Some standout performances in the Minor Leagues worth mentioning, first the hitters...

James Wood just earned a callup to AA yesterday after mashing to a .972 OPS in A+ (recent story from Jesse Dougherty - Washington Post worth the read). He's now facing competition on average about 4 years older than him, and when you look at his trajectory, it's not far off from Soto's path to D.C.

Brady House appears to be past his injury troubles, after mashing his first two-HR game this past weekend to up his OPS to .900 in A-ball (and is still a year younger than the average competition)

Daylen Lile (recovered from Tommy John in '22) has been flashing the bat that earned him a 2nd round pick, with a .286/.386/.436 line with almost as many walks as strikeouts (22/28)

Darren Baker, while not showing much pop (.322/.401/.421) is feasting on AAA pitching, and while his ceiling is admittedly lower than the above guys, he could be a solid high-average bench piece in D.C. for several years. He's also played a bit at CF recently, trying to maximize his versatility and athleticism.

Top International signing Cristhian Vaquero is set to kick off his season in the upcoming month in the Dominican Summer League, likely he moves stateside afterwards.

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Jarlin Susana (part of the Soto-deal) is still showing nasty stuff with only a .185 BAA and 30 K in 23 IP, but control has been a serious issue, with 19 BB in that same time.

Jake Bennett (2nd round pick '22) has been carving up A ball, sporting a 1.98 ERA over 36.1 IP, with only 8 BB, and 45 K.

Jackson Rutledge (1st round pick '19) just might be figuring things out in a crucial development year (several scouting reports have listed doubts about his ability to stick as a starter), as he has a 3.18 ERA in 45.1 IP to go along with a .233 BAA and 1.15 WHIP

Cole Henry (2nd round pick '20) is back on the mound, working his way back to AAA, and we can only hope he manages to stay healthy as his MiLB numbers career wise are absurd: 1.91 ERA, 89.2 IP, .159 BAA, .083 WHIP

Dustin Saenz (4th round pick '21, not in top 30) has gotten off to a blistering start at A+-ball and is currently sporting a 2.03 ERA over 44.1 IP with a .199 BAA, .99 WHIP, and 11 BB/51 K. He doesn't have the same ceiling as the guys above, but could work his way into some organizational top-30 lists if he keeps this up as he moves up to AA, likely before July (Nationals have a history of promoting in late June/early July)

The future is looking up each day Nationals fans, and with the 2nd pick in the upcoming draft, Nationals are set to further bolster this group with likely one of the following names (Dylan Crews-OF, Paul Skenes-SP, or Wyatt Langford-OF). Personally, I hope Skenes 'falls' to the Nationals, but any of the three would add another elite prospect to the organization