The Washington Nationals had some tough decisions to make when it came to protecting Rule 5 Draft eligible players ahead of the deadline to put them on the 40-man roster.
Ultimately, three prospects were protected: left-handed pitcher Jake Bennett — who ranks 10th in the Nationals’ pipeline — outfielder Christian Franklin — who ranks 12th — and unranked right-handed pitcher Riley Cornelio.
Bennett and Franklin make sense. They likely are going to see time in the bigs this upcoming season, which is why they were protected. However, adding Cornelio was seen as a bit of a head-scratcher, especially when looking at some of the other names who were left unprotected.
Tyler Stuart Seen As Nationals Prospect Who Will Be Selected in Rule 5 Draft
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Someone who falls into that latter category is Washington’s 29th-ranked prospect Tyler Stuart. And there’s a good chance he could be selected on Dec. 10 during the Rule 5 Draft in the mind of MLB Pipeline.
“The 6-foot-9 right-hander would be your classic stash candidate as he underwent Tommy John surgery after appearing in only 10 games while battling elbow issues this summer. … If a team were to pick him and keep him on the IL for all of ’26, he’d need to be active for 90 days in ’27 to stick,” they wrote.
It will be interesting to see what happens with Stuart if he does get selected. Acquired from the New York Mets in the Jesse Winker trade ahead of the deadline back in 2024, the righty was lights out for Double-A Harrisburg before he struggled mightily with Triple-A Rochester prior to getting placed on the injured list.
Unfortunately for both Washington and Stuart, he suffered a UCL injury this year and had to undergo Tommy John surgery in July, which caused him to miss the rest of the 2025 campaign and will likely cause him to miss most of 2026, if not the entire season.
TYLER STUART. 😤
That is what you call a DEBUT! pic.twitter.com/mDhPpjoMzT
— Rochester Red Wings (@RocRedWings) August 22, 2024
Still, there is enough upside with the 26-year-old where teams might take a flier on him in the Rule 5 Draft since they can stash him on the injured list for the entire 2026 season.
“… he struck out 135 batters in 122 1/3 innings at Double-A and Triple-A that season, relying heavily on an 82-85 mph slider with good two-plane break. He plays off that with a sinker, changeup and cutter and has enough control to keep starting once healthy,” added MLB Pipeline.
Because of that, there’s a good chance the Nationals are going to see one of their top 30 prospects depart the organization on Dec. 10 when another team selects him.
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