Nationals top 2014 draft pick, right-hander Erick Fedde, made his first trip to Washington, D.C. this week and was in attendance at game against the Mets on Tuesday night. The No. 18 overall selection was a Louisville Slugger second team All-American at UNLV. The 21-year-old was able to give an update on how he is recovering from Tommy John surgery, which he had the week of the draft. "I was doing well. I just recently got out of the brace a couple of weeks ago," Fedde said. "I haven't...

The Nationals beat today's deadline to sign 2014 draft picks by coming to terms with their first-round pick, right-hander Erick Fedde out of UNLV. Fedde went 8-2 with a 1.76 ERA in 11 starts as a junior this season, but his year was cut short by Tommy John surgery. However, the Nats did miss out on two of their top-10 round picks, failing to agree to contracts with second-round left-hander Andrew Suarez and ninth-round first baseman Austin Byler. The silver lining is that Washington receives...

The Nationals announced today that the club agreed to terms with right-hander Erick Fedde, the No. 18 overall pick in the 2014 First-Year Player Draft. The 21-year-old Fedde is a 6-foot-4, 180-pound junior out of the University of Nevada-Las Vegas. He was the Mountain West pitcher of the year and underwent Tommy John surgery in early June. He went 8-2 with a 1.76 ERA (15 earned runs in 76 2/3 innings) and 82 strikeouts in 11 starts for the Rebels. UNLV baseball coach Tim Chambers told me...

Anthony Rendon was considered the top hitting prospect in his draft class in 2011. The hard-hitting third baseman was limited to designated hitter duties by a shoulder injury in his final year at Rice University, however, after he suffered ankle injuries in the 2009-2010 seasons, both of which required surgery. So there was some concern about his durability as the First-Year Player Draft approached that June. Five teams passed on Rendon, in spite of the fact that he finished his collegiate...

UNLV right-handed pitcher Erick Fedde said Friday that he is thrilled about the opportunity he has in front of him with the Nationals and that he's pleased to be selected in the first round, despite undergoing ligament replacement surgery Tuesday. "After Tommy John, I just was hoping going into the draft that I get selected hopefully in the first round still," Fedde said on a teleconference. "That was my expectation and hope, and I was lucky enough for that to happen." When he initially...

SAN DIEGO - If it seems like the Nationals have taken a boatload of Scott Boras clients with first-round picks over the last handful of years, well, that's because they have. Stephen Strasburg, Bryce Harper, Anthony Rendon, Alex Meyer and Brian Goodwin are all Boras clients who were made Nats first-round selections in the previous five drafts. If it seems like the Nats have used a few high draft picks in recent years on players with injury questions surrounding them, well, that's because...

UNLV baseball coach Tim Chambers managed the Nationals' 2014 first round selection right-hander Erick Fedde for three seasons. He had nothing but the highest of praise for the No. 18 selection in Thursday's First-Year Player Draft. "The Nats couldn't have gotten a better kid and a better worker," Chambers said. "I've never had one like him. I want you to know that. He was with me for three years. I never told him to run, never told to throw his pen, never told him to do his bands, I...

Nationals President of Baseball Operations Mike Rizzo talked about what the team's first-round pick Erick Fedde brings to the table. "He is a plus-stuff guy," Rizzo said. "We scouted him intensely over the last three years. He has got two plus-plus pitches and his third pitch, changeup, is on the come. We think that is going to be an above average pitch. Big physical guy. We had him towards the top of our draft board. We felt the risk of him rehabbing and coming back to pre injury form was...

The Nationals have hit the pot of gold when it comes to the First-Year Player Draft. Three recent first-round picks, two of them No. 1 overall selections, are starters for the team right now. Stephen Strasburg, Bryce Harper and Anthony Rendon are considered by many, including ESPN's Jim Callis, the best three-year run in the First-Year Player Draft ever. The Nationals have built their system behind strong pitching. They have also sent off top prospects like Alex Meyer to get starters like...