6. Seth Romero, LHP
Birthday (age on opening day 2018): 4/19/1996 (21)
2017 teams/levels played for: Gulf Coast League Nationals, short-season A-ball Auburn Doubledays
2017 Stats: 7 GS, 22 IP, 4.91 ERA, 1.23 WHIP, 8.6% BB, 37.6% K
Info: All the talent in the world doesn’t require a major league career if you don’t earn it, and Romero seems to sadly be on the way to being the latest example of just that.
Arguably the best left-handed arm in the college class in the 2017 draft, Romero was first suspended and then kicked off of his college team in the spring (he’d been suspended in 2016 as well), which allowed him to slip to the Washington Nationals with the 25th overall pick.
Romero has a mid-90s fastball that he shows impressive ability to both manipulate and command. He compliments that with a ridiculous slider that draws a ton of swing-and-miss. He has some deception in his delivery, but he’s shown an ability to repeat that delivery.
While the ability to get feel for a changeup would determine his path as a starter or reliever, Romero needs to stay on the field first, and he’s already been sent home from spring by the Washington Nationals due to violation of team policies, so the maturity issues that plagued Romero have already surfaced before he even got in his first pro season.
5. Luis Garcia, SS
Birthday (age on opening day 2018): 5/16/2000 (17)
2017 teams/levels played for: Gulf Coast League Nationals
2017 Stats: .302/.330/.387, 211 PA, 1 HR, 11 SB, 9/32 BB/K
Info: While he didn’t get their top bonus in 2016, it’s not any question that Garcia was the Latin American prospect that the Washington Nationals pursued the hardest and were willing to do whatever it took to bring into the fold (even if it meant losing other possible signees).
(Garcia has) elite range and arm strength, and his incredible hands can gobble up everything
Garcia has an easy left-handed swing that makes a ton of gap contact right now and should fill out well as he grows into his frame. On top of that, he was one of the best pure shortstops in the entire class.
While Garcia was one of the best shortstops in his class, that doesn’t mean he doesn’t have things to learn on the field, as he’s got elite range and arm strength, and his incredible hands can gobble up everything, but often that means he gets to balls that he then should really hold onto or be more aware of game situation before firing the ball across the infield.
While he has tremendous bat control, at times Garcia can sacrifice quality of contact for simply putting bat to ball, using his plus-plus speed to get on base on weakly hit balls, and he will need to stay back and use his lower half better to truly impact the ball as he develops, but he should be able to be a guy who has double-digit home run potential along with plenty of doubles and triples.
The Washington Nationals will take things easy with Garcia, working him on the finer points of his game awareness in extended spring, and he could move from there to their short-season A-ball club or straight to a full-season team, depending on how ready the team feels Garcia is.
Next: #3 and #4