On Wednesday evening, I made the drive to Wilmington, Del., in order to get my first look at the 2018 Potomac Nationals. In spite of the drizzle and cold temperatures, I came away quite impressed with the collection of talent the Nationals have assembled at their high Single-A affiliate, not to mention the beginnings of a head cold. Right-hander Wil Crowe, Washington's second-round pick last summer and a top 10 prospect, started Wednesday's contest and pitched well despite the conditions,...

Center fielder Blake Perkins made nice strides in 2017. The 21-year-old hit .297 down the stretch for low Single-A Hagerstown. His slash line was .255/.354/.378. His 31 steals were sixth overall in the South Atlantic League. In 129 games, Perkins collected 27 doubles, four triples, eight homers and 48 RBIs. "Blake Perkins is a guy that sets up well for me," said Hagerstown manager Patrick Anderson. "He did a great job all year long. He stole a bunch of bags and really did a great job in...

For most baseball fans, the All-Star Game is considered the halfway point of the season. In the minors, that's this week for two of the four full-season affiliates - the Hagerstown Suns (low Single-A) and the Potomac Nationals (high Single-A). This week, we'll take a look at how the Suns have done and who might be moving up, then next week we'll examine the P-Nats. While winning is not the goal of the minors - development is - it's still something to shoot for and root for. For most of the...

We're roughly three weeks into the minor league seasons - still in small sample size territory, but large enough to use as a story peg take notice. Before you start champing at the bit for these guys to get promoted, remember two things: The entire league hasn't seen them yet, and there has to be a space for him at the next level. At Single-A Hagerstown, Daniel Johnson caught my eye last season by racking up nine assists and four errors last summer in 62 games for short-season Single-A...

I always appreciate the time catching up with coaches and managers in the Nationals system. This week, I grabbed a few minutes with low Single-A Hagerstown manager Patrick Anderson, who is coaching and managing in the West Palm Beach facility with the Nationals prospects. Anderson said he has been impressed with how the young players have arrived in shape and appear stronger after offseason work. "As a whole, it's not really one guy or two guys," Anderson said. "All of them have come back...

Some notes on Rafael Bautista and Telmito Agustin as we wrap up our outfield previews from the early camp in Florida. All of these players will be getting their assignments in the next few days as the 2016 season gets rolling. You might have caught outfielder Bautista, 23, getting an at-bat at the end of the Nationals game against the Braves on March 27. It was an infield popup, so it did not demonstrate what he is capable of in the long term. Bautista is still a top 10 prospect and he has made...

Building off of what Nationals director of player development Mark Scialabba told me about the early camp outfielders, I reached out to Nationals outfielder coordinator Gary Thurman to get more insight on this group and the progress they have made this spring. The group includes six outfielders, three teenagers and four players who can Hit from the left side. The teenagers are Telmito Agustin, Blake Perkins and Victor Robles. The others include Rafael Bautista, Andrew Stevenson and Rhett...

The early camp invitees take on the Mets in two games of a home-and-home series this week. Low Single-A Hagerstown manager Patrick Anderson is working with this roster all camp and had an update on infielder Ian Sagdal, a lefty-hitting 23-year-old second baseman out of Washington State. "He really can swing the bat from the left side," Anderson said. "Defensively, (infield instructor Jeff) Garber is really putting his hands on him to get him going defensively so he can maximize as much as he...

The Nationals' 2015 draft class hit the ground running this past summer and into fall instructs in Viera, Fla. I will profile some of these outstanding hitters in the system for the next few weeks. Outfielder Blake Perkins is one of the many prospects on the roster that showed very well last month, drawing the attention of the coaches. The just-turned 19-year-old (September 10) was a second round selection out of Verrado High School in Buckeye, Ariz., in June. He has shown that he is advanced...

The Nationals added talent and depth with picks from the fifth round through the 10th round Tuesday in the 2015 First-Year Player Draft. All of them came from the collegiate ranks. From the fifth through seventh rounds, the Nationals went on a run for southpaws. In the fifth round, the Nationals chose left-hander Taylor Hearn from Oklahoma Baptist University. Hearn went 9-0 with a 3.50 ERA in 15 games (13 starts) in 2015. He struck out 71 batters in 64 1/3 innings pitched. His nine wins ranked...

Nationals general manager Mike Rizzo opted for a couple dynamic outfielders with the team's 58th and 69th picks in the 2015 First-Year Player Draft. Louisiana State University's Andrew Stevenson was Rizzo's first selection this year followed by Blake Perkins, a prep prospect out of Verrado High School in Arizona. "We're adding to our already fertile stable of athletes," Rizzo said. "You know our motto here ... we go pitching, defense, athleticism. And certainly both of these guys fill...

The Nationals selected a pair of outfielders to begin the 2015 First-Year Player Draft. With the 58th pick, the Nationals chose Louisiana State outfielder Andrew Stevenson. He is a 6-foot, 184-lb. speedy outfielder from Youngsville, La., who was All-First Team SEC for the Tigers, who have advanced to the College World Series this weekend in Omaha, Neb. Stevenson also ranked near the top of the league in batting average (sixth, .356), hits (tied for sixth, 84), triples (tied for sixth, five),...