With Travis Sykora out of action due to Tommy John Surgery, Jarlin Susana is now the best healthy pitching prospect in the organization. While Sykora has gotten more hype due to his otherworldly numbers, Susana’s ceiling is just as high.

Susana was the final piece of the legendary Juan Soto deal in 2022. At the time, he was just 18 years old and had not even made it to Low-A yet. However, he was a massive kid who could throw 100 mph at 18 which made him interesting.

It has been a slow burn, but Susana had been steadily marching his way up the ranks. His true breakout came last year when he tore through A ball with a devastating fastball-slider combination. After a rough first few starts, Susana had a 2.79 ERA in his last 18 starts. In those starts, he threw 77.1 innings while striking out 123 and walking just 29 batters.

This year has been a bit more stop and start. Susana was solid in his first month in Double-A, but his control was spotty and he was more hittable than expected. However, he was still getting a ton of ground balls and strike outs.

After a May 4th start, Susana hit the shelf for 2.5 months with an elbow strain. The injury sounded scary, but the Nats kept telling that he just needed to rest and that he would not need any surgery. There was some skepticism about that, but they were right on this one.

Susana came back in mid-July and has looked better than ever. His velocity is consistently in the triple digits, averaging over 100 in a lot of his starts. The slider also looks like a wipe out pitch to go with it.

In his four starts since coming back, Susana has been slowly building up. He has gone from 2 innings, to 3 to 4 to 4.2 in his last start. Susana has only allowed four runs in those starts and has struck out 22 in 13.2 innings.

His last start was his first one back at the Double-A level and it was a very good start. Susana went 4.2 innings with six strikeouts, four hits and two walks. That fastball was getting up to 102 MPH and sitting around 100.

For Jarlin Susana it is all about finding that control. This year he is walking over five batters per nine innings. However, last year he made big strides, walking just over four per nine. Since coming off the IL, he has only walked four batters in those 13.2 innings.

With a 100 MPH fastball and a slider that some people think is even better than the fastball, Susana does not have to be pinpoint. All he needs to do is be around the zone and try to avoid throwing it right down the middle. When he is locked in, few guys can match his pure stuff and nobody in the Nats system can, not even a healthy Travis Sykora.

With his control woes and reliance on two pitches, there will be questions about whether Susana can start. However, at just 21 years old still, he has plenty of runway. If he does become a reliever, he can be a Jhoan Duran or Mason Miller type of an arm. Stuff like his does not grow on trees.

If Jarlin Susana is throwing strikes, he is one of the best pitching prospects in all of baseball. The idea of him throwing strikes is also not a pure fantasy. We saw him throw a lot of strikes once he got going last year and he has been throwing plenty of strikes since he has come off the IL.

He has gone under the radar this year due to injuries and Sykora, but Jarlin Susana is not going to be under the radar for long. If he stays healthy and in the zone, we should be seeing Susana some time in 2026.