Highly Rated Nationals Prospect Flashes Elite Talent in Double-A Debut Start

The Washington Nationals have loads of young talent across all levels of their club, including one of their top prospects who made his Double-A debut recently.

Mar 15, 2024; Port St. Lucie, Florida, USA; Washington Nationals pitcher Jarlin Susana (91) pitches in the fifth inning of the Spring Breakout game against the New York Mets at Clover Park. | Jim Rassol-Imagn Images

The Washington Nationals are in a relatively good spot, and when it comes to young talent, they have plenty. Whether it be players who have already made their MLB debut or prospects who have yet to grace "The Show", there are plenty of talented options throughout the franchise. Their farm system has been slightly depleted due to the club promoting many of their key players, but there are still some very notable options working their way up.

One of the most highly touted talents in their system is starting pitcher Jarlin Susana, the No. 2 prospect for the club according to MLB.com. The top pitcher in the 2022 international class on MLB Pipeline would sign with the Nationals on a $1.7 million deal, and has been continually rising through the minor leagues over the course of the past few years.

In this rise, he has now found himself in Double-A Harrisburg, making his debut start on Sunday, and showed immense flashes of elite talent during the game. In 4.0 innings pitched he had seven strikeouts, two walks, three hits allowed and one earned run to his name, good for a 2.25 ERA. Unfortunately he would be tagged with a loss due to lack of run support, but the start was extremely impressive nontheless.

While he has yet to show truly dominant work in the minor leagues, he has been able to put together pretty strong strikeout numbers and get batters out efficiently while not getting killed in the earned runs department. In High-A Wilmington last season, he would make 10 starts, going 47.1 innings, accruing 74 strikeouts, 18 walks, a 1.246 WHIP, a 4.18 ERA, and two home runs allowed.

Things have not been perfect, as he has primarily remained above a four ERA at many levels, but he has continued to rise due to his ability to strike out opposing batters while keeping his walk numbers very low. When looking at his 2024 stats as a whole between the two levels he played at, he put together 157 strikeouts to 48 walks, or 3.27 SO/BB.

He definitely needs time to come into his own as a starter, and will need some more run support than he was provided in this debut start. However, he has what it takes to be an effective pitcher given his ability to get batters out, the primary concern will be getting his ERA down a bit and ensuring he is pitching at his best before moving up to the next level.