Washington Nationals Projected to Go Surprising Direction with Top Draft Pick
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The Washington Nationals own the first overall selection in next month's draft, and during a season which has brought nothing but disappointment, perhaps the fans are going to get themselves a player to look forward to.
Washington already has a young core of exciting stars who are the best players at the big league level, but who they select to join their farm system is going to be a main topic of discussion in the coming weeks until July 13.
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There's a couple of different directions the Nationals can go, but at least one pundit is projecting a little bit of a surprise in the first name off the board next month.
In his recent mock draft, Kiley McDaniel of ESPN has Washington going with LSU Tigers left-handed pitcher Kade Anderson at the top of the board.
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"The conversation around who will go No. 1 continues to be wide open and will be until draft day, but Anderson's strong finish to the season has him looking like the slight favorite over Ethan Holliday as the top pick," McDaniel wrote.
For a long time, the aforementioned Ethan Holliday has been seen as the favorite to go No. 1, however Anderson has been spectacular this year and the allure of a lefty ace is obviously going to be extremely intriguing.
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The soon-to-be 21-year-old posted an ERA of 3.18 with a WHIP of 1.059 over 19 starts, but he saved his best for last in the College World Series.
In the first game of the championship series against Coastal Carolina, Anderson led his team to a 1-0 win to put them on the brink of a title with a historic complete game shutout in which he allowed just three hits and struck out 10 batters.
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After the game, Tigers head coach Jay Johnson called his ace "the best pitcher on the planet" and essentially assumed that Washington would be taking him.
Though passing on Holliday is certainly a risk, there's an argument to be made that Anderson could have even more upside than the high school slugger.
Until a final decision is made and the selection by the Nationals is announced in Atlanta, people will be trying to guess whether it's going to be Anderson, Holliday, or someone else.
Count McDaniel as someone who believes it's going to be Anderson when Washington is put on the clock.
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Michael Brauner is a 2022 graduate of the University of Alabama with a degree in Sports Media. He covers various MLB teams across the On SI network and you can also find his work on Yellowhammer News covering the Alabama Crimson Tide and Auburn Tigers as well as on the radio producing and co-hosting 'The Opening Kickoff' every weekday morning on 105.5 WNSP FM in Mobile, Alabama.