Washington Nationals Speedster Named Underrated Spring Breakout Prospect

The second edition of the massively popular MLB Spring Breakout games are this weekend and Washington Nationals fans will have plenty of opportunity to get a peek into the future of the franchise.

This year, the Nationals are one of the two teams that get two Spring Breakout games.

Their first one will on Friday against the Houston Astros at 2:05 p.m. ET. The second will be on Sunday against the New York Mets at 5::05 p.m. ET.

While most fans will be excited to watch players like Jarlin Susana and Brady House, and rightfully so, there are some underrated prospects that could also make a name for themselves.

MLB.com's Jim Callis, Sam Dykstra and Jonathan Mayo came together to find one sleeper prospect for each team that could become a breakout star from this weekend.

For Washington, it was outfielder Sam Petersen. That is the definiton of a sleeper pick, as he is the No. 30 overall prospect in the Nationals farm system.

He is a fast, fielding-first prospect that will have to do a lot to crack the lineup at some point in the Major Leagues.

Washington took him in the eighth round of last year's draft and the early returns have been positive.

He had a career slash line of .305/.424/.530 in college with 22 career home runs and 40 stolen bases. That would still be a great player in the Majors, but college numbers tend to be exaggerated.

Petersen played just seven games at Single-A last year in his pro debut, but he looked fantastic in that time. He had a .364/.400/.591 slash line with three doubles and a triple to go along with five stolen bases without being caught once.

There isn't much hope that he will become a power-hitter at the next level, but that should be fine if he can keep that on-base ability up.

In the field, he has the speed to play center, but doesn't have a strong arm to go with it. There is a chance that he is more of a utility player than an everyday guy, but there is still plenty of space for that on an MLB roster.

As for putting on a show in the Spring Breakout, his best chance will be to get on base and start swiping bags. The outfield is one spot where the Nationals are strong, so he needs to make himself stand out some way.