Washington Nationals 2018 minor league awards
The Washington Nationals had a rough season to end a run at the top of the National League East. In spite of that, there were very bright spots from young players on the season.
As part of our continuing coverage at Call to the Pen of the minor leagues, we will be covering each organization’s top players for 2018. The coverage will go in reverse order of record. Today, we will look at the Washington Nationals.
We are going to review the system’s leaders for each organization statistically, then choose one hitter and one pitcher to honor for every team. This will be primarily based on statistical performance, though some “age relative to level” could come into play, so a very impressive season from a 28-year-old in AA will rank below a nearly as impressive season from a 20-year-old at the same level.
After we review each organization’s hitter and pitcher of the year, we will close out October with Call To The Pen’s Minor League team of the year. That will lead into November starting our team top 10 prospect lists. In other words, there will be plenty of minor league content on the way at CTTP, so keep coming back for more each day this offseason!!
Washington Nationals minor leagues
The Washington Nationals have been keeping a shallow, but talented, farm system for the last half-decade as they’ve traded away top prospects in trades to maintain their competitiveness. They’ve been able to retain their elite prospects along the way.
The major league team saw the emergence of Juan Soto in 2018, and there are a number of young players who could be the next Soto in 2019 and 2020.
Before we offer up awards on the season, let’s take a look at the system’s statistical leaders:
Organization Leaders (min. 150 PA, 50 IP)
BA: Juan Soto .362
OBP: Juan Soto .462
SLG: Juan Soto .757
OPS: Juan Soto 1.218
R: Carter Kieboom 84
H: Luis Garcia 149
2B: Cole Freeman 32
3B: Three with 7
HR: Rhett Wiseman 21
RBI: Jake Noll 72
SB: Cole Freeman 26
TB: Carter Kieboom 219
W: Wil Crowe, Sterling Sharp 11
G: Chris Smith 49
GS: Sterling Sharp 27
IP: Brady Dragmire 149
SV: Roman Mendez 11
K: Kyle McGowin 152
ERA: Austen Williams 1.19
WHIP: Austen Williams 0.84
K/9: James Bourque 12.9
K/BB: Malvin Pena 5.24
Let’s look at the award winners…
Washington Nationals Minor League Hitter of the Year: Carter Kieboom
Level(s): high-A Potomac, AA Harrisburg
Stats: .280/.357/.444/.801, 123 G, 558 PA, 31 2B, 16 HR, 9 SB, 58/109 BB/K
The top prospect that won’t open 2019 with the major league club (most likely), Carter Kieboom has exploded up the system, even though he had to work through injuries in 2017 that caused him to play only 61 games in his first full season. In 2018, he finished the season having played over half his season in AA at just 20 years old.
Kieboom has shown himself more than adept at shortstop, but he has the arm to move to third and the instincts around the bag to move to second if he ever has to move off short. The Nationals most likely will have him open in AA again in 2019 with a quick move to AAA and likely a September promotion.
Runners-up
The “next big thing” in the Nationals system is 18-year-old Luis Garcia. Garcia was originally born in New York, but he established residency in the Dominican in order to be signed at 16. Garcia had a tremendous first full season, hitting .298/.336/.406 between both A-ball levels with 21 doubles, 6 triples, 7 home runs, and 12 steals. Garcia’s plus arm could allow him to be an elite third baseman, but he is able to handle shortstop, so he’ll likely be there until he’s pushed off of the position.
While he wasn’t in any one position for long in 2018, Austin Davidson‘s bat was solid regardless of what position he played or what level he was at, as he played in high-A and AA in 2018, and he played at least one game at C, 1B, 2B, 3B, and LF in 2018. At the plate, he put up a .292/.374/.482 slash line with 21 doubles, 5 triples, and 11 home runs, posting a very solid 43/53 BB/K over 385 plate appearances.
Hunter Jones was picked up in the offseason after spending four seasons in the White Sox organization. He didn’t do anything necessarily spectacular in 2018, but he did a lot of things well. He slashed .301/.374/.407 with 14 doubles, 6 triples, 5 home runs, and 13 steals over 107 games between AA and AAA.
Washington Nationals Minor League Pitcher of the Year: Austen Williams
Level(s): AA Harrisburg, AAA Syracuse, MLB Nationals
Stats: Minors: 32 G, 2 GS, 68 IP, 1.19 ERA, 0.84 WHIP, 17/89 BB/K; Majors: 10 G, 9 2/3 IP, 5.59 ERA, 1.66 WHIP, 6/8 BB/K
Moved from the rotation to a multi-inning reliever in 2018, Austen Williams became one of the best relievers in the entire Washington Nationals minor league system. He received plenty of notice in national awards for one of the top relievers in all of the minor leagues in 2018 with his exceptional performance.
Williams struggled some at the big league level, but in watching his appearances versus his minor league appearances, it’s notable that he allowed 5 major league home runs in less than 10 innings and did not use one of his better pitches at the major league level while he did not allow a single home run in 68 innings of minor league work.
There’s much more to come for Williams at the big league level. Washington Nationals fans have plenty to be excited about here.
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Runners-up
Drafted in 2016 in the 18th round, Ben Braymer pitched in a hybrid role in 2018 across both A-ball levels. He made 28 appearances, 11 of them starts, tossing 114 2/3 innings. he won 9 games and even saved a pair of games, with a 2.28 ERA, 1.09 WHIP, and a 34/118 BB/K ratio.
The Nationals selected Wil Crowe in the 2nd round of the 2017 draft knowing that he would take time to return to full strength after Tommy John surgery after the 2016 season essentially ended his 2017 collegiate season. He spent most of his 2018 in high-A, but did make it up to AA by the end of the season. Combined across three levels, he tossed 116 1/3 innings, with a 3.40 ERA, 1.31 WHIP, and a 48/94 BB/K. He’ll likely open 2019 in AA.
In his second season in the Washington Nationals system, Kyle McGowin flew up the system, starting the year in high-A and finishing in the major leagues. He tossed 141 2/3 innings in the minors, with a 2.80 ERA, 0.90 WHIP, and a 31/152 BB/K ratio. He struggled out of the bullpen at the major league level, but he did strike out more than a batter per inning.
dark. Next. Angels minor league awards
The Washington Nationals may be in for fierce competition in the NL East for the next few seasons, but they have some very high-level talent on the way up to make their return to the top quick.