Follow the Prospects: Kendeglys Virguez, RHP

[welch]

Keith Law saw Virguez in Harrisburg recently. Law writes

The Nationals added Kendeglys Virguez in this year’s trade with Cleveland that sent Foster Griffin to the Guardians. Virguez was 96-97 with a well below-average slider, working with an extremely long arm swing that I doubt he’ll ever be able to repeat. He gave up a long homer on a slider in his one inning.

[welch]

Here is a bit on Virguez from Fangraphs:

Fastball:55 / 70

Slider: 45 / 55

Command: 30 / 40

https://www.fangraphs.com/players/kendeglys-virguez/sa3018351/stats/pitching

[imref]

Fangraphs pre-season scouting report:

Virguez will enter his fifth professional season with all of 19 innings on the ledger outside of the complexes. Injuries have limited him to 109 total frames in that time, and he didn’t throw much in 2025, either. But he’s a good athlete with a slider that flashes above average and — sorry for burying the lede — he hits 101 mph with his two-seamer. He’s loose within the zone despite the athleticism, and between that and the missed reps, it’s hard to project more than a middle relief outcome. If he’s ever healthy for an extended stretch, Virguez could move quickly, as he’s hard to lift and low-level hitters have really struggled to make quality contact against him.

[JCA-CrystalCity]

https://blogs.fangraphs.com/ranking-the-mlb-prospects-traded-at-the-2026-deadline/

Ranked as a 40 FV. 70 FV fastball with a 55 above-average slider.

https://blogs.fangraphs.com/foster-for-four-people-guardians-acquire-foster-griffin-for-multi-prospect-package/
Ben Clemens:

Virguez is something of a reverse Hartle. He’s a righty reliever who runs his sinker up into triple digits, sitting around 98 mph with good movement. He has a sharp slider too – it’s basically the standard late-inning reliever package. But injuries have limited his reps significantly; he signed in 2022 and yet this is the first season where he’s eclipsed 20 innings above the complex-level leagues. Guys with his profile don’t always work out, and if he doesn’t improve on his command, he’s probably not much more than a stuff-over-command middle reliever. But if he does figure something out, he has the tools to be a closer. That’s the case with a lot of relievers, so trading for these guys is a numbers game – Eric pointed out to me that Yovanny Cruz, who the Nats just acquired in the Luis García Jr. deal, is a very similar type of player