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Washington Nationals Top Prospect Dazzles Early in Double-A Debut

Originally posted on Washington Nationals on SI
By Michael Brauner | Last updated Jun 29, 2025 7:00 PM ET

The Washington Nationals have one of the youngest rosters in all of Major League Baseball, but that does not mean they are out of elite prospects just yet.

All season long, the story with regards to the farm system has revolved around the new top prospect in the organization in 21-year-old right-hander Travis Sykora.

Absolutely dominating his way all the way through rookie ball, Single-A and High-A with a 1.11 ERA, 0.615 WHIP, and laughable 70 strikeouts in just 40.2 innings, Sykora has established himself as a name the prospect community simply must keep an eye on.

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He raised eyebrows this past week when news broke that he was being promoted to Double-A despite having made just six starts in his High-A career. The team felt he had nothing left to prove there and accelerated the development of their young star.

In his Double-A debut on Sunday afternoon for Harrisburg, Sykora got off to an incredible start and looked like the rise in competition once again did not impact his domination.

During the first two innings, he struck out five of the first six batters he faced:

With 6 more today, MLB's No. 54 prospect Travis Sykora (@Nationals) has 76 K's in 44.1 IP this season pic.twitter.com/GTUJSQAgoM
— MLB Pipeline (@MLBPipeline) June 29, 2025

Finishing with six strikeouts was impressive and raised his total on the year to 76, however it was far from all pretty for Sykora.

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The youngster got himself into trouble with some command issues, allowing four earned runs on four hits and a staggering five walks in just 3.2 innings pitched. Unfortunately for Sykora, the four runs were enough to earn him the loss in Harrisburg's 7-5 defeat against Akron.

Nothing was really hit extremely hard against Sykora, however he put himself in a bad spot by allowing free runners on base and giving the opponent a chance to pile on.

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None of this is concerning especially after many questioned whether or not Sykora was quite ready for such a huge step up in competition.

He has only made a total of 30 minor league appearances, and 20 of them were at the Single-A level.

The hype train on Sykora possibly making his debut this season may start to die down if he does not get the command under control quickly, however the first two innings very clearly showed that the elite stuff he's displayed has already translated.

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Every start Sykora makes from here moving forward he is going to be under a very close watch from fans.

On Sunday, those fans can take solace in the fact that he did some really impressive things while also realizing he still has a ways to go in order to reach the big leagues.

For more Nationals news, head over to Nationals On SI.

This article first appeared on Washington Nationals on SI and was syndicated with permission.

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