Dominant Washington Nationals' Top Prospect Promoted to Double-A in Quick Fashion

The stay by Travis Sykora at High-A Wilmington didn’t last long.

Selected out of high school in Texas by the Washington Nationals in the third round of the 2023 MLB Draft, Sykora is the No. 55 overall prospect in baseball. The No. 1 prospect in the Washington system, he made two starts each at the Florida Complex League and Single-A Fredericksburg this season before he was quickly promoted to Wilmington.

He made just six starts at Wilmington, throwing 29.2 innings, striking out 47 and walking eight batters.

Between the three stops, the 21-year-old Sykora has a 3-0 record and 1.11 ERA in 10 starts in 2025. Over 40.2 total innings, he’s allowed five runs on 14 hits and 11 walks and struck out 70. Batters are hitting a meager .107 against him.

In his first year of pro ball last season, spent at Fredericksburg, he was 5-3 with a 2.33 ERA over 20 starts. He struck out 129 batters in 85 innings.

This is a portion of what MLB Pipeline had to say about Sykora:

“His 39.2 percent strikeout rate and 20.8 percent swinging-strike rate [in 2024] were both tops among 551 Minor Leaguers with at least 80 innings, and he also finished with a 2.33 ERA, 0.91 WHIP and .167 average-against over 85 frames in the Carolina League.

“Checking in at 6-foot-6, Sykora starts his delivery with a big leg kick, getting his left knee almost up to his shoulder before getting down the hill with solid extension. After throwing harder as a showcase pitcher, the right-hander settled in around the 93-96 mph range with his fastball as a professional, and there’s hope he could add another tick with more pro strength training. It was good enough to buzz past Single-A hitters in the top of the zone in 2024, and a mid-80s splitter played well off it with low spin and sufficient fade. An 83-86 mph slider also featured enough drop to generate whiffs with break the other way, and it was notable that Sykora had near-equal splits against batters from both sides.”

Sykora is projected to make a 2027 arrival in Washington, but at the speed with which he is moving through the Nationals’ system, that could change.