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Everybody loves Nationals' prospect Lucas Giolito: Three pitches + control

MLB.com's Pipeline scouts released their list of the pitching prospects with the "best combo of tools" yesterday, and to no one's surprise, 21-year-old Washington Nationals' right-hander Lucas Giolito topped the list with his three-pitch combo and control.

By Patrick Reddington
MLBPipeline.com's rankings of the pitching prospects with the best tools.
MLBPipeline.com's rankings of the pitching prospects with the best tools.

Here's how Mike Rizzo and Co. in the Nationals' front office described pitcher Lucas Giolito on the night of the 2014 Draft, after Washington took the prep school right-hander with the 16th pick that June, in spite of the fact that he had suffered a sprain of the ulnar collateral ligament in his right elbow during his senior year.

"He's got a power curve and that's probably as good as his fastball," Rizzo told reporters.

"He's got a power 12-6 curve that's anywhere from 82-to-85-86 mph at times and he's got a feel to pitch. He's not a thrower. He's got a touch and comes at you with that 6'6'' frame, he comes at you downhill and he's coming hard."

"Up to 98[mph] with a plus breaking ball and real good change up," now-former Assistant GM Roy Clark added, "... a top-of-the-rotation guy that you can get at 16."

One Tommy John surgery and fifty-one minor league starts later, here's how MLB.com's Jonathan Mayo described Giolito yesterday in ranking the righty as the pitching prospect with the "best combo of tools":

"Any time you start with an 80 fastball -- the only 80 heater on the Top 100 -- you're off to a good start. But Giolito also has a 70 curve, the only breaking ball given a grade better than 65. Those two pitches alone make him a very intriguing prospect, but he's more than just a two-weapon starter. Giolito gets 55s for both his changeup and his control, and it's not unreasonable to say that both could be 60s when all is said and done. There's a reason he has an overall 70 grade and has a ceiling of a future ace -- not a label to throw around lightly."

Everybody loves Lucas. For those of you who are visual learners, here's the breakdown MLB.com's Prospect Pipleline scouts posted on the Twitter yesterday:

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