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[ed. note - “With interest in the Washington Nationals’ farm system at a high level, Federal Baseball has begun a series featuring the top 30 prospects in the system as of late last season, according to Baseball America. We will start with No. 30 and work our way to the top over the next few weeks, with one prospect highlighted each weekday.”]
WASHINGTON – It didn’t take long for shortstop Brady House to make a strong impression in his first year at the pro level.
In just 59 at-bats, House, the Washington Nationals’ 2021 1st Round pick, hit .332 with an OPS of .970 while playing in the Florida Complex League for rookie manager Jake Lowery.
House was rated as one of the top prospects in the Florida Complex League.
Lowery is a former catcher at James Madison and another former JMU standout, Jeff Garber, has also been part of the Nationals’ player development staff for many years.
Garber is a former infielder in the minors with Kansas City and was very impressed with House.
“He has good feet and his range is very good,” Garber, who has worked with infielders for more than 10 years, told Federal Baseball about House during this season.
“He is very athletic out there with a strong, accurate arm.”
Garber has worked with several shortstops since joining Washington more than 10 years ago.
That includes Trea Turner, who came to the Nationals in a trade with the San Diego Padres.
Turner, of course, was traded to the Dodgers in late July and that deal brought in several top prospects now in the Washington system.
House signed with Washington on July 30. He was assigned to the Nationals’ system on Aug. 17 and then reported to the Florida Complex League team six days later.
“We were super-excited he was there when we picked,” Assistant GM and VP of Scouting Ops Kris Kline said after making House the club’s top pick this past July.
“He’s a high school kid that has great size, really strong, big power, a well-above average arm strength, and for a guy his size he can really really run.”
Kline liked what he saw from House defensively as they scouted him.
“He moves different, he moves very graceful for a guy his size, and he’s got a really good flexibility to his lower half. He catches everything, it’s smooth, it’s fluid, and then he’s got that, with that 20-80 [scouting] scale, with 50 being average, he’s got that 70 arm, where he makes up for it if he needs it.”