2025 MLB Draft

[imref]

5th Round: https://www.mlb.com/milb/prospects/draft/coy-james-815983

Coy James - SS

another high school pick. Will be interesting to see what they offer him. He's probably not going to be very open with his intentions.

[imref]

6th round: Boston "Red Sox" Smith C/OF Senior out of Wright State: https://wsuraiders.com/sports/baseball/roster/boston--smith/6199

Appeared and started 59 games… Hit .332 with a 1.274 OPS and a .774 slugging percentage… Collected 26 home runs, a new Wright State single-season record and tied for No. 1 nationally… Added 10 doubles and two triples… Drove in 70 run and has scored 66 times… Drew 57 walks and 14 HBPs… Went 16-of-23 in stolen base attempts… Had 20 multi-hit games… Season-best seven RBI against Purdue Fort Wayne (5/16)… Two homer games against Longwood (2/14), Youngstown State (5/2), Northern Kentucky (5/9) and Purdue Fort Wayne (5/15)… Hit a homer in seven-straight contests from May 11-23… Two time Horizon League Batter of the Week (2/18, 5/13)... Named to HL First Team... A member of the HL and NCAA Nashville Regional All-Tournament Teams... NCBWA Hitter of the Month for May... Named to ABCA/Rawlings All-East Region First Team... Earned All-American honors from Perfect Game (Second Team) and ABCA/Rawlings (Second Team)...

[imref]

we have 4 of the top 100 right now.

[NatsLSU]

Sime-Solid build and can throw 100 MPH. His profile is more of a reliever and there are some command issues.

[imref]

Sime-Solid build and can throw 100 MPH. His profile is more of a reliever and there are some command issues.

The return of H-Rod?

[imref]

Boston College->Indiana->Arizona Senior RHP Julian Tonghini in the 7th. Pitched as a reliever last year with 44Ks in 25.1 IP

[imref]

Riley Maddox, 6'1" pitcher who spent 4 years at Ole Miss in the 8th. Never had an ERA below 5.00 as a starter.  141Ks in 164IP.

[welch]

18 years old with control issues too. Susana 2.0?


incredible how fast this draft goes, do teams all have their preferences set and then they just run an auto-draft?

How did this guy fall out of the top three rounds? Susana? Yes, please!

The comment "a pure rock thrower" reminds me that Walter Johnson developed throwing rocks on his family's farm in California (See bio by Hank Thomas of his grandfather, "Walter Johnson: Baseball's Big Train". That book is a MUST for Nats fans)

[ZimW1N]

A lot of relief pitchers on day 2 it seems.

[welch]

So...  how are we feeling?

Reconciled to accept #1, delighted with #3, think they should have taken Dmitri Young's nephew, Coleman, rather than Petry. Coleman Young is a big shortstop with power, strong arm, the sort of SS that should be moved to the OF. Petry seems lead-footed. Not fast enough for RF, not skilled enough for 1B. They drafted a DH?

[imref]

9th round: Wyatt Henseler, 3B senior out of Texas A&M (via 4 years Penn):

Started all 56 games between second and third base...Led the Aggies with a .319 average to go along with 12 homers, a team-high 15 doubles and 33 RBI...Crossed home plate 48 times, drew 19 walks and stole four bases...Recorded a .423 on-base percentage, .562 slugging percentage and a .985 OPS...Totaled 16 multi-hit games and seven multi-RBI performances.

[welch]

Sime-Solid build and can throw 100 MPH. His profile is more of a reliever and there are some command issues.

Another Susana, who worked on his control and secondary pitches at Fredburg. Sime might become a starter, like Susana, with some work.

And besides, he is from NYC. A neighbor.

[blue911]

Riley Maddox, 6'1" pitcher who spent 4 years at Ole Miss in the 8th. Never had an ERA below 5.00 as a starter.  141Ks in 164IP.

5K bonus baby

[nobleisthyname]

https://www.mlb.com/milb/prospects/draft/miguel-sime-jr-828137

Miguel Sime Jr.
6'4" RHP
Scouting grades: Fastball: 70 | Slider: 55 | Control: 40 | Overall: 45

Tall? Right handed? Power fastball?

Rizzo is back baby

Oh crap we got Miguel Sime Jr?? He was one of my favorite draft picks in my OOTP 23 Nats franchise and never knew he was a real person. Always so cool how that game can have real amateurs that are years away from their actual draft date.

