{"id":19696,"date":"2026-07-05T20:27:34","date_gmt":"2026-07-06T00:27:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/nationalsarmrace.com\/?p=19696"},"modified":"2026-07-05T20:27:35","modified_gmt":"2026-07-06T00:27:35","slug":"june-2026-temperature-check-with-top-prospects","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nationalsarmrace.com\/?p=19696","title":{"rendered":"June 2026 Temperature Check with Top Prospects"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><a href=\"https:\/\/nationalsarmrace.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/Willits-eli-2026-via-federal-baseball.jpeg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"683\" src=\"https:\/\/nationalsarmrace.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/Willits-eli-2026-via-federal-baseball-1024x683.jpeg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-19697\" srcset=\"https:\/\/nationalsarmrace.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/Willits-eli-2026-via-federal-baseball-1024x683.jpeg 1024w, https:\/\/nationalsarmrace.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/Willits-eli-2026-via-federal-baseball-300x200.jpeg 300w, https:\/\/nationalsarmrace.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/Willits-eli-2026-via-federal-baseball-768x512.jpeg 768w, https:\/\/nationalsarmrace.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/Willits-eli-2026-via-federal-baseball-1536x1024.jpeg 1536w, https:\/\/nationalsarmrace.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/Willits-eli-2026-via-federal-baseball-2048x1365.jpeg 2048w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/a><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Willits continues his torrid trajectory towards the majors.  Photo via Federal Baseball<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Here&#8217;s a monthly check in on our 20 prospects plus other notables in the system. Stats are for just June 2026 unless otherwise noted.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">(Note: I wrote this before the July 4th holiday, with its slew of moves\/DFAs\/promotions, so I know i&#8217;m missing some details).<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">I&#8217;ll be using my own personal top 20 to drive the rankings, the <a href=\"https:\/\/nationalsarmrace.com\/?p=19520\">ones I posted right after the season started<\/a> and which are a bit outdated. If I was to re-rank the top 10 right now versus what&#8217;s below, i&#8217;d probably go Willits, King, Fitz-Gerald, Sykora, Susana, Cruz, Kent, Petry, Sime, and then maybe a wild card like Morales or Lomavita.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">All the stats links I use are at my <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nationalsarmrace.com\/?page_id=16709\">Nats Links page<\/a>, which I visit every day for various reasons. I won&#8217;t repeat all the stats links and transactions pages and what not; just go to the Links page.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ol class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Eli Willits<\/strong> SS, High-A: Slashed .246\/.418\/.590 for an OPS north of 1.000 and the continued streaking up prospect boards (he&#8217;s now #3 on MLBPipeline&#8217;s overall minor league list).  Reminder: he&#8217;s 18, doesn&#8217;t turn 19 until December.   Also named to the Futures game roster along with Sime.  <strong>Temperature<\/strong>: red hot, POTY candidate, another promotion candidate.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Henry Ford<\/strong>, C AAA: had a .244\/.426\/.415 split for the month, good for a halfway decent looking OPS figure, thanks to a slew of walks bolstering the OBP.  Still not impressing, which is why his prospect stock is falling fast.  He&#8217;s now at least down to 7th or 8th in the system.   <strong>Temperature<\/strong>: still cool.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Jarlin Susana<\/strong>, RHP (starter) AA: On the 60-day DL to open the season, and is still there. Per the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.mlb.com\/news\/nationals-injuries-and-roster-moves\">Nats injury report<\/a>, the last update was 6\/12 reporting that he was throwing off a mound.  What gives here?  It took him 5 weeks to go from throwing on flat ground to the mound.  Did the team hide the severity of his injury? <strong>Temperature<\/strong>: still on ice.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Travis Sykora<\/strong>: RHP (starter) AA: out for the season, the injury report lists his return as 2027. <strong>Temperature<\/strong>: on ice.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Gavin Fien<\/strong> SS\/3B, Low-A: Finally had a good month at the plate, .294\/.380\/.529.  He&#8217;s still entirely playing OF, despite all the middle infielder promotions out of low-A, which lowers his value a little bit.  He&#8217;s splitting time between CF and RF. <strong>Temperature<\/strong>: warming up.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Alex Clemmey<\/strong>, LHP (Starter) AA:   Clemmey had another mediocre month; 5.53 ERA, too many hits, too many walks. I&#8217;m not sure what to do here; is it possible he&#8217;s hit a ceiling?  <strong>Temperature<\/strong>: pretty cold.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Seaver King<\/strong>, SS AAA: After a torrid start to the season, King cooled this month, slashing just .256\/.323\/.389.  he&#8217;s playing a lot of 2B, presumably in case the Nats want a stretch bat to take over.  But, unless he continues to hit,  he&#8217;s not coming up anytime soon.  <strong>Temperature<\/strong>: cooled for a bit.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Luis Perales<\/strong>, RHP (starter) AAA: Perales reverted to earlier bad form, and continues to remind us that the Bennet-for-Perales trade sucked. 