-1745819772711.png){kind=logo}
The Baltimore Orioles made 10 selections on Day Three of the 2024 First-Year Player Draft, completing Rounds 11-20. This year, the Orioles selected 21 players overall: 11 pitchers and 10 position players, with 17 of the selections being college athletes and four from the high school ranks. The Orioles selected eight right-handed pitchers, three left-handed pitchers, four outfielders, two infielders, and four catchers.
RD PICK PLAYER POS B/T HT WT DOB SCHOOL SCOUT
1 22 Vance Honeycutt CF R/R 6-3 205 5/17/2003 University of North Carolina Boyd
PPI 32 Griff O'Ferrall INF R/R 6-1 195 2/2/2003 University of Virginia O'Dowd
2 61 Ethan Anderson C S/R 6-2 215 9/21/2003 University of Virginia O'Dowd
ARLINGTON, Texas – Corbin Burnes is having an All-Star experience that’s more like a flyby.
Burnes arrived in Dallas around 11 a.m. this morning and he’s boarding a flight back to Phoenix as soon as his start is over and he can shower and change clothes. The entire experience will last fewer than 12 hours if the plan is executed.
Get three outs and get back to his wife Brooke and twin daughters Charlotte and Harper.
Burnes is making his first career start among four consecutive selections to the All-Star Game. He’s the first Orioles pitcher to receive the honor since Steve Stone in 1980.
“It’s awesome to find out I was going to get the opportunity to start the game,” Burnes said. “There’s very few people that have gotten to start All-Star Games for the length that the All-Star Game’s been around. The join that group is special, and obviously there’s some pretty cool names that have been able to do it. Getting that opportunity to do that was awesome, and excited to get out there.”
The Washington Nationals selected 10 players on the third and final day of Major League Baseball’s 2024 First-Year Player Draft on Tuesday. President of Baseball Operations and General Manager Mike Rizzo, Vice President, Amateur Scouting Danny Haas, Senior Director, Amateur Scouting Brad Ciolek, and Assistant Director and National Crosschecker, Amateur Scouting Reed Dunn made the announcements.
The Nationals opened Day 3 with the selection of left-handed pitcher Merritt Beeker from Ball State (Ind.) University in the 11th round. The 2024 Mid-Atlantic Conference Pitcher of the Year, Beeker ranked tied for seventh in all of NCAA Division I with 128 strikeouts in 81.0 innings pitched. He went 9-3 with a 4.11 ERA in 15 starts during his junior season. Beeker spent two seasons at East Carolina University before transferring to Ball State.
In the 12th round, Washington selected right-handed pitcher Alexander Meckley from Coastal Carolina (S.C.) University. Meckley opened the season 3-0 with a 2.60 ERA in his first five starts and recorded a total 57 strikeouts in 52.2 innings on the season. He pitched in 21 games and made nine starts in 2024.
In the 13th round, the Nationals selected left-handed pitcher Bryant Olson from Mercer (Ga.) University. As a junior in 2024, he led the Southern Conference with eight saves while striking out 39 batters in 26.2 innings. Olson transferred from Gordon State (Ga.) College where he recorded 97 strikeouts in 70.2 innings pitched as a sophomore in 2023.
Washington selected right-handed pitcher Yoel Tejeda Jr. in the 14th round. Tejeda Jr. pitched one season for Florida State and went 1-2 with a 5.03 ERA in 12 games, making one start. He struck out 15 in 19.2 innings of work.
Eleven people have caught at least 100 games for the Nationals during their 20 seasons of existence in D.C., and that list includes a wide range of names and track records. There have been offensive-minded guys (Wilson Ramos, Kurt Suzuki). There have been defense-first guys (Jose Lobaton, Wil Nieves). There have been seasoned veterans who came here late in their careers (Ivan Rodriguez, Yan Gomes, Matt Wieters). There have been promising young players who came into their own here (Keibert Ruiz, Riley Adams, Jesus Flores).
What there have not been, however, are any true homegrown catchers. Of those 11 players who caught at least 100 games for the Nationals, only Brian Schneider was homegrown, and he was drafted by the Expos way back in 1995, a decade before the franchise relocated.
The most games caught by someone who was initially signed by the Nats: 80, by Pedro Severino, signed as a teenager out of the Dominican Republic in 2010. The most games caught by someone who was drafted by the Nats: 47, by Tres Barrera, their sixth round pick in 2016.
