Slugging Nationals Prospect Landed in Angels Trade Has Been Tearing Up Double-A

The Washington Nationals made quite a few deals this trade deadline, and one of the return pieces has been lighting up Double-A during his time there.

University of Portland's Sam Brown hits a single during a game against Loyola Marymount in the West Coast Conference baseball championships at the Stockton Ballpark in downtown Stockton on Friday, May 27, 2022. Portland won 10-2. | CLIFFORD OTO/THE STOCKTON RECORD / USA TODAY NETWORK

The Washington Nationals have had a difficult go of things throughout their 2025 season, posting a 49-73 record through Aug. 15 that places them at the bottom of the National League East. Even worse, it puts them second to last in the NL in its entirety, ahead of only the Colorado Rockies, who have had plenty of struggles of their own.

This tough first half led to the Nationals selling at the MLB trade deadline, but not to the degree of giving up some of their young talents to try and gather a large return on investment. Instead, they moved on from some of their lower-leverage veterans, such as Michael Soroka, Amed Rosario, Luis Garcia and Andrew Chafin.

While this seems a bit underwhelming, the return they got for these players who will be hitting free agency after the season and aren't in the team's long-term plans was pretty solid. Landing multiple prospects for these players is a win, no matter how much development is needed to get them ready. Christian Franklin from the Soroka trade has been outstanding, but one of the other prospects in the return may be proving to be even better.

Which Nationals Prospect Is Tearing Up Double-A?

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The prospect who has been lights out since being dealt is Sam Brown, one of the return pieces from Washington's trade with the Los Angeles Angels. The young first baseman and outfielder has put together a solid stretch of baseball both at the plate and in the field that could be pushing him towards a promotion if he maintains this level of success.

In the 10 games since being traded, Brown has slashed .417/.476/.556 in Harrisburg, putting up seven RBI, three runs scored, a homer, a stolen base, four walks and six strikeouts. His 1.032 OPS tells the story so far, and while he has predominantly been hitting singles, they have been high-leverage ones given his ability to drive in runs.

In the field, he has split time between first base and left field equally, starting three games at each spot with 26 and 25 innings played, respectively. Combined between the two, he has had 25 chances, putting together 24 putouts, one assist and no errors, good for a 1.000 fielding rate.

Due to his bat being so hot, he has also played four games at designated hitter, which has allowed him to focus a bit more on his hitting at times, which has panned out. Whatever the Nationals have done with the youngster has worked exceptionally well for Brown, and that will hopefully continue as he pursues his first promotion to Triple-A.