Nationals Pipeline Report: Star Prospect Gets Promoted, Another Wins an Award
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The Washington Nationals are coming off the best month they've had in years, as their 16 wins in the month of May were the most they've had in a single month since August 2023.
That's a sign that things are headed in the right direction when it comes to the major league squad, and when factoring in all the positive stuff that has transpired throughout the 2026 season on the farm, the future is looking bright for the organization.
Following an incredible start to the year that has featured multiple promotions and awards being handed out, the Nationals' player development account revealed that right-handed pitcher Miguel Sime Jr. was the latest prospect to get promoted, while slugger Abimelec Ortiz won the International League Player of the Week Award.
Miguel Sime Jr. Gets Moved Up to High-A Wilmington
Sime, who was Washington's fourth-round pick of the 2025 draft, has dominated hitters during his professional debut season. While he owns an ERA of 4.44 across 10 starts with Single-A Fredericksburg, the 19-year-old also struck out 54 batters in 26 1/3 innings pitched for a K/9 rate of 18.5 that was the highest in the entire minor leagues. In addition to that, he gave up only 15 hits for a batting average against of .161.
Simply put, he was too good for that level, which is why the Nationals promoted their No. 17-ranked prospect this early in his career so he would face more of a challenge. But with that promotion comes a need for him to work on a clear weakness in his game, as one of the reasons why his ERA was inflated at Single-A was because of all the walks he issued with 25 BB across those 26 1/3 innings. Sime will need to rein in his command. And by not being able to just overwhelm hitters with his elite stuff, this bump in competition will hopefully allow him to continue growing as a pitcher.
Abimelec Ortiz Wins Award After Being Red-Hot for Triple-A Rochester
It feels like only a matter of time before Ortiz is called up for his major league debut this year, but until then, he'll have to keep performing at a high level with Triple-A Rochester. He did that this past week when he slashed .476/.500/1.000 with three home runs, two doubles and 10 RBIs to win the International League Player of the Week Award.
Ortiz started the season off slow after he had some struggles in spring training. But the No. 25-ranked prospect got scorching hot in the month of May when he slashed .313/.356/.776 with nine home runs and 29 RBIs. Now, for the season, he has a slash line of .266/.368/.532 with 10 homers, 22 extra-base hits and 45 RBIs.
He once again looks like the coveted slugger Washington envisioned they were getting when they acquired him as part of the MacKenzie Gore trade this past winter.
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Brad Wakai graduated from Penn State University with a degree in Journalism. While an undergrad, he worked at the student radio station covering different Penn State athletic programs like football, basketball, volleyball, soccer and other sports. Brad became the Lead Contributor for Nittany Lions Wire of Gannett Media where he continued to cover Penn State athletics. Currently, Brad is the Publisher for Washington Nationals On SI and covers multiple teams across the On SI network. He is the host of the sports podcast I Said What I Said, where he and his co-host discuss topics across the NFL, College Football, the NBA and other sports. You can follow him on Twitter: @bwakai