When Eli Willits took the field last night at Virginia Credit Union Stadium for Single-A Fredericksburg, he became the youngest FredNats player ever. He also became just the sixth player in his age-17 season to get a Single-A plate appearance this season, joining Andrew Salas (Marlins), Juneiker Caceres (Guardians), Stiven Martinez (Orioles), Kevin Garcia (Brewers) and Brady Ebel (Milwaukee).

Special treatment for the No. 1 overall pick. But that, of course, comes with the territory.

It was also a special debut for Willits, who went 3-for-4 with a run scored, two RBIs, a walk and a stolen base in Fredericksburg’s 10-6 win over the Fayetteville Woodpeckers (Astros). Impressive from easily the youngest kid out there, which is hopefully telling of a bright future.

But it was more telling that the Nationals believed the 17-year-old was ready for his professional debut after just a couple of weeks working out at the team’s spring training facility in West Palm Beach. The organization has typically been more patient with its draft picks out of high school.

Brady House, the No. 11 overall pick in the 2021 MLB Draft out of Winder-Barrow High School in Georgia, spent the rest of that summer in the Rookie-level Florida Complex League. He didn’t make his Single-A debut until April 2022.

Elijah Green, the No. 5 overall pick in the 2022 draft out of IMG Academy in Florida, played in 12 FCL games that summer before making his Single-A debut in April 2023.

Travis Sykora, the 2023 third-round pick out of Round Rock High School in Texas, didn’t even appear in an official Florida Complex League game in the weeks following his draft. He made his pro debut in May 2024.

But here’s Willits, not even six weeks removed from being selected with the top pick out of Fort Cobb-Broxton High School in Oklahoma, playing in professional baseball games against players who are four-to-five years older than him.

That just adds to the excitement surrounding the lower levels of the Nats’ minor league system.

“It means everything,” said FredNats play-by-play voice Eric Bach on this week’s episode of the “District Chat” podcast. “I mean, when Dylan Crews debuted here two years ago, it was an absolute circus in the best way. When you get a player of that caliber that has the national notoriety that Eli Willits certainly does when the Nats took him No. 1 overall, that can only bring positive things for us down here. And it's a team that's in the middle of the playoff race right now, so it doesn't hurt to add No. 1 overall to the lineup, for sure.”

Sure enough, the defending Carolina League champions find themselves in another late-season race to the playoffs. With 17 games left, the “Second-half Freddies,” as Bach calls them, need to win the league’s North division to return to the four-team postseason (the first-half and second-half winners of each division make up the playoff bracket).

Currently, the FredNats are tied for first place with the Carolina Mudcats (Brewers), who travel to Fredericksburg for seven games during the last week of the regular season after Labor Day. Adding the No. 1 overall pick for a playoff chase can only help.

But is Willits a sure thing to play shortstop over these next two weeks? Last year’s second-round pick Luke Dickerson (who also didn’t make his Single-A debut until this season) has been playing shortstop for most of the season. Only recently has he been getting regular reps at second base, perhaps our first sign that Willits was getting promoted.

The FredNats also have Angel Feliz, who has been mostly playing shortstop since he was promoted to Single-A in late July. The 18-year-old was signed for $1.7 million out of the Dominican Republic at the opening of the Jan. 15, 2024 international signing period.

All three natural shortstops are ranked in MLB Pipeline’s top 30 Nats prospects rankings, with Willits at No. 1, Dickerson at No. 4 and Feliz at No. 14. It’s a good problem to have, but how will FredNats manager Billy McMillon spread around the playing time?

“It's just a matter of, what are they going to do with Feliz? Because he's a top 20 prospect, too, that they just brought here,” Bach said. “And he's 18. He won't be 19 until November. So they're trying to get him more daily shortstop reps. Luke played shortstop for the better part of 2 ½ months every single day for this team, and now he still is playing short sometimes. You've also got Randal Diaz, who's a fifth-round pick last year here. So when Willits is activated … It'll be interesting to see how they divvy up those innings because No. 1 overall is probably going to play every single day once he's here. He's not coming here to sit on the bench. So we'll see.

“To answer your question, that would be exciting to see a Willits-Dickerson combo. It would also be exciting to see a Willits-Feliz combo. Or the Dickerson-Feliz combo has been great for this team over the last couple weeks, as they've kind of separated themselves from the rest of the pack in this Carolina League. So your guess is as good as mine about how they're going to divvy that up. I gotta imagine that the roster construction isn't going to stay the exact same as it is right now. But we'll see. Time will tell.”

For Willits’ first game, he played short and hit seventh, with Feliz at second and batting ninth.

Time will tell if that’s the main combo moving forward. You would have to figure the No. 1 pick is going to mostly be at the position he was drafted to play. But it is nice for the Nationals to know their top selection at the bare minimum is adding depth to an already talented lower-level affiliate.

You can check out our full conversation with Bach about Willits, Dickerson, Feliz and the rest of the Nats’ top prospects at Fredericksburg on “District Chat” by watching it here.