In recognition of their outstanding 2025 seasons, the Washington Nationals named the following players their 2025 Minor League Players of the Year. Washington will recognize the winners as a part of a pregame ceremony on Friday, Sept. 26, and the players will take part in a Season Plan Holder autograph session during batting practice. Nationals Interim General Manager Mike DeBartolo and Vice President and Assistant General Manager, Player Development & Administration Eddie Longosz selected the following players as this year’s award winners.

• Hitter of the Year – Infielder/Outfielder Phillip Glasser
• Pitcher of the Year – Right-Handed Pitcher Riley Cornelio
• Defensive Player of the Year – Outfielder Cristhian Vaquero
• Baserunner of the Year – Infielder Seaver King
• Nationals Way Award – Outfielder Andrew Pinckney

Glasser, 25, led Washington’s Minor League system in average (.302), on-base percentage (.389) and hits (143). He also ranked in OPS (2^nd, .793), walks (2^nd, 60), stolen bases (T3^rd, 32), runs (4^th, 71) total bases (5^th, 191), slugging percentage (5^th, .404), triples (T6^th, 4) and doubles (T7th, 19). The 143 hits were the most by a Nationals Minor Leaguer since Andrew Stevenson recorded 152 in 2022. Glasser finished the season slashing .302/.389/.404 with 19 doubles, seven home runs, four triples, 49 RBI, 60 walks, 62 strikeouts and 71 runs scored in 124 games between Double-A Harrisburg and Triple-A Rochester.

Glasser opened the season with Harrisburg before being promoted to Rochester on Sept. 8. He hit .400 (34-for-85) with a .452 on-base percentage and a .529 slugging percentage with seven walks and just five strikeouts through the first 22 games of the season. From June 17-July 3, he hit safely in 15 straight games. During the streak, he hit .365 (23-for-63) with five doubles, two home runs, one triple, 11 RBI, two walks, three stolen bases and seven runs scored. He also hit safely in 11 of his 12 games with Triple-A Rochester, including in nine straight, to cap the 2025 season.

The former 10^th-round pick in the 2023 First-Year Player Draft appeared in left field (91 G), designated hitter (20 G), second base (11 G) and right field (3 G) in his third professional season.

Cornelio, 25, paced Washington’s Minor League system in ERA (3.28), opponents average. (.205) and starts (26) and ranked second in strikeouts (135), WHIP (1.15) and innings (134.1). He went 6-7 with a 3.28 ERA, 135 strikeouts and 55 walks in 134.1 innings across 27 games (26 starts) between High-A Wilmington, Double-A Harrisburg and Triple-A Rochester, setting career marks in nearly every category in his fourth professional season.

In his second start of the season, Cornelio struck out a career-high 10 batters in 5.0 innings of three-hit ball on April 12 against Hub City (TEX). From that point through July 27, Cornelio pitched to a 2.07 ERA (21 ER/91.1 IP) with 90 strikeouts and a 5-2 record across 17 games (16 starts). He pitched at least 6.0 innings in seven of those games and held opponents to a .170 average during this span.

Cornelio was originally selected in the seventh round of the 2022 First-Year Player Draft from Texas Christian University.

Vaquero, 21, led the Nationals system and ranked tied for fifth among all Single-A outfielders with 11 assists. He posted a career-best .984 fielding percentage in 100 games with Single-A Fredericksburg (1 game in left field, 59 in center field and 38 in right field). In total, he played in 827.1 innings, the fourth-most among outfielders in the Nationals system and 12^th-most among all Single-A outfielders. His 237 put-outs ranked second among all Single-A outfielders and third among outfielders in the Nationals system. He also led all Nationals Minor League outfielders with four double plays.

Offensively, Vaquero set career highs in multiple categories including hits (96), triples (8), home runs (8), RBI (47), walks (46) and runs scored (54). His eight triples ranked second in the Nationals system. He also ranked fourth in on-base percentage (.342), tied for fifth in walks (46), sixth in slugging percentage (.396) and OPS (.738) and tied for seventh in runs scored (54) among Nationals farmhands. 

The Havana, Cuba, native signed with Washington as an international free agent on January 15, 2022.

King, 22, was one the top Minor League baserunners when looking at his impact of stealing bases, taking extra bases, and not running into outs. He ranked fifth in the Nationals system with 30 stolen bases and had an 88.2 stolen base percentage (30-of-34) in his first full season of professional baseball. King spent time across two levels, appearing in 45 games with High-A Wilmington (12 SB) and 80 games for Double-A Harrisburg (18 SB). Among all Nationals farmhands, King also ranked in the top 10 in the following categories: triples (T4^th, 5), hits (5^th, 123), runs (5^th, 65), doubles (T7^th, 19), total bases (T7^th, 170), extra-base hits (T8^th, 30) and batting average (9^th, .244).

King recorded two separate nine-game hitting streaks, from Apr. 16-29 (14-for-34, five RBI, two home runs, three walks, four stolen bases) and from May 22-31 (16-for-41, RBI, home run, stolen base), both with Wilmington. Defensively, he led the Nationals’ system in assists (276) and innings played (1062.1) and second in double plays (75).

