While the Washington Nationals lost their Spring Breakout game against the Cardinals 9-8, there were so many positives to take away. The biggest storyline was how impressive the Nats youngest prospects were. Yesterday, the biggest contributors were the teenagers. Gavin Fien, Eli Willits, Miguel Sime Jr. and Landon Harmon all showed why they are so highly touted.
All of them showed unique skillsets. The most impressive of them all was Gavin Fien though. He showed why the Nats made him the headlining piece in the MacKenzie Gore return. The 12th overall pick from the 2025 draft showed his combination of hitting ability and impact.
Fien was the engine of the Nats offense in the Spring Breakout game. He was 3 for 4 with a walk and two doubles. Fien, who turned 19 earlier this month, also drove in five runs. His biggest hit was a bases clearing double off of top five pick Liam Doyle. He crushed a 97 MPH fastball above the zone 107 MPH down the left field line.
It was a highly impressive offensive display from the youngster. While Fien had a track record of hitting on the showcase circuits, some scouts had concerns about his swing translating to pro ball. That was not a problem yesterday, where the youngster handled premium velocity with ease.
If this is any indicator of what is to come, Fien should become a consensus top 100 prospect very quickly. Not many teenagers look as comfortable as he does in the batters box. Fien projects as an offensively gifted third baseman who can hit in the .275 range while hitting 25 or so home runs.
Honestly, his offensive game reminds me a lot of Ryan Zimmerman. Both have big time power, but aren’t necessarily home run hitters. Like Zimmerman, Fien loves hitting line drives all around the yard. He still has a long way to go, but I think he has that kind of offensive ceiling.
Speaking of teenage hitters, who look unusually comfortable in the box, Eli Willits showed some of what made him the first overall pick. He drew two walks that were extremely impressive. Some walks come from the pitcher being uncompetitive, while others are due to a hitter having great command of the strike zone. On both of Willits’ walks, we saw the latter.
He led off the game with a seven pitch at bat against Liam Doyle. In that AB, he took some really quality pitches that most hitters would have swung at. He looked frighteningly calm in the box against a lefty that throws in the mid to upper 90’s.
His second at bat was even better. Willits worked an 8 pitch walk to load the bases. There is actually a video of the whole at bat, which I will show down here. I have not seen a teenaged Nats prospect with this kind of plate discipline since Juan Soto.
Willits also showed his value in the field and on the bases. He made a couple nice plays at shortstop and stole a base as well. Willits is going to be very fun to watch on the bases. The youngster makes great reads, but is also extremely aggressive. His helmet was flying all over the place yesterday.
We may have gotten a taste of Nats future left side of the infield. Yesterday, Eli Willits and Gavin Fien looked a bit like Trea Turner and Anthony Rendon. The youngsters have a long way to go to reach those levels, but it was super fun to see them ball out.
On the pitching side of things, we saw two electric teenage arms in Miguel Sime Jr. and Landon Harmon. I want to start with Sime because he delivered the bigger headlines. He showed why the Nats paid him $2 million in the fourth round, but also why he fell to the fourth round.
Sime’s pure velocity was bonkers. At 18 years old, he was sitting at 99-101 MPH and touched 102. It was fairly easy velocity as well. Sime is a massive young man, who is built like a defensive lineman, so he does not have to strain as much to hit 100.
His most impressive work came against Cardinals top prospect JJ Wetherholt. The youngster started the at bat with a pitch clock violation and then threw two more balls to fall behind 3-0. That is not the spot you want to be in against an advanced hitter like Wetherholt. However, he got three straight whiffs, finishing Wetherholt off with a 101 MPH heater.
When Sime was locating his fastball and slider, they were unhittable. However, his control was hit or miss. He did a decent job controlling his heater, though there were a couple bad misses. Sime did not have a great feel for his slider. He missed high on a lot of them. Missing in the same spot consistently makes me think his mechanics were not lined up on that pitch.
The slider is actually a new pitch for him, so not having a great feel for it is understandable. Sime’s overall control definitely needs work, but he is still just 18. Even in today’s game, 18 year olds who throw 100 do not grow on trees. Sime can sit in the triple digits and flashes a strong breaking ball as well. It will be a long road for him, but his upside is massive, whether that is as a starter or as a closer.
Landon Harmon was not sitting at 100 MPH, so he did not get as many headlines as Sime. However, he may have been even more impressive. Unlike Sime, Harmon’s mechanics and control were very sharp. His delivery is beautiful and he just looks the part on the mound.
Harmon only threw 10 pitches, but I saw enough to be very excited. He featured a mid-90’s fastball which was classified as a cutter and a low to mid 80’s slider. I am curious as to why they classified his fastball as a cutter. Either way, the pitch was very impressive. He got two ground outs on the heater, retiring the first two hitters on just three pitches.
To finish the inning, he had a nice seven pitch battle with Tai Peete. He showcased his slider in that at bat, and it looked pretty good. It was a bit slurvy and could use some more power, but it has nice movement. He froze Peete on a slider at the top of the zone to get the strikeout. Peete challenged the pitch, but ABS confirmed the umpire’s ruling.
I am not sure where Harmon will start the season, but based on that outing, he looked sharp enough to skip over rookie ball. A couple years ago, Travis Sykora went straight to Low-A, and I think Harmon could do the same. If he pitches well there, he may even get some run at High-A to end the season.
Yesterday, the Nationals most impressive players were teenagers from the 2025 draft. You would think the prospects who have experience in the upper minors would be the stars of the event, but that was not the case.
That is a really good sign for the future of the Nats. The guys who looked like stars yesterday were the new regime’s guys. They were either drafted by Mike DeBartolo or acquired by Paul Toboni in the case of Fien. If yesterday is any indicator, these teenagers could be the guys who can take the Nats back to the top of the National League.
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