .462 on-base percentage and a .556 slugging percentage. That performance earned him Honorable Mention All-Big 12 Conference honors.
The San Clemente, Calif., native finished his college career with a .306/.417/.519 line across 152 games. He totaled 32 doubles, six triples, 26 home runs and 122 RBI while starting 133 games in center field, 16 in right field and three as the designated hitter.
Williams, listed by Perfect Game as the No. 35 high school player in the country and the top high school player in Pennsylvania, turned in a big senior season at Franklin Senior Regional High School. He hit .465 with eight doubles, four triples, four home runs, 33 stolen bases and 33 runs scored in 21 games.
Harris gave Washington another prep talent in the fourth round, and his senior season at Flower Mound High School was hard to miss. The right-hander posted a 0.49 ERA with five earned runs in 70.1 innings, along with 94 strikeouts, 16 walks and just 28 hits allowed.
Baseball America named him a Second-Team High School All-American, while MLBPipeline.com ranked him as the No. 76 draft prospect and Baseball America placed him at No. 83.
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