https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/7322877/2026/06/01/nationals-prospects-seaver-king-devin-fitz-gerald/?unlocked_article_code=1.m1A.XiDX.NpkWu940MQzW&source=athletic_user_shared_gift_article_copylink&smid=url-share-ta
5 players nusbaum talks about the most are King, Fitz-Gerald, Clemmey, Petry, and Willits, with paragraphs on Morales, Moroknek, Lyon, Cranz and Perales.
Interesting point about the leadership and brains of Petry and Fitz-Gerald. They lead the hitters meetings at Wilmington; Petry for the righties and Fitz for the lefties. Petry is a data-demander to learn tendencies of opposing pitchers.
This spring, the Nationals worked with Petry to develop a more patient approach. In April, that meant he frequently struck out looking — “which I’m OK with,” Petry said, because “I can live with someone throwing a fastball on the black.” He had a .454 on-base percentage that month. Now that he’s confident in his decisions, the walks have gone down — but the power is way, way up. He has a .629 slugging percentage in May. His .962 OPS is among the org’s best.
For Clemmey, they are getting velocity and command back by actually loosening up on the attempt to manage his delivery into something that's more repeatable. Says they've said the same thing to Irvin and Cavalli as well as across the minors, trying to get them to be more athletic in throwing.
It has helped a number of their arms add velocity across the minor leagues. For Clemmey, the athletic movement has as much to do with velocity as it does with command. It’s a small sample, but he has walked six batters over his last 17 1/3 frames. He walked 26 batters over his first 23 innings this year.
On Moroknek, Nusbaum quotes one of the old scouts who looked at him at Butler before the draft and could not believe the nats were the only team on him. Also notes Lyon has been bumped up twice this year even though he wasn't much mentioned as part of the Ferrer deal. Fro both Fitz-Gerald and Willits, Nusbaum notes they have improved on elevating contract without losing contact rates. For Fitz, they are encouraging to try to kill the ball for his first two strikes and rely on his contact skill if he gets in a 2-strike hole.
Downside for Morales boosters is they don't think he's fixed flaws like in zone whiffs, chasing, and groundball rate and will hold off on promotion until that changes.
