Follow the Prospects: Landon Harmon, RHP

[tomterp]

DOB 09/09/2006
THROWS   R
6' 5", 190
Drafted #80 (3rd round) overall by the Nationals in the 2025 MLB draft
COMMITTED      Mississippi State

https://www.mlb.com/milb/prospects/draft/landon-harmon-816102

Scouting grades: Fastball: 65 | Slider: 55 | Changeup: 45 | Control: 50 | Overall: 50

Mississippi has produced just one prep pitcher selected in the top two rounds since the turn of the century: unsigned Dodgers first-rounder J.T. Ginn in 2018. The Magnolia State may have another in Harmon, who combines velocity and projectability better than most high school arms in the 2025 Draft. He can run his fastball to 99 mph with ease and can add a lot more strength to his slender 6-foot-5 frame.

Harmon sits at 93-96 mph with his fastball, delivering it on a flat approach angle with carry and arm-side run. He'll manipulate the shape of his solid slider, varying it from a low-80s sweeper to a harder, tighter version to an upper-80s cutter. He hasn't had much need or shown much feel for his low-80s changeup.

For a tall teenager, Harmon does a nice job of keeping his delivery in sync and pounding the strike zone, though he'll sometimes rush his mechanics with runners on base. The Mississippi State commit moves well and uses his size to create extension that allows his pitches to get on hitters quickly. He generates premium velocity with athleticism and arm speed rather than effort and could be a frontline starter with continued development of his secondary pitches.

[imref]

Hopefully we can sign him.

[tomterp]

If this pitching thing doesn't work out we can always stick a bat in his hands.

https://www.on3.com/teams/mississippi-state-bulldogs/news/mississippi-state-baseball-signee-landon-harmon-mlb-draft/

East Union RHP Landon Harmon has been one of the best pitchers in the state of Mississippi for several years but has recently become one of the top high school pitchers in the country. On Sunday, that was backed up with a selection from the Washington Nationals in the third round of the MLB Draft.

During his time with the Urchins, Harmon helped his team to three Class 2A state championships in four years. During that time, Harmon was and incredible 40-4 with a 1.14 ERA. He had 429 strikeouts to 91 walks over 248.0 innings. Harmon also was a stellar hitter as he batted .431 with 122 hits, 22 home runs and 114 RBI.

His final year was strong as Harmon was a .511 hitter with 48 hits, 10 home runs and 48 RBI while slugging .957. His pitching netted a 12-1 record with a 0.84 ERA and he pitched 66.1 innings with 131 strikeouts to 23 walks. Teams batted .121 against him.

Harmon was also twice named the 2A Mr. Baseball in the state the last two seasons and has earned All-American honors by multiple publications over the years. He committed to the Bulldogs in the summer of 2022, but is now set to move on and begin his professional career.

[Count Walewski]

So if I understand the new Nats GM strategy, we're tanking the rest of this draft in the hopes of luring this kid away from Stark-Vegas? Basically hoping that we can outbid Mississippi State boosters and an SEC NIL collective and that this kid would rather spend time in Harrisburg, PA and Fredericksburg, VA than in his home state?

[imref]

So if I understand the new Nats GM strategy, we're tanking the rest of this draft in the hopes of luring this kid away from Stark-Vegas? Basically hoping that we can outbid Mississippi State boosters and an SEC NIL collective and that this kid would rather spend time in Harrisburg, PA and Fredericksburg, VA than in his home state?

Going underslot early so you can go overslot later is a pretty common draft strategy.

[Smithian]

So if I understand the new Nats GM strategy, we're tanking the rest of this draft in the hopes of luring this kid away from Stark-Vegas? Basically hoping that we can outbid Mississippi State boosters and an SEC NIL collective and that this kid would rather spend time in Harrisburg, PA and Fredericksburg, VA than in his home state?

Eli Willits is a defensible pick above Holliday before considering the strategy of going underslot, which is a real approach. By rule, teams have finite resources.

And yes, every single high school draft pick will face what you're outlining. It's not like the Nationals are alone on this.

[Slateman]

So if I understand the new Nats GM strategy, we're tanking the rest of this draft in the hopes of luring this kid away from Stark-Vegas? Basically hoping that we can outbid Mississippi State boosters and an SEC NIL collective and that this kid would rather spend time in Harrisburg, PA and Fredericksburg, VA than in his home state?