[welch]

BA on Boston Smith:

Noah Boston Smith

1/28/2002 in Dayton, OH

Ht.: 5'10" / Wt.: 190 / Bats: L / Throws: R

Smith is a 5-foot-10, 195-pound catcher who spent three of his four college seasons at Wright State after transferring from Cincinnati. A second-team All-America pick in 2025, he hit .330/.498/.770 with a Division I-best 26 home runs, 10 doubles, 16 stolen bases, an 18.4% strikeout rate and 20.2% walk rate. One of the class’s top senior bats, Smith posted elite batted-ball metrics with a 92.7 mph average exit velocity, 29.2% barrel rate, 55% hard-hit rate and just an 18.5% chase rate. He can be overly selective, which dragged his zone contact rate to 80%, but his ability to hammer mistakes and avoid bad swings stands out. Smith is athletic enough to remain behind the plate but also offers versatility in the outfield or on the infield corners.

I like this pick.

[imref]

10th round: Hunter Hines, 1B out of Mississippi State, LHB, 16HR, .958 OPS in his senior year.

[tomterp]

10th round: Hunter Hines, 1B out of Mississippi State, LHB, 16HR, .958 OPS in his senior year.

https://www.on3.com/teams/mississippi-state-bulldogs/news/hunter-hines-mississippi-state-baseball-mlb-draft/

A year after being unselected in the MLB Draft, Hunter Hines is seeing a dream fulfilled.

Mississippi State’s all-time leader in home runs, Hines was taken with the 291st pick in the draft and in the 10th round by the Washington Nationals. He came back to school for his senior season after missing out completely on the draft in 2024.

The return was ultimately a great decision for Hines who has a slot value at his pick of $193,800. After batting .257 as a junior and striking out 74 times, Hines raised his average to .280 and dropped his strikeouts to 60 – second fewest of his career.

Hines will go down as one of the best home run hitters in school history. He beat out Bulldog great Rafael Palmeiro for the all-time record when he hit a home run against Missouri in the final series of the season. Hines finished his career as the only State player ever with 70 home runs.

The Madison Central alum hit 16 or more home runs in all four seasons with the Diamond Dawgs with three of those being 16 long balls. His best year was his sophomore season when he batted .297 with a career-high 22 home runs and 61 RBI. He hit 16 home runs and had 52 RBI as a freshman.

The most underrated part of Hines game was his improvement as a defensive first baseman. After committing six errors during his sophomore and junior seasons, Hines had just one as a senior and became a stone wall for the Bulldogs defensively over at first.

The power hitter is the fourth former Diamond Dawg drafted in the first 10 rounds of the MLB Draft. He’s the first positional player as State has seen starting pitchers Pico Kohn, Evan Siary and Karson Ligon drafted. The Bulldogs also had transfer pitcher Davion Hickson drafted along with high school signees JoJo Parker and Landon Harmon taken.

[Natsinpwc]

Ok. See ya in five years.

What do we do about the team 2026-30 in the meantime?

[Slateman]

Ok. See ya in five years.

What do we do about the team 2026-30 in the meantime?

We have the Abrams, Gore, and Wood trade packages to look forward to

[imref]

Ok. See ya in five years.

What do we do about the team 2026-30 in the meantime?

Good question.

[stoneghost28]

Pretty disappointed that we cheaped out and chose a guy who wasn't even the best high school shortstop available with the first pick in the draft. Seems we're just the Pirates now.

Feels kinda straw manish, 2 of the top 3 prospects, and 2 of the top 5 prospects according to the MLB dudes, and the espn prospect ranker were short stops. You're not really saying anything when you say he wasn't even the best SS in the draft, when 2 of the 3 main sources were looking at along with Keith Law had him ranked top 3, and top 5.

I just don't get the outrage. I'm not sold he's the best prospect, the Boras angle is straight up horrible, if true, and made him less attractive, and there are some reasons in scouting reports people could have Willits above or at least even with Holiday.

This isn't taking some guy who wasn't even in the top 10 or top 15, like happened a pick or two later, this is a guy who was in a pile of prospects ranked similarly in the top 5. He's also the youngest which makes him even more potentially attractive considering his playing age this past season.

I freaking despise the owners of this team, despise them, but this doesn't make my top 50 of reasons why.

[imref]

Todd Boss' analysis:

http://www.nationalsarmrace.com/?p=19118

[zimm_da_kid]

Pretty solid draft. 5 of the top 100 guys per mlb pipeline. Willits was a legitimate 1 candidate in this years class. James is a high school MIF with upside, Harmon and Sime can throw. Petty has one very very good tool.

We got pieces

[JCA-CrystalCity]

I think that’s an overlay for Petry. If they can’t sign him for $1M or less, then it’s just a poor pick.

half slot?

[JCA-CrystalCity]

2 comments. They've done the 5 seniors rounds 6-10 before, signing them all for cheap to go overslot for other picks like Sir Jamison Whatever. Sets up interesting late rounders.

Second, the Petry pick strikes me as the old big raw power with holes in his swing that they used to do in the 1st round, so I guess this is progress.