It’s not necessarily because the Nationals have done a bad job developing homegrown catchers. It’s because they’ve barely acquired any homegrown catchers in the first place. From 2005-23, they never used a first or second round pick on a catcher. They used only one third round pick (Jakson Reetz, 2014), two fourth round picks (Brady Lindsly, 2020; Derek Norris, 2007) and two fifth round picks (Spencer Kieboom, 2012; Adrian Nieto, 2008).
(Yes, technically speaking, Bryce Harper was a catcher when the Nats made him the No. 1 pick in the 2010 draft. But they immediately turned him into an outfielder and never once let him don the tools of ignorance during his eight seasons in the organization.)
The Washington Nationals selected eight players on the second day of Major League Baseball’s 2024 First-Year Player Draft on Monday. President of Baseball Operations and General Manager Mike Rizzo, Vice President, Amateur Scouting Danny Haas, Senior Director, Amateur Scouting Brad Ciolek, and Assistant Director and National Crosschecker, Amateur Scouting Reed Dunn made the announcements.
The Nationals kicked off Monday’s action by selecting catcher Kevin Bazzell from Texas Tech University in the third round. Bazzell is the No. 55 ranked prospect in the 2024 Draft, according to MLBPipeline.com. He combined to hit .330 with a .431 on-base percentage and a .530 slugging percentage in 112 games across two seasons at Texas Tech, clubbing 37 doubles, a triple, 16 home runs, 94 RBI and 92 runs scored along the way.
As a freshman in 2023, Bazzell was named Collegiate Baseball Freshman All-American, a NCBWA First-Team Freshman All-American, ABCA All-Region Second Team and First-Team All Big-12 after ranking 11th in NCAA Division 1 with 24 doubles and pacing his club with 87 hits. Bazzell joined Texas Tech in the spring of 2022 after spending his first collegiate fall season at Dallas Baptist University.
In the fourth round, Washington selected left-handed pitcher Jackson Kent from the University of Arizona. Kent earned First-Team Pac-12 honors as a sophomore in 2024 after he went 3-4 with a 4.08 ERA and 89 strikeouts in 15 starts and helped Arizona to the Pac-12 Baseball championship. He pitched to a 2.41 ERA (18 ER / 67.1 IP) in his first 11 starts of the season and did not allow more than three runs in any of those games.
Between his freshman and sophomore seasons, Kent went 2-1 with a 2.52 ERA in six starts for Yarmouth-Dennis in the Cape Cod Baseball League. He struck out 27 in 25.0 innings of work.
Kyle Finnegan is an All-Star after all.
Finnegan was added to the National League’s squad late this afternoon, replacing Cardinals closer Ryan Helsley barely more than 24 hours before first pitch of the Midsummer Classic in Arlington, Texas, and after all the other players already held their media availabilities at Globe Life Field.
The right-hander, who fortunately makes his home in Texas, will join shortstop CJ Abrams in representing the Nationals during Tuesday night’s game, giving the team multiple All-Stars for the first time since 2021. Both are first-time All-Stars.
Finnegan had a strong case to be included on the roster all along. His 25 saves rank second (to Helsley’s 32) in the NL, and his 1.98 ERA when the initial selections were made ranked third among NL closers. (That number has since jumped to 2.45 after two rough outings last week.)
The NL players and coaches, who vote for All-Star pitchers, wound up selecting two Phillies relievers (Jeff Hoffman, Matt Strahm) and Padres closer Robert Suarez (22 saves, 1.67 ERA). Major League Baseball then added Helsley and Marlins closer Tanner Scott, ensuring both of their teams were represented in the game.
After a busy and exciting first day, the Nationals continue the 2024 MLB Draft with Rounds 3-10 this afternoon.
The Nats made three picks over the first two rounds last night: Shortstop Seaver King out of Wake Forest at No. 10 overall, catcher Caleb Lomavita out of Cal at No. 39 overall (the pick they received from the Royals as part of the Hunter Harvey trade) and shortstop Luke Dickerson from Morris Knolls (N.J.) High School at No. 44 overall.
“We were able to meet with all three guys at the Combine,” said new assistant director and national crosschecker of amateur scouting Reed Dunn over Zoom last night. “We were able to speak with all three during the year. And we really felt that we weren’t just getting three really good players, we were getting three really good people.”
The search for more good players and people continues today. The Nats will make eight picks Tuesday, starting with No. 79 overall in the third round. After the new draft lottery rules meant they couldn’t pick in the top 10 in the first round, all subsequent rounds are back to the traditional order of worst-to-first. So the Nats will pick fifth in each round for the remainder of the Draft.
