It was not the easiest year for the Nats Farm system, but I wanted to show love to a few under the radar perspectives that had a solid years. Alex Clemmey was our Nats -Opzicht of the year, but these three players also showed a lot of promise. Those players are Jake Bennett, Sam Petersen and Jackson Kent.
First I wanted to start with Bennett because he set up the best statistics and is the most appreciated for the trio. He was probably second place for Nats prospect of the year. Bennett came back from the surgery of Tommy John, who Knows him All 2024.
Bennett came back better than ever in 2025. In 75.2 Innings, the 24 -year -old posted A 2.27 ERA in High-A and Double-A. His speed was better than ever and settled in the mid -90s. Bennett also has a very good change and a decent breaking ball.
In his core, however, Bennett is a commissioned pitcher. Strikeouts are not a huge part of his game. In High-A he threw 9.13 batters per 9 innings, but that was mainly due to how much more advanced he was than the competition. Once he got Double-A, the strikeouts were harder to come by. He just beaten 6.5 Pictures per 9 in AaBut still threw a 2.56 ERA and 3.20 FIP.
Bennett did this by keeping the ball on the floor and in the garden. His 48.1% ground ball percentage in AA was very solid and he only allowed 3 homers all season. In the future, the lack of strikeouts gives me a break. MLB stroke people will probably hit more homers of him and it is difficult to contact us in 2025 to contact us.
That limits his ceiling to probably that of a number 4 starter. Bennett, however, has a big chance to reach that ceiling. He turns 25 in December and dominated Aa. Bennett would probably have to start in Triple-A next season and at a certain moment in 2026 have to have a chance on the big competitions.
The next man I am going to talk about is the only batter of the three in Sam Petersen. He was struggling with injuries this year, but he was fantastic when he was on the field. Because of his stop and starting season, Petersen gets more repetitions in the Arizona Fall League and he will be a player to watch there.
Petersen was prepared from Iowa in the 8th round of the 2024 concept and has performed better, players who have been chosen much higher than he was by the NATS. High-a Wilmington is known as a difficult place to hit, so when a player sets songs there, it attracts my attention.
That is exactly what Petersen did this season. In general, he played 57 games this season, with 44 in Wilmington. In his high action, Petersen hit .297 with a .888 Ops. He also hit 6 homers while he stealed 18 bases. That Power/Speed combination Petersen possesses is very exciting.
Petersen did not hit too much at the level. In high-a, he alone challenge 18% of the time while walking on a clip of 11.6%. His WRC+ was on a stunning 161, which means that he was 61% better than the League average.
Unfortunately, injuries cost him the chance to have a real breakout year. However, if he has a big amount, he could be a prospect with Big Helium in 2026. Of all the batters in the design class 2024, Petersen was the most impressive. He will start in AA next season and if he can stay healthy, Sam Petersen has a large year.
The last player on my list is unusual because his numbers of the surface level do not look too big. However, if you know Jackson’s underlying data, there are some things to be enthusiastic.
Kent was set up in the 4th round of the University of Arizona in 2024. The left -handed pitcher set one pedestrian 4.61 ERA in 123 Innings during his first professional season. He threw this season at the High-A and Double-A levels.
However, there is more than what comes here. For the seasonKent’s FIP was on a very respectable 3.75 and his XFIP sparkled at 3.30 pm. So why do these advanced figures do as much as knows?
Well, he gets a lot of strikeouts and doesn’t run many boys. For the season, knows had A speed of 25.9% K and a running speed of 7.5%. These are both very strong figures and point out future success. The era of Kent was elevated by a high Babip and bad luck with runners on the base.
The Strikeout rate and the walking speed point that knows will break out next year. His things are not something special, but knows is a misleading leffty with a very good change. It is clear that he is difficult for boys to pick up and he gets a lot of whiffs.
I think he can be 2026’s version of Jake Bennett. Both are service -oriented links with good, not great things. Kent is more a strikeout man, while Bennett better suppresses contact. However, there are some similarities here.
If Bennett can have the same process that he has done this year, the results will be better next year. His best starts were dominant, but he also had a few Flowup trips. Kent will have to limit it as much as possible if he can. I actually think it knows it has potential to be a back of the rotational piece.
Of course, many of the heavy strikers in the NATS system struggled or were injured, but it was not all bad. The Natts found three diamonds in the rough who can do even better things in 2026. I am excited to see how the farm is doing Paul Toboni the show. In my opinion there will be many pimples in 2026.
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