As a 20-year-old pitching in Double-A, lefthander Alex Clemmey quickly ran into adversity by getting hit hard in his first three starts for Harrisburg.

“He had to change his plan of attack,” Double-A Harrisburg pitching coach Rigo Beltran said. “He couldn’t pitch to the middle of the plate like he had when he dominated in A ball.”

Clemmey went through a series of drills and made small tweaks to his delivery. He focused on using his 92-96 mph fastball, sinker, slider and changeup at the right times and less hittable areas.

The results showed in his final three starts for Harrisburg when he had a 2.04 ERA, .177 opponent average and 0.91 WHIP.

That strong finish gave Clemmey an overall 3.47 ERA with 136 strikeouts and 73 walks in 116.2 innings between High-A Wilmington and Double-A.

The 6-foot-6 Clemmey stands out for both his raw stuff and the resiliency he showed as one of the youngest pitchers in the Eastern League.

“You have to wait at least a couple of games before you can get aggressive with adjustments,” said Beltran, a lefthander who pitched for four major league teams over five seasons. “I felt like he was in a good spot during spring training, but he had gotten away from that.

“Now, he’s in a spot where he’s able to make in-game adjustments.”

Clemmey was a second-round pick of the Guardians in 2023 out of Bishop Hendricken High in Warwick, R.I. He came to the Nationals in the 2024 trade that sent outfielder Lane Thomas to Cleveland.

Beltran said Clemmey’s fastball and sinker were his most Double-A-ready pitches when he joined the Senators. Clemmey’s slider is also a plus pitch—or at least the good version of it is.

“His slider is his best pitch, but it’s also his worst pitch,” Beltran said. “It’s just that when he flies open and throws it in the wrong spots, it can really get hit. That’s one of the things he’s working hard at improving.”

CAPITAL GAINS

— Righthander Jarlin Susana showed even more top-tier stuff than Clemmey, but he was limited to 56.1 innings between Wilmington and Harrisburg because of injuries. He struck out 95 and was particularly dominant in August before straining his right lat. “It just stinks that his season ended that way. Susana was incredible,” Beltran said. “He was showing flashes where I would just watch and say, ‘This is what a No. 1 starter looks like.’ ”

Susana had surgery on his lat muscle in mid September and could be delayed to start the 2026 season.

— Outfielder/first baseman Ethan Petry, a second-round pick this year out of South Carolina, hit .287/.386/.414 in 87 at-bats at Low-A Fredericksburg. He’ll be part of the Nationals’ contingent with the Scottsdale Scorpions in the Arizona Fall League.