This post will be updated throughout the day with the Nationals’ selections, so be sure to check back in!
Asked this morning what the Orioles must do after the break to recapture the success that defined previous months, third base coach Tony Mansolino replied, “I think just get back to being who we are.”
That would be a team producing quality at-bats, hitting in the clutch and scoring runs in bunches. That gets more out of the rotation than reasonably expected with so many injuries, as well as important outs from the bullpen.
Be the team that swept the Rays in four games and won consecutive series against the Braves, Phillies and Yankees. Be those 2024 Orioles.
They sort of got there today. They weren't going to quibble.
After imploding in gut-wrenching fashion in the ninth, the Orioles watched the Yankees misplay two balls with two outs in the bottom of the inning. Charity began at home.
The Baltimore Orioles tonight selected center fielder VANCE HONEYCUTT from the University of North Carolina with their first selection as the 22nd overall pick of the 2024 Major League Baseball First-Year Player Draft. The Orioles also selected infielder GRIFF O’FERRALL at No. 32 overall from the University of Virginia and catcher ETHAN ANDERSON at No. 61 overall out of the University of Virginia.
Honeycutt, 21, slashed .318/.410/.714 (81-for-255) with 13 doubles, two triples, 28 home runs, 88 runs scored, 70 RBI, 36 walks, and 28 stolen bases in 62 games during his junior season. He is the first two-time ACC Defensive Player of the Year in league history (2023 & 2024). He broke the UNC record for home runs in a career (65) and single season (28, 2024). Honeycutt was named a First-Team All-American by the American Baseball Coaches Association (ABCA), College Baseball Foundation, D1Baseball.com, and Perfect Game and recognized as a Second-Team All-American by Baseball America. A native of Salisbury, N.C., Honeycutt attended Salisbury High School, where he helped the school win the 2021 North Carolina High School Athletic Association baseball 2A state championship. He was drafted in the 20th round of the 2021 First-Year Player Draft by the San Francisco Giants but did not sign. He was ranked as the No. 13 overall draft prospect by Baseball America and No. 22 by MLB Pipeline.
O’Ferrall, 21, slashed .324/.367/.454 (92-for-284) with 20 doubles, one triple, five home runs, 64 runs scored, 52 RBI, 22 walks, and 17 stolen bases in 63 games during his junior season. He won the Brooks Wallace Award in 2024, annually bestowed on the nation’s top shortstop by the College Baseball Hall of Fame, becoming the first Wallace Award winner in program history. O’Ferrall earned First-Team All-ACC honors for the second consecutive season. He struck out once every 11.8 at-bats, statistically the toughest hitter to strike out in the ACC. He attended St. Christopher’s High School (Va.), where he was named Virginia Gatorade Player of the Year. He was ranked as the No. 38 overall draft prospect by MLB Pipeline.
Anderson, 20, slashed .331/.435/.508 (82-for-248) with 20 doubles, eight home runs, 67 runs scored, 40 RBI, 40 walks, and five stolen bases in 63 games during his junior season. He earned First-Team All-ACC honors at utility and was recognized as a semifinalist for the Buster Posey Award, given annually to the nation’s top catcher. Anderson was also named a 2024 D1Baseball.com Preseason Second Team All-American after setting the program record with 26 doubles in 2023. He attended Frank W. Cox High School (Va.). He was ranked as the No. 59 overall draft prospect by Baseball America and No. 78 by MLB Pipeline.
The Draft continues with Day Two on July 15, with rounds 3-10, and Day Three on Tuesday, July 16, with rounds 11-20, with each day beginning at 2:00 p.m. ET on MLB.com.
Watch the video of Seaver King watching commissioner Rob Manfred announce him as the No. 10 pick in the MLB Draft, and you quickly understand how meaningful this moment was for the 21-year-old.
King, who only received an offer coming out Athens Christian High School in Georgia from Division II Wingate, then parlayed two dominant seasons there into one season at powerhouse Wake Forest, was now considered the 10th best player in the country, drafted by the Nationals on Sunday night.
Surrounded by friends and family cheering him on, King hugged his parents, then broke down for a moment and had to compose himself, perhaps not yet truly believing what happened.
“If you asked me three years ago if I would’ve been in the draft, period, I would’ve said probably not, let alone be a top-10 pick and be in an organization that values development as much as they do,” he said in a Zoom session with reporters a little while later. “I think it’s just surreal. I wouldn’t have it any other way. I’m glad I didn’t know it was going to happen, because it’s just kind of better that way.”
