Chris Hacopian already looks like the kind of hitter who can move faster than most first-round picks.
That’s the bet here on the 2026 No. 11 overall selection, who could be in the big leagues by early 2028. There’s even an outside chance he gets a September call-up in 2027. For a draft pick, that’s a quick path - but Hacopian’s bat is advanced enough to make it believable.
The reason is simple: he does a lot of the things that travel well. He makes contact, he hits the ball hard and he works good at-bats. That combination is exactly why Baseball America called him the best pure hitter and the closest to the majors among Nationals draft picks.
The recent draft landscape also helps explain why that kind of timeline doesn’t sound far-fetched. College bats have been moving faster than ever.
In 2024, Jac Caglianone, Nick Kurtz, Cam Smith and Christian Moore all reached the majors in their first full pro seasons. JJ Wetherholt, Travis Bazzana, Carson Benge and Braden Montgomery have also made impacts this season.
The Nationals’ own Seaver King has taken longer, but even he would not have been a shocking debut last year.
That trend showed up in 2023 too, when Dylan Crews, Jacob Wilson and Wyatt Langford moved quickly. The 2025 college class wasn’t as strong, so those players have not advanced at the same pace.
Hacopian fits the fast-track mold because he has never struck out more than he walked at any level. In 13 pro games, he posted eight walks and eight strikeouts. That kind of feel for the barrel is a big reason he should move quickly through the minors, and his contact and batted-ball numbers back it up.
The one thing that could slow him down is the shape of his contact. He hits the ball hard, but he also puts it on the ground a lot and does not pull it much.
In Wilmington, his ground-ball rate was 48.4%, which is on the high side, and his pull percentage was only 12.5%. For comparison, James Wood’s career pull percentage is 31.7%.
The sample is still small, and Hacopian had a similar up-the-middle, opposite-field approach in college. But the Nationals are clearly going to work on getting him to pull the ball more. This front office has already shown it can help hitters do exactly that, along with getting them to elevate more.
That’s a big part of why Hacopian was such a fit. If he starts pulling the ball in the air more often, he could become a really complete hitter.
A profile like that could mean a batting average near .300 and more than 25 homers. He isn’t much of an athlete and tops out as an average defensive second baseman, but that kind of bat would still play.
When he did get the ball in the air to the pull side, the results were loud. Hacopian hit only one professional homer, but it was a big one to the pull side. If the Nationals can unlock that more consistently, there’s a lot of upside here.
In High-A, Hacopian hit .275 with a .396 OBP and a .746 OPS over those 13 games. He could begin next season back in Wilmington, though a move to Double-A Harrisburg seems likely. If he gets off to a strong start, Triple-A could come into play not long after.
There may be room on the Nationals’ infield by the end of the 2027 season, especially with CJ Abrams’ future in question. Even so, a 2028 arrival still feels more realistic. Paul Toboni has been patient with prospect promotions, and Hacopian and Eli Willits could be on similar tracks, both pushing for the majors late in 2027 before making full debuts at the start of 2028.
He’s a hometown kid with a bat that should move quickly, which means there’s a good chance he becomes a familiar name in a hurry. And with Paul Toboni’s first draft pick entering his first full pro season, Hacopian is going to be worth watching closely.
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Seattle is trying to fix an offense that fell short in 2026, and the move fits a broader effort to reshape that side of the game. The Mariners have also brought back a former minor league hitting coordinator as part of that push, while Washington is left to absorb the loss of a voice that helped guide its recent improvement. For the Nationals, the next question is how much of that momentum can carry over without him. [Read more 🡒]
Red Sox Trade Buzz Just Raised A Huge Prospect Question
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For the Nationals, Abrams is the name that matters most in that conversation, because any speculation around him naturally turns into a question about how much Boston would have to give up to pry away a player with his profile. The talks are still only exploratory, but they underline the tension in any potential deal: the Red Sox want more impact at the plate, while Washington would have to weigh whether the return justifies moving a young piece with real value. [Read more 🡒]