20\/11 k\/bb in 21 innings and a 6.53 ERA. <strong>Temperature<\/strong>: cold.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Devin Fitz-Gerald<\/strong>, 2B\/SS, AA: AA has been a wake-up call for Fitz-Gerlad; he hit just .132 this month. <strong>Temperature<\/strong>: Hot to get to AA, now cold.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Landon Harmon<\/strong>, RHP (starter): Low-A: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cbssports.com\/fantasy\/baseball\/news\/nationals-landon-harmon-on-shelf-at-single-a\/\">He remains on the 7-day DL<\/a> in Low-A with an oblique strain that continues to be described as &#8220;not serious.&#8221;  He hasn&#8217;t thrown since April 24th, meaning he&#8217;s now working on 9 weeks out of action.   <strong>Temperature<\/strong>: On Ice, starting to be concerning.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Ronny Cruz<\/strong>: SS High-A. After a tough first month, he&#8217;s picking it up.  263\/.314\/.400.  Not awesome, but not terrible.  <strong>Temperature<\/strong>: luke warm?<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Luke Dickerson<\/strong>, SS\/CF Low-A:  .253\/.451\/.413.  Dickerson took a TON of walks this month, ironic since our discussions on this platform included criticism of the amount of Ks he was taking.  Well, this month he still struckout a lot, but only hit one out to go with 27 BBs in 22 games.  Interesting.  At least he&#8217;s back on the dirt, playing mostly middle infield now, moving around all three skill positions.   <strong>Temperature<\/strong>: meh.  Not sure what to think here.  <\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Ethan Petry<\/strong>, 1B AA: his promotion to AA has not gone well: he hit just .172 in June  <strong>Temperature<\/strong>: Hot to get to AA, now cold.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Coy James<\/strong>, SS\/3B, Low-A:  No real change here; .243\/.360\/.365 for the month.  Not really living up to the prospect hype so far. <strong>Temperature<\/strong>: still cold.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Angel Felix<\/strong>, SS High-A: Meh slash line of .265\/.315\/.422 .  Showed a little bit of pop.  May be impacted by being moved of SS thanks to Willits. <strong>Temperature<\/strong>: cool.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Yoel Tejeda Jr.<\/strong> RHP (starter) High-A: He cleaned up this month: 1.38 ERA and 33\/11 K\/BB in 22 ip and probably merited a promotion; perhaps another month of work and he&#8217;ll be up. &nbsp;<strong>Temperature<\/strong>: hot.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Jackson Kent<\/strong>, LHP (Starter) AAA: . Jackson Kent&#8217;s first full month in AAA went swimmingly: 3-2 with a 3.70 ERA and solid K\/BB numbers (28\/7 in 24ip). Is it possible that Kent will be the first 2024 class draftee to get to the majors? <strong>Temperature<\/strong>: Pretty warm<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Miguel Sime Jr<\/strong>. RHP (starter): High-A:  Sime&#8217;s first month in High-A was &#8230; interesting. 5 starts, 17ip, 2.60 ERA and 27ks in 17ip, so he still is throwing it by people. But, he also has 16 walks in those 17ip, which has bloated his Whip a bit to 1.50.    Named to the Futures game roster.  <strong>Temperature<\/strong>: hot.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Davian Garcia<\/strong>, RHP (starter) AA; On the full-season DL, hopefully to return in 2027. <strong>Temperature<\/strong>: on ice.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Yeremy Cabrera<\/strong> CF High-A: has struggled upon his promotion; hit just .205 this month. <strong>Temperature<\/strong>: hot to get to High-A, now cold.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\"\/>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Notables #20 and above by level:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">in AAA:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>#27 <strong>Yohandy Morales<\/strong> 1B\/3B in AAA finally had a bad month: .230\/.287\/.437.  <\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>#31 <strong>Phillip Glasser<\/strong> 2B in AAA had a great month: slashing .438\/.491\/.500.  He&#8217;s back on track.  .<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>#33 <strong>Albimec Ortiz<\/strong> 1B\/DH in AAA is hitting just .225.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Also, not for nothing: 40-man members <strong>Hassell <\/strong>(.203) and especially <strong>Weimer <\/strong>(hitting just .125) are not doing themselves any favors.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In AA: <\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>#21 <strong>Sam Peterson<\/strong> is struggling, hitting just .221 this month.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>#26 <strong>Caleb Lomavita<\/strong> had a monster June; 8 homers powering his slash line to .286\/.352\/.762.  Too bad Ford blocks his path to AAA.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>#30 <strong>Cayden Wallace<\/strong> is producing at a very high clip once again: .329\/.346\/.633.  He can play 2B, 3B, and has even been playing a bunch of SS this season.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>#60 <strong>TJ White<\/strong>, newly promoted to AA this month, hit just .154 for the Senators in June.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In High-A:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>#40 <strong>Kevin Bazzell<\/strong> continued to hit this month, slashing .300\/\/.345\/.440.  Not bad for a catcher, but see above; Lomavita in AA is crushing, and Ford in AAA can&#8217;t be sat.  So there&#8217;s a log jam.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>#41 <strong>Cristian Vaquero<\/strong> remains on the DL, but has started rehab.  