King wasn’t a name associated with the Nationals in the days leading up to the draft. He expected to be taken several spots lower in the first round. In the end, it shouldn’t have come as that much surprise, because he’s been defying the odds on the baseball field for some time now.
MILWAUKEE – Given the choice between drafting one of the best high school players in the country or a more experienced player from a top college program, the Nationals tonight went with experience, not to mention versatility.
The Nats selected Wake Forest’s Seaver King with the 10th overall pick in the MLB Draft, choosing a talented player who spent time at four different positions this season for the Demon Deacons after previously dominating at the Division II level.
They then used the pick they got Saturday night from the Royals in the Hunter Harvey trade on Cal catcher Caleb Lomavita before using their second-round pick on New Jersey high school shortstop Luke Dickerson.
In announcing the first-round pick live from the MLB All-Star Game in Texas, commissioner Rob Manfred called King a shortstop. The Nationals then announced him through their social media feeds as a third baseman/outfielder. Wherever he winds up playing in the field, he could find himself on a fast track to D.C.
King, 21, hit .308 with 16 homers, 64 RBIs, 11 stolen bases, a .377 on-base percentage and .954 OPS in 60 games at Wake Forest. A right-handed batter and thrower, he played 36 games at third base, 21 in center field, 10 at shortstop and two at second base.
For the fifth time in six years since his first draft in 2019, O's executive vice president and general manager Mike Elias took a college bat with his first draft selection.
With the No. 22 overall pick in round one, the Orioles selected University of North Carolina outfielder Vance Honeycutt, a right-handed batter and thrower from Salisbury, N.C.
In 62 games this season for the Tarheels in his junior season, Honeycutt hit .318/.410/.714/1.124 with 13 doubles, two triples, 28 homers, 88 runs, 28 steals and 70 RBIs. His 28 homers is a UNC single-season record.
He was ranked by Baseball America as the No. 13 player in this draft and was rated No. 22 by MLBPipeline.com.
In three seasons at UNC, over 176 games, he hit .293/.412/.638/1.050 with 65 homers and 170 RBIs. He hit 25 homers and stole 29 bases as a freshman. He had four multi-homer games this season.
The Washington Nationals selected collegiate catcher Caleb Lomavita out of the University of California, Berkeley, with the No. 39 overall pick and prep shortstop Luke Dickerson from Morris Knolls (N.J.) High School with the No. 44 overall pick in the 2024 MLB First-Year Player Draft on Sunday. President of Baseball Operations and General Manager Mike Rizzo, Vice President, Amateur Scouting Danny Haas, Senior Director, Amateur Scouting Brad Ciolek, and Assistant Director and National Crosschecker, Amateur Scouting Reed Dunn made the announcements.
Lomavita, 21, hit .322 with 13 doubles, one triple, 15 home runs, 52 RBI, 12 walks, 12 stolen bases and 51 runs scored in 55 games in 2024. He posted a .395 on-base percentage, .586 slugging percentage and was one of eight catchers in NCAA Division I with 10 or more stolen bases and 10 or more home runs. His led his team with 133 total bases, which ranked fifth-most in the Pac-12.
The No. 18 draft prospect and top catching prospect according to Baseball America, Lomavita was a Dick Howser Trophy (top collegiate player) semifinalist, garnered First-Team All-Pac-12 and All-Pac-12 Defensive Team honors, and was named a Perfect Game Third-Team All-American following his junior season.
The five-foot-11, 200-pound right-handed hitter batted .316 with 13 doubles, 16 home runs, 43 RBI, nine stolen bases, 12 walks and 47 runs scored in 48 games as a sophomore in 2023. He recorded 17 multi-hit games and 12 multi-RBI performances on his way to All-Pac-12 Honorable Mention recognition.
As a freshman in 2022, Lomavita was named a Freshman All-American by Collegiate Baseball and was one of six true freshmen to earn a spot on the All-Pac-12 First Team after he hit .272 with 10 doubles, a triple, seven home runs, 46 RBI, 22 walks, 15 stolen bases and 37 runs scored.
The Washington Nationals selected collegiate shortstop Seaver King out of Wake Forest University with the No. 10 overall pick in the 2024 MLB First-Year Player Draft on Sunday. President of Baseball Operations and General Manager Mike Rizzo, Vice President, Amateur Scouting Danny Haas, Senior Director, Amateur Scouting Brad Ciolek, and Assistant Director and National Crosschecker, Amateur Scouting Reed Dunn made the joint announcement.