The infielder ranks among the top prospects in the organization at No.7 per MLBPipeline.com and No. 9 per Baseball America. He is one of eight Nationals prospects who will compete in the 2025 Arizona Fall League. King was selected with the 10^th overall pick in the first round of the 2024 MLB First-Year Player Draft out of Wake Forest University.

Pinckney, 24, receives the award given to the Nationals Minor Leaguer who best demonstrates the professionalism, leadership, loyalty, passion, selflessness, durability, determination and work ethic required to play the game the “Washington Nationals Way.”

Pinckney – who set career marks in nearly every offensive category - ranked in the top 10 among all Nationals farmhands in several offensive categories, including home runs (2^nd, 20), on-base percentage (2^nd, .348), stolen bases (2^nd, 34), slugging percentage (2^nd, .431), OPS (3^rd, .779), runs (3^rd, 77), RBI (4^th, 66), average (4^th, .269), total bases (4^th, 194), hits (6^th, 121), extra-base hits (7^th, 31) and walks (T9^th, 44). Defensively, he led all Nationals Minor League outfielders in put-outs (271) and finished tied for fourth in outfield assists with seven. 

From June 20 through the end of the season, Pinckney slashed .319/.399/.537 with seven doubles, two triples, 13 homers, 46 RBI, 26 walks, 18 stolen bases and 42 runs scored in 62 games. He hit safely in 12 of his last 14 games of the season, going 18-for-47 (.383) with a .482 on-base percentage (9 walks) and a .596 slugging percentage (2 doubles, triple, 2 home runs). He recorded his first career multi-homer game on July 18 at Lehigh Valley  and repeated the feat again on August 26 at Jacksonville, when he also recorded a career-high five RBI.

The Tuscaloosa, Ala., native played at the University of Alabama and was selected in the fourth round of the 2023 First-Year Player Draft.

Year          Winners

2025         INF/OF Phillip Glasser, (Hitter of the Year), RHP Riley Cornelio (Pitcher of the Year), OF Cristhian Vaquero (Defensive Player of the Year), INF Seaver King (Baserunner of the Year), OF Andrew Pinckney (Nationals Way)

2024         OF Dylan Crews, (Hitter of the Year), RHP Travis Sykora (Pitcher of the Year), OF Elijah Green (Defensive Player of the Year), INF/OF Darren Baker (Baserunner of the Year), OF Daylen Lile and RHP Brad Lord (Nationals Way)

2023         OF James Wood (Hitter of the Year), LHP Andrew Alvarez (Pitcher of the Year), INF Trey Lipscomb (Defensive Player of the Year), OF Johnathon Thomas (Baserunner of the Year), OF Jacob Young (Nationals Way)

2022         OF Jeremy De La Rosa and OF James Wood (co-Hitter of the Year), RHP Cade Cavalli (Pitcher of the Year), Jordy Barley (Defensive Player of the Year), Jacob Young (Baserunner of the Year), Jake Alu (Nationals Way)

2021          INF/OF Jake Noll (Player of the Year), RHP Cade Cavalli (Pitcher of the Year), OF Donovan Casey (Defensive Player of the Year), INF Jordy Barley (Baserunner of the Year), INF/OF Jack Dunn (Nationals Way)

2020         No awards due to the cancellation of the Minor League Season

2019          OF Yadiel Hernandez (Player of the Year), LHP Tim Cate (Pitcher of the Year), INF Luis García (Defensive Player of the Year), INF/OF Cole Freeman (Baserunner of the Year), C Jakson Reetz (Boone)

2018          INF Carter Kieboom (Player of the Year), LHP Ben Braymer/RHP Wil Crowe (co-Pitcher of the Year), INF Jake Noll (Boone)

2017          OF Daniel Johnson (Player of the Year), RHP Wander Suero (Pitcher of the Year), C Raudy Read (Boone)

2016          1B Jose Marmolejos (Player of the Year), RHP Reynaldo Lopez (Pitcher of the Year), OF Rafael Bautista (Boone)

2015          1B Jose Marmolejos (Player of the Year), RHP Austin Voth (Pitcher of the Year), RHP Austen Williams (Boone)

2014          OF Steven Souza Jr. (Player of the Year), RHP Lucas Giolito (Pitcher of the Year), INF Wilmer Difo (Boone)

2013          OF Billy Burns (Player of the Year), RHP Taylor Jordan (Pitcher of the Year), 2B Tony Renda (Boone)

2012          INF Matthew Skole (Player of the Year), RHP Nathan Karns (Pitcher of the Year)

2011           INF Steve Lombardozzi (Player of the Year), RHP Brad Peacock (Pitcher of the Year)

2010          OF Tyler Moore (Player of the Year), LHP Tom Milone (Pitcher of the Year)

2009         C Derek Norris (Player of the Year), RHP Brad Meyers (Pitcher of the Year)

2008         OF Leonard Davis (Player of the Year), RHP Jordan Zimmermann (Pitcher of the Year)

2007         OF Justin Maxwell (Player of the Year), LHP John Lannan (Pitcher of the Year)

2006         INF Kory Casto (Player of the Year), RHP Zechry Zinicola (Pitcher of the Year)

2005         INF Kory Casto (Player of the Year), LHP Michael O'Connor (Pitcher of the Year)