If so, that was last year's strategy so I don't know if its the new Nats GM strategy

[JCA-CrystalCity]

threw a nice inning in the breakout game. Sam Dykstra compared his build and stuff to Sykora while comparing Sime to Susana

[imref]

Debuts tonight for Fredricksburg

[imref]

Tonight's line: 2.1 IP | 1 H | 1 ER | 3 BB | 3 K | 54 P - struggled with control, only 27 strikes.

[imref]

5 IP, 2 H, 0 BB, 5 Ks

0.87 ERA on the year.

[JCA-CrystalCity]

Not bad for a hyped 2025 high school kid in full season ball.

[imref]

4IP, 3H, 2R, 2ER, 1BB, 2K last night.

[nobleisthyname]

Ranked the 7th best team prospect by FanGraphs.

Fastball

|

Slider

|

Curveball

|

Changeup

|

Command

|

Sits/Tops

|

FV

55/70

|

20/60

|

60/70

|

20/40

|

20/40

|

93-96/98

|

45+

A Mississippi State commit, Harmon signed for late-first-round money as Washington’s third-round pick in 2025. The spindly 6-foot-5 righty has a very nasty two-pitch foundation — a mid-90s cutter and a plus-plus curveball — in the mold of the modern power pitcher. His shortcomings — mechanical inconsistency, lack of glove-side pitch execution, lack of a tertiary pitch — are common for pitching prospects this age. In Harmon’s case, these issues all stem from the length of his arm stroke, which makes it really difficult to repeat. At some point his arm action might be shortened in the same way Dylan Cease‘s was. Harmon can land his breaking ball for a strike right now, but he’s not nearly as good at getting it to finish off the plate to his glove side. He’s raw, but I really like pitchers with this combo of a cut/ride fastball and a dynamite vertical breaking ball, because those are bat-missing markers you can’t just teach a guy to replicate. There are two potential 70-grade pitches lurking here, and a premium relief outcome is a realistic fallback if Harmon’s control doesn’t develop as hoped. I’m speculating here that his proclivity for spin will allow him to develop a good bridge breaking ball.

[nobleisthyname]

Age: 19
Team rank: 10
Current level: A

April recap

W-L

|

IP

|

GS

|

ERA

|

FIP

|

SO

|

BB

|

K%

|

BB%

|

K%-BB%

|

WHIP

1-0

|

14.1

|

4

|

1.88

|

3.30

|

11

|

5

|

21.2%

|

9.6%

|

11.5%

|

0.91

[zoom]

Per TalkNats, placed on. 7-day IL.

[JCA-CrystalCity]

The other piece of news came from Spencer Nusbaum, who reported that young righty Landon Harmon was being placed on the 7-day IL. He had missed his last couple scheduled starts for Low-A Fredericksburg, and there was speculation that he had been battling something.

We now have confirmation that it is a left oblique strain that is not expected to keep him out for a long time, so the 19-year-old avoided serious injury. As the 3rd round pick of the Nationals last season, fans have been dreaming about what a rotation of Harmon, Miguel Sime Jr., Travis Sykora, and Jarlin Susana, among others, might look like in the future, but for now we will have to put those fantasies on pause.

https://districtondeck.com/nationals-injuries-veteran-infielder-and-top-pitching-prospect-avoid-major-injuries-01kqtcsq61qq

[Slateman]

Well, its June 9th. So ... how long is " not expected to keep him out for a long time"

[Smithian]

Still MIA

[blue911]

Still MIA

Left oblique strain, could be a while.

[Slateman]

https://x.com/NatsNextGen/status/2075624712541995339?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E2075624712541995339%7Ctwgr%5Edb19bace902e10d07e334d2057b0511939452fd4%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.federalbaseball.com%2Fpost%2FD1NH6yiUJ_GM

Good sight to see, Landon Harmon pitched in a rehab assignment in the FCL this morning.

1.2 IP, 2Hs, 0BBs, 1ER, 1K.

If he can finish this season strong that 2025 draft class will have an unreal start to their careers. Excited to see what the FO cooks up this weekend

[Smithian]

https://x.com/NatsNextGen/status/2075624712541995339?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E2075624712541995339%7Ctwgr%5Edb19bace902e10d07e334d2057b0511939452fd4%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.federalbaseball.com%2Fpost%2FD1NH6yiUJ_GM

I posted a day too soon!