King, 21, hit .308 with 14 doubles, three triples, 16 home runs, 64 RBI, 25 walks, 11 stolen bases and 59 runs scored in 60 games as he helped lead Wake Forest to the Greenville Regional of the 2024 NCAA Tournament. He posted a .377 on-base percentage, .577 slugging percentage and recorded a hit in 48 games, including 24 multi-hit performances. King recorded 21 multi-RBI games including eight games with three or more. He reached base safely in 31 straight games during the 2024 campaign (April 2-May 25), posting an 11-game hit streak (April 6-23) and a 16-game hit streak (April 27-May 24) during that span.
The No. 17 draft prospect according to Baseball America and MLBPipeline.com, King was a Dick Howser Trophy (top collegiate player) semifinalist and garnered Third-Team All-Atlantic Coast Conference honors after his junior season. Prior to the start of his junior campaign, he was named Preseason Third-Team All-America by D1Baseball.com.
Between his sophomore and junior seasons, King played for Harwich in the Cape Cod Baseball League, where he slashed .424/.479/.542 with four doubles, one homer, nine RBI, five stolen bases, seven walks and 15 runs scored in 16 games.
Standing at six-foot, 195-pounds, King began his collegiate career at Wingate (N.C.) University, where he had a 47-game hitting streak as a sophomore in 2023, the third-longest hitting streak in Division II history. He went on to lead Wingate in batting average (.411), slugging (.699), on-base percentage (.457), runs (63), hits (90), RBI (53), doubles (20), triples (5), home runs (11), total bases (153) and stolen bases (13). Following the season, he was named to the USA Baseball Collegiate Team.
MILWAUKEE – In a first half packed with encouraging, unexpected performances from the Nationals’ young pitchers, Jake Irvin stood at the top of the pack.
More than anyone else on the staff, the 27-year-old took the kind of forward strides that forced any skeptics out there to reconsider how he might just fit into the long-term plan, looking far more like a frontline starter than a back-end innings-eater.
Two bad starts to close out the half – capped by today’s slog during a 9-3 loss to the Brewers – don’t diminish everything Irvin did the previous three months. But they will leave a bit of a sour taste in the right-hander’s mouth as he heads home for the All-Star break.
"Look at the big picture, and see that it was a good first half," he said. "But just let these last two starts be a reminder that there's still work to be done. And we're going to get better and move forward with this."
One of the National League’s most consistently effective starters so far this season, worthy of an All-Star selection even though he didn’t get one, Irvin was roughed up for seven runs (six earned) in only four innings this afternoon. That came on the heels of a six-run outing last week against the Mets, these two duds turning Irvin’s 2.80 ERA into a 3.49 ERA in short order.
MILWAUKEE – The jubilation of a come-from-behind 6-5 win over the Brewers had the Nationals clubhouse thumping Saturday evening. So when the team’s relievers were summoned to Davey Martinez’s office about 30 minutes after the final out was recorded, everyone just assumed the manager was going to praise them for the job they did to churn out 8 1/3 scoreless innings after starter Mitchell Parker was pulled in the bottom of the first.
Martinez did praise them for that above-and-beyond effort, but he also had news to share with the group: Hunter Harvey had been traded to the Royals for third base prospect Cayden Wallace and the 39th pick in tonight’s MLB Draft.
The room went silent, Harvey probably the most stunned of the entire group, his baseball life upended in a manner of seconds.
“It was a roller coaster of emotions yesterday, especially with the bullpen,” Martinez said this morning. “Those guys did so well yesterday in the game, and to have to break the news to them that one of their brothers was leaving us to go play somewhere else … they all get it. They understand what the reality is in this game; those things happen. I wish nothing but the best for Hunter. He’s a big part of the Nationals family.”
As it turned out, Harvey wasn’t among the five relievers who pitched Saturday and made an improbable win possible. In the moment, it was easy to assume he was unavailable after pitching the previous two days. After the fact, it was clear he was unavailable not for that reason but because the trade was in the works.
MILWAUKEE – It’s been an eventful weekend here, to say the least. Friday night’s win was solid. Saturday afternoon’s win was wild. And the postgame trade of Hunter Harvey threw an unexpected wrench into the proceedings. And at the end of all that, the Nationals now take the field this afternoon with a chance to sweep the first-place Brewers and go into the All-Star break on a decidedly high note.
The Nats will hope to keep the good offensive vibes going, this time against right-hander Colin Rae. The 34-year-old journeyman is enjoying a solid season, but he’s not a big strikeout guy and he has allowed 14 homers in 99 1/3 innings. If the Nationals can hit the ball in the air on a warm, muggy day here, they should have a chance to score some runs.
