Little-Known Nationals Prospect Could Turn Into Breakout Player
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The Washington Nationals aren't just evaluating players in their big league camp this spring.
With a new regime in place, assessing the entire organization is something that president of baseball operations Paul Toboni and his front office are going to do. That creates a blank slate for players who have underperformed, and it will be interesting to monitor who takes advantage of that opportunity.
Prospects up and down the farm system will get a chance to prove why they should be in the mix when it comes this franchise's plans going forward. And that includes little-known prospect Yoel Tejeda Jr., who Sam Sallick of Federal Baseball believes could become a breakout player.
Yoel Tejeda Jr. Poised to Have His Stock Rise
Ranked 27th in Washington's farm system, per MLB Pipeline, the 22-year-old is the definition of an upside play. That's because he did not stand out during his time in college, as he posted a career ERA of 5.74 across 21 outings (eight starts) during his two seasons with Florida State and Florida.
However, the Nationals took a chance on his physical traits. At 6-foot-8, not many pitchers get more extension than the right-hander. And that could allow him to become an effective arm at some point in the pros if he's able to improve his stuff and technique.
Sallick believes that exact thing could happen for Tejada, which is a main reason why he highlighted the youngster as a prospect who could breakout for Washington.
Yoel Tejeda Jr. struck out three batters in two frames yesterday. Four-pitch mix with 4-seam, 2-seam, slider, and splitter. Slider (81-83) is progressing in the right direction each time he steps on the mound. 4-seam mostly 94-95, T96 MPH. Working on consistency of the split. pic.twitter.com/1E2KOPYkg5
— Brett Nevitt (@brettpn) October 9, 2023
"After some mechanical tweaks, he looked like a different pitcher as a pro. Tejada was more in the 91-94 MPH range, but was throwing way more strikes and showed a good feel for spin. ... If he continues to pound the zone like he did last year, Tejada's stock is only going to rise. I wonder if he can show the velocity he did in college while still pounding the zone. If he can do that, his stock could really take off," he wrote.
Last year -- which was his first season of professional baseball -- Tejada posted a 4.03 ERA across 18 starts with 79 strikeouts and 27 walks across 87 innings pitched. He was much more effective in Single-A with a 3.43 ERA in 16 starts before he had two blowup outings when promoted to High-A. So it will be interesting to see how he adapts to the upper level of hitters.
But the youngster is at least an intriguing arm based on his size. And if he can add more velocity to go with his extension as he gets older, then he'll be someone to circle when he starts getting closer to making his major league debut.
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