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The Nationals are promoting their top prospect up a level in their minor league system.
Travis Sykora, the No. 1 prospect in the Nats system and No. 61 overall per MLB Pipeline, is being promoted to High-A Wilmington, a source confirms.
Sykora dominated Single-A once again following his return from offseason hip surgery. He held opponents to one hit, one run and one walk while striking out 14 in just five innings over two starts with the Fredericksburg Nationals.
It was an easy return to form for the 21-year-old, who the Nats selected out of high school in the third round of the 2023 MLB Draft. The 6-foot-6 righty was named Carolina League Pitcher of the Year in 2024 after going 5-3 with a 2.33 ERA, 0.906 WHIP, 129 strikeouts and 13.7 strikeouts per nine innings across 20 starts.
He also dominated in the playoffs to help the FredNats win their first championship since moving to Fredericksburg in 2020.
Sykora accomplished all of that while dealing with a hip injury for much of the season. With his fastball sitting between 95-98 mph, the right-hander said in spring training his velocity was actually down last year due to the ailment.
After surgery and a slow ramp-up to this season, Sykora is ready to throw in the triple digits again this year.
“It's just been probably a couple years of just not being able to use my hip the right way,” Sykora said in February. “I didn't really know it was an injury, but I just kind of had to compensate around it. So my velocity was down a little bit because I wasn't utilizing my body the way it should. So this offseason, I thought I'd get it looked at, and then we figured out what it really was.
“I think I'm gonna be back to hopefully throwing 100 again. That's kind of what my strong suit was in high school. So to get back to that, it's going to feel good because – I mean, I like throwing 100, I guess. That and just being efficient on the mound.”
Sykora now joins a Wilmington rotation that also features left-handers Alex Clemmey (No. 5 per MLB Pipeline), Jake Bennett (No. 17) and Jackson Kent (No. 20).
His last start at Single-A was Tuesday, so his first start at High-A could come Sunday or early next week, while the Blue Rocks are in Aberdeen and then Hudson Valley.
