Washington Nationals Best Minor League Performers After Season's First Quarter

The Washington Nationals are still in the middle of a rebuild, which means that they need some prospects to step up and become contributors at the Major League level.

Here are the top performers at each Nationals minor league level to start the year, with about a quarter of the campaign done:

Triple-A: OF Daylen Lile

Lile started the year out at the Double-A level and earned a quick promotion. He's responded by being even better at Triple-A.

Through 16 games, he's posted a .369/.431/.538 slash line with a home run, four doubles and two triples with three stolen bases. He has also drawn seven walks with just eight strikeouts.

The outfield is already getting crowded for Washington and it looks like it could be getting even more-so before too long.

Double-A: 1B/3B Yohandy Morales

Morales could join Lile at Triple-A at any moment as he is hitting the cover off the ball to start this season.

His walk rate has dropped a bit, but that is forgivable given his .311/.364/.521 slash line with four home runs. He also has nine doubles and two triples with two stolen bases.

The former second-round pick has sky-high potential with a bat in his hand.

High-A: LHP Peyton Glavine

Yes, that Glavine. The son of Baseball Hall of Famer Tom Glavine, Peyton has been through a bit of adversity to start his professional career, but is healthy and has been great so far.

He's pitched 12.2 innings of scoreless relief with a 1.026 WHIP and 10 strikeouts.

The 26-year-old former undrafted free agent is coming off of Tommy John surgery that forced him to pitch just three innings between 2023 and 2024.

Single-A: RHP Robert Cranz

Cranz was the Nationals' seventh-round pick last season and played above that slot so far. He has a 2.70 ERA over 16.2 innings of relief with a 1.020 WHIP and 25 strikeouts.

The 22-year-old has walked just nine batters and given up two home runs, but that's fine for the only real mistakes make so young into being a pro.

He was a breakout star as a senior at Oklahoma State with a 1.63 ERA over 49.2 innings of work out of the bullpen and has kept that excitement going so far.

Rookie: RHP Jose Feliz

Feliz doesn't look long for rookie ball. He's pitched 13 innings of scoreless relief and has allowed just four baserunners with 16 strikeouts. There's not much more they could have asked him to do so far.

He was signed for $130,000 back in 2023 and could be zooming up prospect rankings if he can keep this up.