Jake Irvin gets the ball for the first-half finale, and it’s been a fantastic first half for the right-hander, aside from an ugly loss to the Mets last week. Irvin will hope to turn that around, pitch more like himself and go into the break on his own personal high note.
Update: The Brewers are actually not starting Rae today. Instead, it will be left-hander Rob Zastryzny opening a bullpen game.
Update II: The Nationals have recalled right-hander Amos Willingham from Triple-A Rochester to take Harvey's roster spot.
The Washington Nationals recalled right-handed pitcher Amos Willingham from Triple-A Rochester on Sunday. Nationals President of Baseball Operations and General Manager Mike Rizzo made the announcement.
Willingham, 25, joins the Nationals after not allowing an earned run across his last five appearances (6.0 IP) with Rochester and having surrendered just two hits with eight strikeouts and four walks along the way. Willingham is 2-3 with a 4.54 ERA and 42 strikeouts in 32 relief outings (39.2 IP) for the Red Wings in 2024, having tossed more than 1.0 inning in 14 of his 32 appearances.
A 17th-round pick in the 2019 First-Year Player Draft, Willingham made his Major League debut in 2023, appearing in 18 games across four Major League stints. He threw more than 1.0 inning in eight of his 18 outings, including 3.0 scoreless innings on Sept. 2 vs. Miami. At the Minor League level, he went 5-1 with five saves and a 2.02 ERA in 28 games between Double-A Harrisburg and Triple-A Rochester in 2023.
MILWAUKEE – Only minutes after one of their most rousing victories of the season, the Nationals made the first of what could be several deals that underscore the organization’s intention to keep focus on 2025 and beyond over the present.
The Nats traded top setup man Hunter Harvey to the Royals for third base prospect Cayden Wallace plus Kansas City’s Competitive Balance A pick, which just so happens to be the 39th overall pick in Sunday night’s MLB Draft.
The deal came shortly after the Nationals rallied from a five-run deficit in the first inning to beat the Brewers, 6-5, with a large number of the team’s pitchers summoned to manager Davey Martinez’s office for a closed-door meeting during which they appear to have been informed of the trade.
Harvey had become one of the Nats’ most reliably effective relievers over the last three seasons, the formerly injury-plagued right-hander with the Orioles finally keeping himself healthy for long stretches and realizing his full potential. Though he struggled recently and saw his ERA balloon to 4.20, that number was down to 2.08 in early June, and he enjoyed back-to-back impressive performances Thursday and Friday to allay any fears his slump would continue.
The 29-year-old wound up with a 3.17 ERA, 1.083 WHIP and 10.1 strikeouts per nine innings across 138 appearances since he joined the Nationals in 2022. And because he remained under club control through the 2025 season, there was always the thought general manager Mike Rizzo might choose not to trade him and keep him and closer Kyle Finnegan (also under control through 2025) together as the organization attempts to return to contention next year.
The Washington Nationals acquired third baseman Cayden Wallace and competitive balance draft pick (No. 39 overall) from the Kansas City Royals in exchange for right-handed pitcher Hunter Harvey on Saturday. Nationals President of Baseball Operations and General Manager Mike Rizzo made the announcement.
Wallace, 22, is Kansas City’s No. 2 overall prospect according to MLBPipeline.com and their No. 5 prospect, per Baseball America. He joins the Nationals organization after hitting .280 with nine doubles, three home runs, 18 RBI, 10 walks, three stolen bases and 19 runs scored in 41 games between Double-A Northwest Arkansas and the Arizona Complex League Royals.
Wallace led Royals Minor Leaguers with 47 extra-base hits and ranked second with 84 RBI in 2023. He also ranked among Kansas City Minor Leaguers in triples (2nd, 7), runs scored (2nd, 75), hits (3rd, 128), doubles (3rd, 27), total bases (3rd, 208) slugging percentage (7th, .414) and OPS (9th, .745).
Originally selected in the second round of the 2022 First-Year Player Draft out of the University of Arkansas, Wallace has hit .265 with a .340 on-base percentage and a .420 slugging percentage in 198 games across three professional seasons. He’s clubbed 43 doubles, 10 triples, 18 home runs, 118 RBI and has drawn 76 walks along the way.
With the acquisition of Kansas City’s competitive balance draft pick, the Nationals will now have three selections on the first day of the 2024 First-Year Player Draft, picks 10, 39 and 44 overall.
