Seaver King doesn’t exactly hide when he’s on the field. On Sunday, in the fourth inning of Rochester’s game against Charlotte, the Nationals shortstop prospect uncorked a 90 mph throw to first to complete an inning-ending double play, then came back to the dugout flexing. It was a little snapshot of what makes him stand out: power, urgency, and a style that plays loud.
That’s also how Matt Lecroy sees him. Asked about King, the manager didn’t hesitate: “Seaver is a sparkplug man”.
It’s easy to understand why. King moves with a different kind of tempo, one that feels more aggressive than the average player’s and should be easy for fans to latch onto.
The thing is, it hasn’t always looked this way. Last season was rough for the 23-year-old former 10th overall pick, who hit .244 with a .631 OPS across two levels.
The struggles were especially sharp in Double-A, where he posted a .600 OPS. He was chasing too much and putting too many balls on the ground to get to the power that made him such an intriguing prospect.
King said 2025 was difficult, but he also made clear he sees value in it: he “would not be here without last season”. It forced a reset for a player whose climb had been steep and steady, from Division II Wingate University to Wake Forest and then into top-10-pick territory. Baseball, as King learned, can flatten that kind of momentum fast.
This year, though, he looks much closer to the player the Nationals believed in. A successful run in the Arizona Fall League and an offseason spent chasing consistency have helped get him back on track. And right now, he’s pushing toward the big leagues.
Over the weekend, the bat looked ready. King drove balls to the opposite field, reached base five times in two games, and delivered the loudest swing of the trip with a solo homer to right.
The whole-field approach has long been part of his identity, and it remains central even with a new hitting group that puts a premium on pulling the ball in the air. “Owning the right side of the field” is a phrase King has lived by for most of his baseball life.
He wants more pull-side damage, but he still believes he’s best when he uses the opposite field.
At the same time, he’s clearly trying to lift the ball more. King said every swing in the cage is geared toward getting the ball in the air, which lines up neatly with the Nationals’ current offensive philosophy.
The results are obvious. His ground-ball rate has dropped from 52.4% last season to 44.5% this year, and the power has followed.
After hitting 6 homers in 125 games last season, he has 14 in 82 games this year, with 4 coming in his last 8 games.
King keeps his offensive idea simple: “hit strikes as hard as I can”. He doesn’t spend much time buried in numbers, even in an organization where data drives plenty of the conversation. When he does check the stats, he said he tends to focus on chase percentage, which fits because limiting chase has become a major priority for him.
That part of his game has moved around. In Double-A, he was much more selective early in the season and found plenty of success.
But after moving up to Triple-A, the old swing-happy habits returned. Before his IL stint, he was chasing 38.9% of pitches at the Triple-A level.
Since coming back, that number has settled into the low 30s, though it still leaves some room for concern, as Spencer Nusbaum recently noted.
His plate discipline over the weekend reflected that mix. There were at-bats where he stuck to a plan, worked pitchers into the zone, and drew walks in both games. There were also trips to the plate where he looked fully committed to swinging, including one wild hack that sent a pitch past the catcher and got him to first on a dropped third strike.
What’s changed is what happens after those mistakes. King said he’s gotten better at “Not letting bad days dwell into three in a row”.
The bad at-bat still shows up, but it doesn’t seem to snowball the way it used to. He corrects, resets, and keeps going.
That mental shift matters as much as the physical ones. It’s a big part of why he looks ready for the next step. Whether the Nationals call him up this season remains unclear, but the case for giving him a look is easy to make.
His bat would help, but so would the way he carries himself. Lecroy called him “an old timey player who gives everything he’s got every day”.
That’s the kind of presence a tired club can use. A player who celebrates the double play, plays with edge, and wears every loss hard even in Triple-A has a way of jolting a dugout awake.
In late summer, that matters. The Nationals could use a spark, and King fits the description as well as anyone in the system.
His game is fast, forceful, and impossible to miss. If it were up to me, he’d get the chance.
Now it’s up to the Nationals.
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