Somehow he&#8217;s been on the DL since early May and I never saw it; he&#8217;s been on the &#8220;active&#8221; roster on the Big Board for weeks.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>#61 <strong>Randal Diaz<\/strong> played well this month: .304\/.420\/.411, somehow getting playing time in a crowded middle infield in Wilmington.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Elijah Green<\/strong> cut down on his K&#8217;s this month once again, down to 34 for t he month (in 21 games).  His astounding figures for the season?  <a href=\"https:\/\/www.milb.com\/player\/elijah-green-701327\">67 games, 243 ABs, and 127 Ks.<\/a>  He&#8217;s striking out at a 52% clip for the season.  I&#8217;ve just never seen anything like it before.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Unranked but recently promoted <strong>Jacob Walsh<\/strong> hit just .206 for the month.  <\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Unranked but recently promoted <strong>Jack Moroknek<\/strong> hit just .125 upon his promotion.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In Low-A:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>#38 <strong>Sir Jamison Jones<\/strong> hit just .125 this month.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>#39 <strong>Rafael Ramirez Jr<\/strong> took a step back slashing .226\/.368\/.371.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>#51 <strong>Dashyll Tejeda<\/strong>, newly promoted, held his own his first month in full season ball: .246\/.364\/.393<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>#94 <strong>Manual Cabrera<\/strong> got promoted up from FCL and has been  hitting well: .288\/.377\/.458.  He&#8217;s playing mostly 3B<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Unranked <strong>Hunter Hines<\/strong> got demoted, then destroyed Low-A with an OPS &gt; 1.000.  may want to put him back up.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Unranked <strong>Jordan Williams<\/strong>, a 26yr old NDFA signed earlier this year, has been cruising: .349\/.472\/.512.  Williams is an interesting one: he didn&#8217;t finish his NCAA eligibility until he was 25.<br><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In FCL, here&#8217;s hitting stats for some of our notable hitting prospects recently moved up from the DSL.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>#23 <strong>Marconi<\/strong> <strong>German<\/strong>; .238\/.432\/.413 in june.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>#36 <strong>Brayan Cortesia<\/strong>: .288\/.447\/.288.  that&#8217;s not a lot of power.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>#42 <strong>Daniel Hernandez<\/strong>: .222\/.323\/.259.  Not good.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>#46 <strong>Browm Martinez<\/strong>: .259\/.474\/.389.  Nots of walks.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>#47 <strong>Victor Hurtado<\/strong> struggled in june: .237\/.387\/.271<br><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In DSL, here&#8217;s hitting stats for the four marquee 2026 IFA signings:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Isaias Suarez<\/strong> OF (corner): .207\/.452\/.207 in 11 games<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Angel Ramirez<\/strong> OF (corner): 211\/.333\/.649 in 38Abs so far.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Samil Serrano<\/strong> OF (cf): 310\/.397\/.517 in 58ABs so far.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Juan Duran<\/strong> 1B: 357\/.438\/.956<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In the DSL, the remaining big money 2025IFA signings who are still there:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Ronny Bello SS: .294\/.387\/.412; big improvement over last  year.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Esnaider Vargas: Of\/DH: .278\/.371\/.519: providing some more pop this year for sure.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Jonierbis Garces: OF (corner): hitting just .184 <\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Here&#8217;s a monthly check in on our 20 prospects plus other notables in the system. Stats are for just June 2026 unless otherwise noted. (Note: I wrote this before the July 4th holiday, with its slew of moves\/DFAs\/promotions, so I know i&#8217;m missing some details). I&#8217;ll be using my own personal top 20 to drive [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4324],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-19696","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-prospects"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/nationalsarmrace.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19696","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/nationalsarmrace.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/nationalsarmrace.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nationalsarmrace.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nationalsarmrace.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=19696"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/nationalsarmrace.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19696\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":19704,"href":"https:\/\/nationalsarmrace.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19696\/revisions\/19704"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/nationalsarmrace.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=19696"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nationalsarmrace.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=19696"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nationalsarmrace.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=19696"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}